Mutagen

Day 127 - 6:30 PM - Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America

When they heard the first gunshots, Lady Amelie and the others in the central area of the shopping mall wanted to go out. However, Gregor tried to stop them.

Dangerous, that was what Gregor terrifyingly insisted on them.

However, Lady Amelie was the boss of Hamilton Raiders, the owner of this place right now. There was no way for her to disregard if something was happening inside her territory.

"Gregor, I need to go out." Lady Amelie insisted. "If you don't want to, I'll go alone."

Of course, it was not because she did not trust Gregor. It was because she was a raider and the boss here, a fearless leader that led everyone here. To shrink inside here in fear was not her style.

Besides, the fact that she was leading a group of ruthless, lawless, and malicious people that she needed to show that she was above them all.

She was not afraid to die. It was something to be expected once a person joined the field to entered.

Seeing her determination, Gregor looked down a bit. Then, he stood up.

"I'll come. But... danger, escape."

No one could understand what danger Gregor was talking about. Nevertheless, they would be wary.

At first, they wanted to climb up the roof to see the situation at a safer distance. However, when Lady Amelie and the others left the room, the building shook, and they heard the collapsing walls. Because of that, climbing the roof became more dangerous than being safe. They thought that the building might collapse while they were up at the rooftop. Some of them might be able to avoid it if that happened. Still, more of them would be buried in the rubble.

Nevertheless, that fear would not come true.

While they rushed out, the gunshots and sound of fighting outside continued for another minute. Seeing their boss rushing out with the fiercest people of the raiders, more and more of their members tagged along.

However, the moment they stepped out of the building, what greeted them was silence.

They could only see a silhouette of a man standing in the middle of charred, disfigured pieces of dead bodies.

Everyone was speechless at this sight before them.

"What happened..."

Lady Amelie could only say in a lowered voice.

Nevertheless, no one could explain what happened. Those that were able to see the first parts of the battle had withdrawn after the men of Sir Kesser fired their guns blindly towards the mall. And thus, none witnessed the events afterward.

But then, while they stood by the door in a stupor, the silhouette turned his head towards them with his red glowing eyes.

Lady Amelie could not help but flinch. She thought that she was not afraid of death. But those eyes, for some reason, felt like swallowing her alive.

That was when Gregor stepped forward, shielding her from those eyes.

***

Mark stared at the man with chains. The latter also stared at him.

There was a frown of Mark's face as he stared at the man.

Humans might not be able to feel or smell, but that man's body was emanating a dark aura and a nauseating smell.

The smell of something not human, yet it was.

And in this area, there was only one creature Mark could think of that would have such characteristics.

"You are..."

While Mark and Gregor stared at each other, Hawker managed to recognize Mark.

"You are from that group at the steakhouse before."

Hearing that, the rest of the raiders, especially those that watched that group from the rooftop, was unable to control their shock.

Mark turned his eyes from Gregor to Hawker.

"So, how is it staring at my wife with those malicious thoughts you pieces of garbage have?"

There, everyone here realized the primary reason this man appeared here. The lookouts this afternoon was ogling at his wife, offending them in the process. Those that had no participation in that could not help but look at the people here stationed at the roof. On the other hand, those being stared became pale.

"At first, I only thought of blinding those people. If you ignored us then, we would not have come to this. However, to think that someone was sent to tail us. So... It's better to kill you all, isn't it?"

Mark declared boldly, even though he was facing about a hundred people now.

Hearing those words, everyone got ready to fight. They readied their guns, while the six Mutators and fifteen Evolvers took readied their stance.

Except for Gregor, however.

"Gregor, what are you doing?!"

Lady Amelie pulled Gregor's chains. However, the large man would not budge an inch.

"Amelie..." Gregor turned his head towards Lady Amelie and spoke in a grave tone. "Escape..."

"Gregor wha-!"

Lady Amelie tried to question Gregor. Before she could finish her words, however, she was pushed by Gregor towards Hawker and the other mutators.

"ESCAPE!!!"

Gregor roared at the group.

Everyone stared wide-eyed towards Gregor. It was the first time he behaved like this.

At their stupor, Gregor suddenly kicked the ground, jumping in front of them.

BAM!

A loud sound echoed, and a shockwave was felt by everyone in the surroundings as Gregor blocked the attack as Mark appeared before him.

While everyone was distracted, Mark made a surprise attack towards the seemingly most important person of the group, the woman that was being protected by the large man. Unexpectedly, the large man was able to catch movements blocking this charge.

"This is unexpected," Mark spoke. "You can gauge how much danger you are in. Unfortunately, the people around you are too numb to notice."

Gregor smashed his left hand towards Mark. The latter jumped back to evade the attack, and the missed attack continued to the ground.

BAM!!!

A one-meter diameter crater was created as the closed fist impacted the ground.

Gregor did not chase Mark and turned behind him instead.

"GO!"

Finally, Hawker and the others realized what Gregor was implying. There was no way of winning this. They should just escape if they wanted to live.

"You really think that I will let them go?"

Mark said with deep conceit.

His body was enveloped with black smoke that flew above and spread, creating a tall wall around the compound.

Everyone was horrified after seeing that scene. Some of the raiders fell on their feet. The others felt their pants wet as yellowish liquid dripped to the ground.

"You..."

Gregor stared at Mark in deep anger.

"What?" Mark tilted his head. "You're a demon yourself. I'm sure you knew how fun it is to torment others, right? Not to mention, you should be the man-eating kind, aren't you?"

Those that were still able to react looked at Gregor in disbelief.

"Don't restrain yourself." Mark provoked. "Go all out. Let me see your true form, or else, you can only watch as I kill everyone here."

Gregor turned at Lady Amelie. The latter only nodded.

With that nod, Gregor tore the chains on his body.

"RRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

His deep roar echoed in the surroundings.

In front of everyone, his already large, muscular body, started to expand. His two-meter height grew to four meters. His whole body grew covered in fur, and the nails on his hands turned into black claws.

Head of a goat, horns of a stag, hoofs of a horse on his feet, tail with a split end, and a pair of large, bat wings.

The raiders could not help but step back after seeing this form of Gregor. Most of the were locals, while some came from other surrounding states. There was no way for them to not recognize the appearance that was taken out of the myths.

"The Jersey Devil." Mark smiled. "Tell me. Are you a genuine one or a descendant?"

"That has nothing... To do with... You!"

Gregor shouted in a gurgling voice.

SWOOOHSS!!!

With a kick, Gregor soared towards Mark, with his speed faster than a bullet. Almost instantly, he was already sweeping towards Mark, brandishing his sharp claws to slice his neck.

Mark bent his body backward, and the attack of Gregor passed over him.

Missing his attack, Gregor flapped his wings, turning his body back and kicked the ground to charge towards Mark once more.

Another swipe of blade-like claws came towards Mark at bullet speed. However, it was evaded once more without difficulty.

Gregor flew around very fast that all everyone could see was a sweeping dark shadow. The audience could only believe their eyes that a four meter tall monster like that could move at that speed.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Craters appeared on the parking lot as Gregor kicked the ground every time he charged towards Mark. He kept repeating the attacks while going around from different angles and speeds.

"What are you all staring for! Support Gregor!"

Lady Amelie shouted, forcing everyone to snap from their stupor.

They immediately readied their guns.

Gregor, on the other hand, was being frustrated that none of his attacks could hit despite the speed he was moving. When he saw Amelie ordering her subordinates, he decided to take a chance.

GGGGGRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Gregor flapped his wings above and released a loud roar towards Mark.

As the attack was unexpected, Mark felt his ears ache, and his eyes blurred.

This attack from Gregor was supposed to inflict unconditional fear into the mind of the target. The mental capacity of the enemy, however, was strange. Still, making him stagger was already enough. It was because...

BANG! RATATATATATA! BANG!

Hundreds of bullets shot towards Mark like torrential rain. Being inflicted by the effects of Gregor's roar, the bullets showered upon his body.

The bullets bored holes on his body. The impact made his arms numb.

Mark's body was turned into a beehive. His body fell to the ground.

The raiders stopped shooting, thinking that they won.

Before they could rejoice, however, Mark sat up. As he did, flattened bullets could be seen falling from his head and torso.

When they looked at what happened, they saw a layer of black metal covering Mark's face and body.

They were stunned. Nevertheless, the raiders could see that Mark's arm and feet were not covered by that metal that came out of nowhere. There were countless holes from his arms and legs.

But then, Hawker found something strange.

The enemy was hit with bullets, but there was no blood. And as Hawker was the one that could see things clearly, he was the first to be horrified.

It was when the holes made by the bullets started to spit the bullets out, and the holes healed like the enemy was never wounded.

As Mark stood back up, the metal covering his body slowly retracted, and more bullets fell from his body as his arms and legs healed.

"Well, that was dangerous."

Mark said as he looked at the raiders with a sinister smile.

"Looks like you people can't wait for your turn at all."

CLACK! CLACK!

Seeing that they failed, some raiders let go of their guns in fear. The enemy was immortal. There was no way for them to win this.

That realization came too late, however.

A ball of Miasma was conjured on Mark's hands. With a jerk of his palms, the ball of Miasma flew towards the raiders.

The ball flew like a rocket, causing the raiders to flee in panic. And like a rocket, the ball exploded after making contact with one of the raiders.

"Wha... AHHHH!! GGGGAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The blood-curdling scream of that raider echoed around as the others watched his body quickly rot in front of them.

He was still alive, rolling fiercely on the ground. However, his body started to look like a corpse that was dug after being buried for several weeks.

Amidst his screams, that raider died. It was a very disgusting and agonizing death. Even though he was already dead, his body continued to rot, creating a puddle of smelly rotten juice on the ground that started to mix with the falling snow.

"That's a warning," Mark said. "Wait your turn if you pieces of trash don't want to die that way."

Saying those words, Mark turned to Gregor, that was already protecting Lady Amelie.

"Now, shall we continue?"

Mark asked as he wanted to see the extent of the strength of the creature of the myth was.

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