Mutagen

Day 131 - 1:25 PM - Logan Square, Franklyntown, Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

With his rugged appearance, Mark stood between the Infected King and his vehicle. He could not help but tilt his head as he stared at the King's shock-filled face.

"What? Why are you so surprised?" Mark then looked at the hotel where he crashed. "I guess... because it's the first time that someone survived, huh?"

It was not hard to realize that it was not the first time this Infected King kicked someone towards that building. In fact, aside from the hole that was created after Mark crashed unto the wall, there were other traces of blood splatters on the building's face and other places around Logan Square.

There were dried splattered blood on the walls of the hotel, in the middle of the road, and in other places, there were even remains of dried guts stuck with the dried blood.

Well, thinking about it, if a regular person was to receive that kick, the impact alone would already mangle their bodies. And when they struck the face of the hotel or any hard surface, they would instantly turn into meat paste.

On the other hand, Mark, who had a body that was far sturdier than a regular human, created a hole instead.

"You should check first whether I'm really dead before uttering such nonsense."

Mark smiled as he used his left hand to put his right arm back into position.

Seeing Mark's arm broken like that, Roan and the others gulped. Just how painful was that? Even his bone protruded out of his skin and the skin around the injury was already swelling. Strangely though, there was no blood dripping from it.

Seeing him pull and twist the broken arm back into position, they could not help but wince. If it was them, there was no need to mention being able to hold it. They would wail in pain instead.

However, when Mark put his broken arm back into its right position, the swelling started to heal and the wound started to close.

It was as if they were watching an injury being rewind back to its initial state.

They could not believe it when Mark raised his arm like nothing and started moving his hand as if it was never broken.

"Look, your kick did nothing but destroy my clothes."

Mark smiled while moving his arm and clenching his fist repeatedly. He was definitely provoking the Infected King even more.

And of course, this kind of provocation was very effective towards the Infected King.

Mark felt delighted as he watched that twisted face for some reason.

And there, the Infected King kicked the ground and vanished. Appearing above Mark, he unleashed a downward kick.

BOOM!

Mark jumped to the side, causing the kick to miss. That, however, made the attack hit the concrete road, bursting it into an explosion of debris and dust.

The kick was too devastating that even Mei and the others inside the vehicle felt the ground shaking.

Finally, the Infected King began to become serious. He far underestimated Mark, thinking that he was like the other humans that he encountered before. It was because all of them already turned into corpses that decorated the current Logan Square.

Inside the Infected King's mind, he finally understood. Since the start, he already felt that Mark and several humans inside the vehicle were strange. It was as if there was a strange power within them. However, he neglected that fact since he saw them as nothing but ants that he could crush without any issue.

Still, despite being serious, the Infected King was surprised.

Mark was able to avoid his attack where he moved at his fastest speed.

Taking opportunity from the missed attack, Mark jumped towards the Infected King. With his left foot glowing red, Mark made a clockwise spin and unleashed his own kick towards the enemy.

Halfway through Mark's kick, the Infected King noticed the incoming attack.

Using his other foot, the Infected King ignored the flying dust and debris and kicked the ground. He jumped forward, towards the direction of the fountain. This way, Mark's attack would not reach him at all.

Or so he thought...

Landing forwards, the Infected King looked behind him to see how Mark missed his attack. Then, his eyes dilated as he saw Mark halfway his kick, behind him.

BAM!

Mark's kick connected with the Infected King's face, causing him to fly towards the blood-filled fountain.

Comparing the strength of their kicks, Mark's was clearly weaker. However, his attack was sharper and precise while the Infected King had more speed and strength.

"H-hey! What is that?"

Mariella could not help but voice her confused thoughts as she saw what happened. Not only her but Roan, Elise, and their parents were shocked at what they had seen.

Sure enough, the Infected King's attack was unbelievable on its own. However, what Mark did was unexpected for them.

Everyone saw that halfway through the movement of his kick, the Infected King already dodged. The kick should have missed there already. But then, Mark turned into a surge of black mist that followed behind the Infected King and appeared there in the same position. The moment that the enemy turned to look behind, Mark's kick was already on his face.

That surprising movement gave the Infected King no chance to dodge at all for the second time.

The Infected King crashed unto the fountain, breaking off a part of it. The muddy blood slowly spilled out as the Infected King stood up. He was all covered with that disgusting liquid, but his red eyes that were staring at Mark with absolute fury could not be hidden at all.

"ATTACK!!!"

The Infected King roared, finally commanding his generals to act.

At the same time, Mark gave the signal to Mei, telling the others inside the vehicle to go out for battle.

Without hesitation, every Mutator in the vehicle except Mei went out, showcasing their own abilities.

And the most anticipated of them all was Mariella and Roan.

Roan transformed. His forearms covered with black fur, a pair of black triangular ears appeared on his head, a long black tail appeared on his back, and he grew sharp claws and fangs. His eyes had a yellowish glow with that slit-like eyes of a cat's.

Like Felicia, Roan was also a feline Mutator. It was absolutely aligned to Mark's theory about Mutators sharing the same family. Their colors might be different, but their mutation had a similar appearance.

On the other hand, Mariella was even more unexpected. Her hair became colored like red maple during fall. And on her back, a pair of wings appeared with stunningly beautiful red and black feathers. Grabbing an assault rifle with both her hands, she immediately soared unto the air.

"Wow, that's surprising."

Mark said, looking behind at that pair of beautiful wings, not minding the fur-covered general already attacking him.

BAM!

Roan, with stunning speed, appeared to block the fur-covered general.

"Boss, can you pay attention to the fight?"

Roan said, troubled. Although he was able to stop the guy in front of him, it seemed that he would be on the losing side if this kept on.

Mark turned to Roan.

"You can handle that guy, right? Take him away."

Finishing those words, Mark appeared beside the fur-covered general and gave a powerful kick. Being locked in a contest of strength with Roan, he was not able to dodge that attack and was thrown away.

"Follow that guy. Fight over there."

Mark shooed Roan as he faced the other incoming Infected Generals.

Roan grumbled but chased after the enemy designated to him.

Then, Mark intercepted the attacks of the Infected Generals.

The second to arrive was the infected girl with blades. She slashed towards Mark, trying to severe his neck in one go. Mark could not help but become surprised as to how fast the girl swung her arms. If Mark was not alert, his neck would have been sliced off.

"Felicia! This is yours!"

Mark suddenly shouted as he caught the arm of the girl as he did another slice. With a judo-like shoulder throw, Mark flung the girl in another direction while his arms glowed bright red. Felicia, who was surprised for suddenly being called out, looked at Mark for a second before chasing after the girl.

Next to arrive before Mark was the red hawk, sweeping down to him with its sharp claws.

Mark stepped to the side, evading the claws that passed an inch in front of his face.

Grabbing one of the hawk's feet with both hands, Mark threw it towards Mariella that was flying in the air.

Surprised, Mariella evaded. The hawk managed to regain its balance and flew in the air. Now, however, it was facing Mariella.

The next infected generals came towards Mark in succession. And one by one, Mark used different methods to send them towards different directions. He also called upon the people behind him to face the opponent he chose for them.

The earthworm woman was designated to Ernst.

The metal lizard was assigned to Sandie.

Arnold was facing the old-faced child.

And lastly, the bull-sized infant... Did not charge forward at all.

It looked like its ability did not lie in fighting, at all.

Seeing how his entourage was divided just like that, the Infected King became even more furious.

And there, he started to transform.

His eyes turned black with a greenish sheen. Multitudes of spikes grew out of his limbs, with larger ones on his legs and feet. His mouth split into several parts and a pair of long and thick antennas grew out of his forehead.

"A locust, huh?"

Mark muttered as he saw the transformation. Many would think that it was a just a common grasshopper. However, the color, the antennas, and eyes gave it away. Looking at those features, Mark remembered a certain species of mostly wingless locusts. The Rhytidochrotinae.

SCREEEEEEEE!!!

The Infected King roared once more. At this roar, the whole place became noisy. It was because the thousands of infected that surrounded the Logan Square started roaring at the same time.

BOOM!

With a loud sound, the whole fountain crumbled. It was because the Infected King made his move. He vanished from the fountain with a very strong kick of his legs.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Mark frowned. His eyes could not follow the Infected King's speed at all. All he was able to see and hear was the uncontrolled kicks of the Infected King as he jumped around towards different directions.

In every jump, a crater would be left from both the impact of landing and the force of the next jump. Dust started to fly around even more as more and more crater appeared everywhere.

Fortunately, he did not have to worry about other things. He was the sole target of the Infected King. And unless Mark died, the Infected King was unlikely to change target. After all, in this locust's eyes, Mark stole his supposed Queen.

"HUP!"

Mark jumped away from where he stood.

BOOM!

The place where he just left burst at the Infected King appeared there.

"I actually wanted to settle this with just physical abilities... But it's impossible, huh."

Mark murmured as he lamented his lack of physical enhancement. He was sure that his innate abilities were still growing. If it was a while back then, he would not have the ability to contend with this Infected King or Chimetrice at all. Now, however, he was able to.

Still, it was not enough. Mark's natural growth was far slower than what he needed.

He had no choice but to rely on the crystals.

And thus, Mark swung his hand to the side. All the crystals appeared at the same time, circling around his arm.

At that scene, the Infected King froze. He stared at that crystal with both wariness and desire.

From those crystals, the Infected King could feel a lot of power. A power that he did not have and needed to have.

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