Mutagen

Day 148 - 12:25 PM - Factory Area, Rebel Base, San Pablo Poblacion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes

Smoke screened, obscuring everyone's sight.

Intense heat surged across the place.

Blood painted the scorched ground.

Dismembered body parts littered the surroundings.

In the middle of it all, Emellynn stood.

Emellynn's golden hair was now clear blue like icicles. Instead of surges of electricity, thick ice armor covered her body.

Renz and his men stared at Emellynn in utter shock. Even the surviving rebels were surprised to see their leader still alive from that devastating explosion.

It seemed that no one here, aside from Felix, knew about Emellynn having this ability. As it appeared, she hid it well.

"H-how is this possible?!!"

Even if Renz did not want to, only those words could come out of his mouth.

"Wow, surprised Pikachu face."

Another voice echoed.

Those that heard that voice could not help but turn and saw Mark sitting on a scaffolding not far from Felix.

This scene poured another bucket of icy water on Renz and his men.

It was unbelievable that both the targets engulfed by the explosions of hundreds of rockets were still alive.

"RENZ!!!"

Emellynn roared in a burst of fury.

The surroundings felt colder and colder. Renz could not help but flinch.

"FIRE! FIRE!"

Renz yelled in fear.

Rocket Launchers were not easy to reload, especially for people lacking experience. The only thing that the rebels could fire was their guns.

And by Renz's order, more than a hundred people caused a war-like rain of bullets to the rebel leader.

The deafening sound of gunshots echoed throughout the rebel base.

In response to that, however, Emellynn punched the ground with both her ice-covered fist.

CREAK! CRASH!

With glass-like sounds, walls of ice rose around her.

No bullet managed to reach her at all because of the walls of ice.

Furthermore, the bullets could barely leave a crack on the walls, showing how resilient the walls of ice were.

More and more bullets buffeted the walls of ice, cracks accumulated here and there. But there was not a single sign of it shattering.

How long was it, a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes. The continuous gunfire did not last long and died down. The ammunition of every single rebel was limited after all.

Yet, the walls of ice stood still...

"RENZ!!!"

Emellynn's roar was heard once more, causing the cowardly Renz to panic.

CRACK!

One portion of the walls shattered, revealing Emellynn that destroyed it with her own fist.

Slowly, she walked forwards. At the same time, a meter long icicle started to form on her right hand.

"DIE!"

Emellynn shouted, throwing the icicle at Renz.

The icicle flew at the speed of a cannon, with the sound of the wind being ripped apart.

On the other side, Renz's eyes dilated as he tried to evade. He jumped out of the jeep as fast as he could, and he managed to succeed. After all, speed was his forte aside from his brain.

Unfortunately, Renz's men were not as fast as him. The time they saw Renz leave the jeep, the icicle was already in front of them.

BANG!

The icicle tore through the vehicle, causing the jeep that carried weapons and explosives to burst into flames.

BOOOM!

The jeep then exploded. It caused Renz, that was still in the radius of the explosion, to get blown away.

Lifting his injured body, Renz stared at the flames as they consumed his closest henchmen.

But of course, it was not the end.

Creaking glass sounds could be heard as Emellynn continued to move. The rebels that went to antagonize their leader could not help but retreat in fear, firing their guns as much as they could.

That was when it sunk into their minds. The ice armor that Emellynn was wearing was far stronger than those walls she conjured. The bullets could not even leave a scratch on the armor. It was not surprising considering how it managed to protect her from dozens of rockets. The impact of the bullets made Emellynn freeze for a bit, but it did not stop her from advancing.

"AAHHH!!!"

Some of the rebels gave out their cry of death, as Emellynn threw another huge icicle, with an impact that tore their bodies apart.

Before, it was Mark.

Now, it was Emellynn that was conducting the slaughter of the rebels.

Sitting atop the scaffolding, Mark watched Emellynn do his work. It was unexpected, but this situation was definitely in his favor.

Furthermore, the only reason he was dally dallying here was to ensure that the majority of the rebels move to this area. With Renz calling unto the reinforcement group to deal with their own leader, the condition for the next phase was met.

Mark then took out a flare gun from his belt and fired to the sky.

With the flare in the sky, the second phase finally started.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Suddenly, the snipers on the watchtowers fell one after another. With the ongoing commotion below, however, no one managed to notice.

***

At the same time, another commotion began at the west side of the base.

On this side, the farming area was located. While the captured females were in the factory, the men incapable of fighting were sent here to farm.

They were also having their lunch break when the commotion in the factory area started. Knowing that the women were there, to who many of them were related, a lot of them panicked. They wanted to rush there to check the safety of their loved ones. But of course, the guards that the rebels posted in this area prevented them from doing so.

One man tried to force the guards to let them check on their relatives. Only to get bashed by one of the guards with the stock of his assault rifle.

As much worried as they could be, they could not do anything.

The explosions shook their hearts, even more, fearing for the lives of the women in the factory area.

It was when they saw the flare shot towards the sky. It was noontime, and its light was not visible. However, it would be hard to miss something that was literally shot above them.

That was when they saw a dragon flew up to the sky, from the forest west of the farming area.

Everyone was horrified, whether it be the workers or the guards.

The workers ran away like ants, trying to go into the base to escape. However, during working hours, the gate was locked down. They could only knock on the gates frantically with none opening it from the other side.

At the side, the guards did the same instead of fighting the monster that popped out of nowhere.

Yes, they could have used their guns and shoot. However, their current numbers were too low, with most of them joining the commotion at the factory area. Shooting the dragon could only draw its attention to them. Their lives were more important than these slaves working in the field.

Some of the men fell on their knees. With the gates closed, they could only pray for their lives. They wished that the dragon would just fly over them, attracted to the loud explosions in the factory area.

That was where they were wrong, as the dragon landed in the middle of the fields.

Without a choice, the guards readied themselves to fire their weapons.

BANG! BANG!

And the first shots echoed in everyone's ears.

Unexpectedly, it was not from the rebels. In fact, it was the rebels, who were hit by the bullets.

That was when the people on the ground realized, there were people riding on the dragon's back.

Two men wearing armor jumped off from the dragon's back and started shouting to the terrified workers.

"DON'T PANIC! WE ARE HERE TO FREE YOU ALL!"

"What?..."

"Free us?"

The workers were flabbergasted to the sudden development.

"HURRY KILL THEM!!!"

Shouts broke the confusion as the guards took action.

But then, the guards were suddenly faced with an unexpected adversary.

Yes, it was totally unexpected. It was because a little girl with white hair and cat ears appeared before them.

Their surprise and confusion became their weakness as the girl's figure blurred. The next thing they knew was their necks being snapped backward in an impossible angle before they fell, lifeless.

The same was happening to the other groups of guards, as a girl with a burning barrier, a girl with incredible strength, and a girl with vines as hair confronted them all.

Seeing how the guards were being subdued one after another, the situation finally sunk into the minds of the workers.

It was time to rise against their captors.

Some of the men rushed to the dead guards, picking up their weapons and equipment. They already forgot the fear they felt when they saw the dragon land before them.

It did not take long. The guards at the farming area were all either killed or subdued.

"YYEAAAHHH!!!"

The men roared in vigor, seeing the rebels that captured and separated them from their loved ones finally receiving their just deserts.

"TAKE DOWN THE BASTARDS!!!"

"INSIDE THE BASE!! GO!!!"

Finally having the chance for freedom, the men could not wait and wanted to fight the rebels. They wanted to reunite with their relatives and friends in the factory area as soon as possible. Especially now that there seemed to be a threatening event happening there.

But then, unexpected, the dragon flew up and landed before the gates, preventing anyone from breaking it or passing through.

"W-What are you doing?!!!"

"You two said that you are here to free us! Why are you blocking our path?!"

The men were clearly afraid of Chaflar, but their longing to save their loved ones took over their fear.

As such, the workers questioned the two men that declared to help them earlier.

On Chaflar's back, Padua and Geronimo looked at each other and nodded.

"Unfortunately, we can't let you all pass!" Padua declared. "Our leader is already there to save the women in the factory area! I'm sure that you all can hear the explosions! It's likely caused by the rebels fighting our leader!"

"T-then, we wanted to help! Those are our relatives!"

One of the workers cried out.

It was when a man with pointy ears and was holding a spear appear beside Chaflar, dragging the body of a dead rebel that hid nearby.

"Help you say?" Pefile arrogantly said. "With your thin arms and a hungry stomach, what help can you give? If all of you go there, you all will only drag our leader down. What can any of you do there aside from dying?"

The workers that spoke just now was at a loss of what to say. It was true, after all. They might have been able to subdue the guards here because there was a lesser number left because of the commotion in the Factory Area.

Once they entered the base, however, they would probably have to face a larger number of rebels.

With their bodies that were out of shape, they would be of no help, after all.

"Y-your leader." One younger worker spoke out. "Can he really save my mother?"

That question was asked to Padua and Geronimo. As the two were only new members, they did not know what to answer. They could only turn to Pefile.

As everyone's eyes fell back on Pefile, he shrugged.

"Can't you all tell? Those explosions and gunshots. The rebels should be having a hard time."

Hearing that, the workers were still not at ease. However, their agitation died down slowly. For the rebels to be worked up to use explosives in their own base, the ones the rebels were fighting might be strong people.

"Please, just wait here," Geronimo spoke out. "Our duty here is to save and protect you all. We can't let you all enter since we won't be able to protect any of you if you all did."

Compared to Padua and Pefile, Geronimo was more amicable while talking. It made the workers feel more at ease.

"Are you from the military?"

One of the workers asked.

Geronimo hesitated to answer. It was Padua that did.

"We are not."

"Then why are you people helping us?"

The question arose. After all, there was a very high chance that there were ulterior motives to this.

And then, both Padua and Geronimo looked at each other once more. Then, they both looked at Pefile.

"Don't look at me. I don't know either."

Everyone was speechless. Apparently, they were sent to help these people without knowing why.

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