Mutagen

Day 253 - 8:49 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes

An explosion of light that swallowed a quarter of the crater. Although there was a sound at the start, all of it went silent, and no shockwave nor shaking of the ground happened. The blooming light then shrunk and vanished. It was only then that everyone felt that the wind in the surroundings was getting sucked violently into where the explosion was before.

Seeing the aftermath, only then did the witnesses of that scene realize that it was not an explosion but an implosion.

Even so, no matter what it was, there was only one fact.

Mark and Chimetrice, with the help of Mei, Amihan, and the archers, finally destroyed the [Giant Mechid].

Everyone thought that it would be the end. Of course, there were still the other [Mechids] to fight. Nonetheless, with the leader destroyed, future battles would be far easier.

But then, another beam of light almost hit Mark before piercing the sky. A beam far brighter and thicker than the previous ones they had seen.

Luckily, Mark managed to evade the beam in time. If not, who knows what could have happened?

With their hearts still pounding, everyone's focus turned to where that beam came from.

Although they were far away, they could make out a silhouette of something slowly rising up in the air right above the center of the crater.

But before the warriors on the northwestern edge of the crater could try to observe the new enemy, another sudden change in the tide of the battle occurred.

The [Mechids] trying to return to the crater suddenly became far more aggressive. Worse, not like the frenzied kind of aggressiveness. Before, while moving towards a single goal of trying to fight the attackers, these weaker [Mechids] moved individually, allowing the warriors to fight them easier. But right now, the [Mechids] began to move in formation, and the fight suddenly became several times harder for the warriors.

Without a doubt, the [Mechids] outside the crater would begin to push through anytime soon.

***

At the center of the crater, a humanoid [Mechid] slowly floated up to the sky. Although humanoid, it was actually without feet. Its legs were cut up to where the knees could have been, and there, the anti-gravity mechanism seemed to have been placed instead.

Its body was different from the newly created [Mechids] as its color and shape seemed to be the same as those [Mechids] that fell here on Earth.

What stood out was that its body seemed to be made to actually resemble a human. Its face even had the shape of a nose and lips. Furthermore, the sight mechanisms were placed in its eyes. Even the size of its torso and length of its arms followed human proportions. It even had fingers on its hands, something extremely rare for the [Mechids], which mostly have either blades or even clamps for hands.

While those human features already stood out, five elongated objects floated behind it, rotating in a circle. These objects made the humanoid [Mechid] look like it had a windmill spinning behind its back. But, of course, those were no windmills. In fact, the laser fired at Mark came from one of those objects.

Since one of those objects fired that powerful laser, it was not hard to assume that all five were capable of it.

And aside from the humanoid [Mechid], more [Mechids] suddenly appeared out of nowhere, following the lead of the humanoid [Mechid].

***

Mark stabilized himself in the air after evading the lethal laser beam shot at him. Chimetrice also hovered in the air nearby. Both of their attentions were focused on the new enemy that appeared.

As he stared at the new enemy, Mark frowned. It was already expected that there would still be [Mechids] to deal with after destroying the [Giant Mechid]. Nonetheless, since it was what they presumed to be the leader of the [Mechids], not only the production of new [Mechids] would stop, but the remaining ones would be in disarray.

However, Mark was mistaken. It was clear that the humanoid [Mechid] they were looking at was leading the other [Mechids] that appeared. Did the [Giant Mechid] pass on its credentials for leading the [Mechids]?

Or...

The [Giant Mechid] was never the leader, to begin with.

Mark turned his eyes to where the humanoid [Mechid] came from. His frown deepened.

Due to the implosion created by the destruction of the [Giant Mechid], a quarter of the crater was destroyed. It included the northern part of the center of the crater. And there, Mark noticed the buried piece of structure. Despite clearly getting caught in the implosion, it was still intact.

As Mark was focused on the unearthed structure, his ring began to resonate, receiving Mei's message. It was when he received the information about the sudden change in the behavior of the [Mechids] outside the crater.

The battle outside was getting tougher for the warriors. Tapping unto his ring using his [Magical Energy], Mark told Mei to support the warriors outside together with Diwata Iraya and her remaining people. Of course, his decision faced some contradictions. After all, if they followed Mark's current orders, only Mark and Chimetrice would be left to fight the new enemies.

However, Mark insisted, and the members of his group could only follow.

It was, after all, for their safety.

There was no information about this new enemy at all. Only the fact that it was able to fire a laser beam far stronger than the normal [Mechids] could. There was no way Mark would risk the others to fight this unknown enemy.

This situation was far different compared to the battle with Sinogo. That time, even though some unexpected things happened, they had a rough idea of what Sinogo could possibly be capable of.

But now? None.

Normally, [Mechids], being lifeless pieces of metal creations, did not have any intimidating aura or the like. This made it hard to gauge the actual strength and capabilities of the [Mechids], unlike magical creatures or even the [Infected]. So far, what could determine the strength of the [Mechids] was their size, weapons, and the materials the [Mechids] were made of. And, of course, even those aspects could still lead to wrong assumptions.

However, opposite to what they knew so far, this humanoid [Mechid] seemed to give out an intimidating presence. Even without knowing its capabilities, despite its small humanoid size, Mark had his senses for danger roaring loudly.

"Chimetrice," Mark voiced out. "Ready for the next round?"

Chimetrice replied with a slight nod. In ancient times, he experienced battles far longer. There was no way that he was not ready with something of this level.

Mark and Chimetrice, ready to continue the fight, carefully made their way toward the new enemy.

As for the humanoid [Mechid], it did not do anything after the sneak attack failed. However, it was clearly observing Mark and Chimetrice, probably even scanning them.

After Mark and Chimetrice reached a certain distance, the battle abruptly began. However, the one that started it was neither Mark nor Chimetrice.

It was the humanoid [Mechid].

Mark was taken by surprise. Not because the humanoid [Mechid] attacked first, but by its method of attacking.

Two of the five objects floating behind the humanoid [Mechid] flew towards the back of its hands. It then flipped and opened, transforming into what seemed to be some sort of claws or bladed knuckles. The humanoid [Mechid] then charged at Mark and Chimetrice, seemingly aiming for close combat.

This was something extremely unexpected. Of course, its transformable weapon looked really cool in Mark's eyes, but a [Mechid] capable of flight aiming for close combat, this was clearly the first time Mark or his group encountered such a thing.

Furthermore, it was fast.

In a blink of an eye, it covered more than a hundred meters, flying towards Mark and Chimetrice with its weapons drawn.

Was this a diversion? Would it suddenly shoot lasers once Mark and Chimetrice were caught off guard?

There was no time for thinking. The humanoid [Mechid] was already in front of Mark, swinging its clawed fist.

Mark evaded the first attack and tried to counter with a kick to push the [Mechid] away. However, Mark could only stop his foot when he realized that his foot was about to be shredded since the [Mechid] guarded the incoming kick with its sharp claws.

Seeing Mark falter, the [Mechid] pushed forwards and swung its clawed arms wildly. It might be wild, but it was fast. There was barely any opening to counterattack without getting hurt.

The eyes of the [Mechid] glowed continuously. It seemed to be reading Mark's movements and was coming up with countermeasures against his attacks.

Mark was pinned in close combat without being able to make a proper counterattack.

Chimetrice stretched his wooden hand toward the enemy, and vines shot and extended from his hand. The vines aimed to constrict the humanoid [Mechid].

However, the humanoid [Mechid] retreated before the vines could catch it. It then waved its claws, actually managing to slice the strongest vines that Chimetrice could create into pieces.

Having some leeway to breathe, Mark got a chance to observe the humanoid [Mechid] closely. And he became sure that the blades on those claws were extremely dangerous. The blades seemed to have some property that could split things at a molecular level, allowing them to cut through Chimetrice's vines.

THOOM!

Since there was some distance between Mark and the humanoid [Mechid], the [Mechids] on the ground joined the fray. A barrage of lasers was fired at Mark and Chimetrice.

Chimetrice could brush off these lasers, but Mark clearly could not. He had no choice but to evade, but as he left the trajectory of the lasers, the humanoid [Mechid] was, once again, on his tail.

Mark was getting frustrated.

Was it malfunctioning? Why was it too adamant about chasing after Mark and engaging in close-quarters combat?

Unfortunately, Mark realized it soon.

With the humanoid [Mechid] fighting him closely, he could not his magical attacks at all. Even his [Shadow Piercer] was rendered useless in this kind of battle. Furthermore, for the same reason, Chimetrice could not launch any magical attack, as Mark could get caught in it. All that Chimetrice could do was try to constrict the enemy using the vines, but it was cut off to pieces.

"Chimetrice!" Mark yelled. "Deal with the [Mechids] below. Leave this guy to me!"

It was pretty clear that this humanoid [Mechid] was only targeting Mark, and it was ignoring Chimetrice. In that case, Chimetrice was free to deal with the situation below.

And that situation was not good if it continued.

The remaining [Mechids] inside the crater were beginning to gather at the center. If all of the [Mechids] were in one place, flying lasers everywhere, even Chimetrice would have a bad time.

As such, Mark decided to divide the work. There was no choice.

"Tsk!"

Mark clicked his tongue as another of his counterattacks was rendered useless.

Every time Mark tried to attack the enemy in front of him, he could only stop. His kicks and punches were met with dangerous claws that could slice his limbs apart.

It was clear that the humanoid [Mechid] was able to read his moves and come up with a solution to defend at an extremely fast pace.

One more thing that Mark realized was how lifelike the movements of the [Mechid] were. It was as if he was fighting a living being instead of a mechanical creature.

Mark could not hold back anymore. The veins in his body began to glow red.

SWOOSH!

With the activation of Mark's ability as a [Blood Demon], his speed increased drastically. The claws of the [Mechid] that almost hit Mark several times before could not reach him any longer.

Furthermore...

BAM!

For the first time, Mark managed to attack. For all the frustration he felt in this battle, Mark slammed the sole of his foot unto the [Mechid's] face with all the strength he could currently muster.

CRASH!

Like a meteor, the humanoid [Mechid] slammed to the ground.

And then...

BOOM! BOOM!

Using both the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal] and the [Fire Manipulation Mental Crystal], Mark caused explosions where the enemy crashed. Since his first attack finally connected, there was no way he would stop there.

Then, the explosions were torn apart as a beam of light shot at Mark, forcing him to stop his attacks and dodge.

After dodging the beam, Mark turned to the burning pit he created below and could only frown.

The humanoid [Mechid] was already floating above the flames of the explosions. While covered in dust and soot, it was still mostly unscathed.

What made Mark frown was not that it was still not destroyed. It was the fact that its weapons had changed. Furthermore, the weapons were something he could not be any more familiar with.

A pair of bladed whips like his [Slicer] and [Divider].

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