Mutagen

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Within the abode of gods in a distant lower realm...

"This is unexpected."

A woman's voice could be heard in a voice that was smooth and beautiful but carried an eerie feeling.

With tribal golden accessories, a black dress with a gradient of blue, and an exotic-looking beauty, it was no other than the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen.

No, it was better to say that she was this stagnant world's Goddess of Death, given that this place was not Earth.

The abode of gods in this realm was not too different from the appearance of Kahilwayan on Earth. It might not be wrong to say that Kahilwayan was created as an otherworld extension of this abode.

Magwayen sat on her throne. A throne made of dark-colored wood, adorned with gems and colorful shells. It resembled the status of Magwayen being the current Goddess of the Underworld and the previous Goddess of the Sea.

The abode of Gods in this world was currently in a peaceful state. Not because the Gods were in harmony but because many positions of Gods were vacant. It was all thanks to the battle on Earth several thousand years ago, where many Gods perished.

In that battle, many major Gods from this realm died, with only Magwayen as the returnee. Since this realm was currently in a stagnant state, the positions of the Gods that perished remained vacant, even now.

Currently, Magwayen sat as the leader of the Gods of this realm, given that she was the last Supreme God left in this realm.

A Supreme Goddess in a stagnant world... It was no surprise Magwayen was bored.

It was until her connection to Earth was established once again.

Magwayen rested her right elbow on the armrest of her throne and supported her cheek with her right hand as she comfortably sat down. She stared in front of her, watching a mirror suspended in the air. She was not looking at her reflection, however. Instead, the mirror showed a man currently fighting against four powerful artificial beings.

Of course, the man was no other than Mark, fighting the remaining [Fighter Mechids].

The Goddess of the Underworld watched the mirror with her eyes filled with interest and a tinge of surprise. It was the first time she was able to watch Mark fight up close. The artifact of the [Tamawos] allowed her to sense the surroundings or use an avatar to communicate. However, she was never beside Mark during fights, and sensing the surroundings of the artifact never meant that she could see it clearly.

Then how was it possible that Magwayen could watch Mark right now?

The reason was no other than the blessing she gave Mark that was now activated.

While it was true that Magwayen gave that blessing as compensation and support, it also allowed her to monitor the bearer of the blessing. After all, Magwayen was pretty interested in the unique existence known as Mark. Since he was a possible God in the future, along with his wife, it would not hurt to have a strong connection with them.

Nonetheless, Magwayen never expected the things that unfolded in front of her.

The strength of blessings from the Gods varied into three categories. Lower, Middle, and High. Under these categories were countless subtypes. These subtypes were affected by the purpose of the blessing, its attributes, and the God that gave them.

After passing the [Trial of Regrets], it granted Mark's group a [Lower Blessing of Protection]. Thus, Magwayen gave Mark a [Lower Blessing of Death's Aura] to compensate for the blessing he lost. It was a blessing that was supposed to empower Mark's abilities, especially his flames and lightning,  both influenced by the [Miasma] he wielded.

Magwayen chose that blessing to bestow unto Mark due to the fact that while the [Aura of Death] and [Miasma] were powers of different natures, the two would not cause any conflict with each other, unlike the [Lower Blessing of Protection] which counteracted with Mark's [Miasma].

In fact, Magwayen wanted to give Mark at least a [Middle Blessing]. However, it was not possible since the blessing was only bestowed through the artifact Mark carried. Without direct contact between the bestower and the receiver, a middle or a high blessing could not be given.

Besides, it was very likely that Mark would not be able to handle the power of a [High Blessing] with the power of death.

The power of death was not just for anyone to handle. Even the [Guides] that ferried the souls of the departed to the afterlife were not given such role nilly willy.

After all, the power of death was rather malevolent in nature. Only those who loved life the most could counteract this nature.

It was not wrong to say that the grim reapers were the beings that loved the living the most. As such, they could not be controlled by the nature of the power they were given and would gladly usher the souls to the afterlife.

However...

Mark clearly showed the effects of getting affected by the nature of death despite only receiving a [Lower Blessing]. While the change in the markings on Mark's body was not surprising for Magwayen, the slight murderous glint in his eyes was unexpected.

Furthermore, instead of just enhancing Mark's flames and lightning, the [Aura of Death] that Mark received from the blessing began to integrate into all his abilities.

It was such a surprise since Magwayen was sure that Mark did not have that much compatibility with the power of death. The worst thing was that Mark was an [Empath]. His mind could be easily invaded by the emotions and inner intent of others, including the malevolent nature of the power of death.

Magwayen stared at Mark's expression. It was a pretty good thing that she was only able to bestow a [Lower Blessing] to Mark. By the looks of it, even just a [Middle Blessing] might end up swallowing Mark's consciousness.

While looking at the mirror, a smile crept up on Magwayen's lips. Mark's current state and the effects of the blessing unto him were rather unexpected. Nonetheless, it just made things more interesting in her eyes.

Would Mark be able to harness the strength given by the blessing, or would he slowly fall prey to its malevolent nature?

Magwayen wanted to see the results.

***

Day 253 - 9:15 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes

"Haah... Haah..."

Mark panted heavily. It was already several minutes after he started fighting the remaining [Fighter Mechids].

In these past few minutes, Mark was able to fight the four [Fighter Mechids] on equal grounds. Unfortunately, he was unable to find a good chance to decrease their number further.

While Mark managed to kill the bow-wielding [Fighter Mechid] without problems, it was due to the fact that he took them by surprise, and the [Fighter Mechid] was far behind and isolated from the other four vanguards.

After that, Mark fought with the remaining four, fighting them to a tie. It was already a good feat. After all, Mark was currently fighting four [Mechids] that all moved past the sound barrier with almost perfect coordination. If it was other people, they would have died from the start.

The worst part, Mark's head started hurting, and he could hear a slight ringing in his ear. It became harder to focus on the battle due to this. It was already a miracle he could fight on equal grounds against the four despite his current condition.

Mark did gain power, but it seemed that he was beginning to lose control of it.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Four simultaneous sonic booms occurred as the four [Fighter Mechis] charged at Mark from four directions.

The purplish glow in Mark's eyes flashed, showing him not only a few seconds into the future but black four black hazes moving from four directions. It was the same as before. No matter which attacks from the four [Fighter Mechids], all of them could be fatally dangerous to him.

Mark's figure flashed with a black haze. Once more, he evaded the attacks without any problem and tried to immediately counterattack. His goal was to destroy any of the four which showed an opening. After all, despite the almost perfect movements and coordination of the four, it was still far from perfect. Furthermore, there were other factors in the environment that could affect the outcome.

This time, it was the [Fighter Mechid] with the sword and shield.

Mark appeared behind the target and readily sliced down the scythe in his hands. In this situation, it was clear that the [Figther Mechid] wielding the sword and shield had no way of evading his attack.

But similar to the previous instances, the issue came not from the target but from the other [Fighter Mechids].

The dagger-wielding [Fighter Mechid] flashed to Mark's side. The target would not be able to evade Mark's attack, but if he did continue, the [Fighter Mechid] that appeared beside him would definitely give him a fatal blow.

Thus, like before, Mark's body became covered in a black haze before disintegrating, with him appearing somewhere else to evade the fatal attack.

Mark was becoming more and more annoyed. He could call on Chimetrice for help, and it would be the most efficient and safe move. However, Mark did not want to. It was not a matter of pride. It was just...

Closing his eyes, Mark sighed. At this moment, the four [Fighter Mechids] took the opportunity and attacked him again from four directions.

Mark's eyes immediately opened, evading the four attacks like before. He appeared again in another place, but this time, he did not try to counterattack but hovered in place instead.

A reddish glint appeared in Mark's eyes.

That was right. It was not a matter of pride.

It was just...

Mark wanted to end these toys with his own hands.

Due to the nature of the power of death, Mark was clearly not in his perfect state of mind. He was overflowing with bloodlust and was actually on the verge of going berserk. The headache and ringing in his ear were the results of him doing his best to resist the malevolent urge.

Mark's current opponent was not only the four [Fighter Mechids] in front of him but also himself. Furthermore, he was far from fully recovering from the battle with Sinogo, and he was far from his perfect state.

Even so, it was amazing that Mark was able to fight toe to toe with four [Fighter Mechids] despite his current state.

Mark was sure that this new power overflowing within him was the reason he was on the verge of going mad. This new power was trying to overtake his reasoning.

And becoming berserk right now was not a good thing. The enemy was not just some thugs. They were overpowered robotic beings with an artificial intelligence behind them capable of controlling the four in almost perfect unison.

Mark's left hand began to emit a milky white glow. It was at these times that Mark wished that the [Healing Hands] he inherited from his ancestor could affect himself. He really needed some soothing in his current mental state.

CLANG!

Mark hit his head with his left palm, causing the metallic sound as his gauntlet and helmet clashed. His head was hurting too much that he could not feel anything when he hit himself. And, of course, the white glow in his hand did not do anything.

The four [Fighter Mechids] did not charge at Mark this time. Their artificial intelligence clearly deemed Mark to be doing something it could not fathom and became cautious.

Mark glared at the four enemies. Were they mocking him? Such a nonsensical thought flashed in his mind. After all, there was no way these pieces of scrap metal would have any sort of emotions to mock him.

It was clear that Mark's mental state was slowly being eroded.

But at this time, a voice entered Mark's ear.

A voice composed of four different tones.

It was a voice familiar to Mark.

Mark opened his mouth, speaking along with the voice at the same time.

"Do not let it consume me. Consume it instead. I am not the prey... I am the predator."

The malevolent rage in Mark's eyes intensified. It was as if his entire being was swallowed by the malevolent nature of the power of death.

At the same time, a black haze covered Mark's body as if swallowing him whole.

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