Mutagen

Day 253 - 9:16 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes

The battle in the northeast area of the crater continued. It was quite a shock, but it seemed that the [Mechids] released the previous day and night exceeded a thousand. Worse, these numbers were the only ones trying to attack the Diwata Iraya's forces. There were actually more that had already managed to scale the mountainous walls of the crater in other areas. Those that did immediately came to aid the [Mechids] inside against Mark and Chiemetrice.

Casualties began to emerge among the warriors. It was something expected in a battle of this scale. It was fortunate that the presence of the members of Mark's group managed to keep the numbers to a minimum.

Still, even a single casualty among the two hundred plus warriors was a large loss considering they were against more than a thousand [Mechids] already. Thus, for every casualty they got, the remaining warriors had no choice but to put more effort into fighting the [Mechids].

But at this time...

Everyone froze and shuddered.

None of them understood what had happened, and that sudden lapse in their concentration could have caused many of them their lives.

Strangely, however, it was not only the people fighting the [Mechids]. The [Mechids], themselves, froze a bit for some unknown reason.

Among those affected by the strange phenomenon, Mei was the most perturbed by the situation. She immediately opened her beautiful rainbow-scaled wings and flew up to the mountain peaks while tapping on the ring on her finger, filled with concern.

Worse, she was not receiving an immediate reply from Mark.

As Mei reached the peak, her enhanced eyesight helped to see the situation immediately.

There, Mei saw a ball of gray mist floating in the sky. Others might have hesitations about the situation, but Mei immediately knew that Mark was within that ball.

The most dangerous part was that Mei could see four reddish blurs constantly attacking the ball of mist. Unexpectedly, it seemed that the attacks of the [Mechids] were passing through the ball of mist and hitting nothing.

And then, the most unexpected thing happened...

The [Mechids] around the crater began rerouting. Those fighting the warriors just now also began to retreat, moving to another mountain and bypassing the intruders to the crater.

There was no doubt that the [Mechids] abandoned the notion of killing the intruders to their lair to deal with the most pressing threat.

And that threat was most likely no other than Mark.

Mei began to worry as she raised her weapon. She did not understand what was going on and why Mark was within that ball of gray mist. It was different from [Miasma], which was black-colored. Furthermore, it was under constant attack from those extremely fast-moving [Mechids]. And now, a swarm of flying [Mechids] of different variants could be seen taking off from different areas of the crater, flying towards Mark.

It was dangerous to interfere. Mei knew that. However, the situation did not seem favorable to Mark at all, and she had yet to receive any reply from him.

Mei began to aim, activating her [Bullet Time]. Her eyes narrowed as her vision enhanced. The barely visible red-colored [Mechids] began to slow down in her eyes. Although still fast, she could now see the movements of the four [Mechids] attempting to kill Mark. After adjusting the distance and reading the target's patterns, she was ready to pull the trigger.

But then... Mei shuddered once more. Not only her, but the phenomenon actually reached the entirety of the island of Catanduanes. The weaker people of the island even fell to their knees as they succumbed to the innate fear that crept up their spines. There were also those who passed out, while the least courageous among them began to wet their pants.

In the military outpost in San Andres, southmost of the island, most soldiers lowered their guns as their bodies shivered uncontrollably.

In the settlement in Codon, the mercenaries shivered. Their pasts, where they fought against death on the battlefields, flashed in their minds.

In the Rebel Settlement in Napo, the rebels shivered as they hugged their own bodies. Being a rebel did not guarantee them a peaceful life, and they were always at wit's end due to the fear they felt within their bodies.

Cries of children could be heard from three settlements, with the adults unable to do anything due to the fear they were experiencing.

That innate fear...

The fear of death.

Life had a start and always an end. That end was death. It was an end that no one would be able to escape.

The phenomenon continued to loom over the island of Catanduanes. Although the phenomenon did not carry any killing intent, it still made everyone feel death looming over them.

Mei immediately turned towards the ball of gray mist. She noticed that it actually grew bigger than before.

At the same time, the [Mechids] began to act even more frantic. Even those [Mechids] fighting against Chimetrice left amidst the battle and turned towards Mark's direction.

Diwata Iraya, Morlkil, and Ordulk left their warriors and hurried up the mountain peaks. Their warriors had lost the will to fight due to the phenomenon. On the other hand, the [Mechids] had already left the battle on the northwestern side of the crater.

The rest of Mark's group also went to follow Mei. By the looks of it, the effects of the phenomenon were way lesser for the members of Mark's group. The effects could also be resisted by powerful beings and, most of all, [Mutators], who had strong mental and emotional traits, had no problem resisting the strong effects on them.

Atop the peak, Mei saw what was happening clearly. The others might have a hard time assessing the situation, but Mei's eyes allowed her to see it far better.

Mei could not help but worry even more. She really wanted to help Mark.

But then... Mei's ring vibrated in fixed intervals.

"Don't."

Mei read the message sent in morse code.

After a worrying while, Mark finally responded to Mei's calls. Mei put her weapon down. She was still worried, but if Mark said so, she would put her trust in him.

Then, an unexpected guest appeared with a frantic expression.

"What the hell is going on here!!!"

A girl could be seen appearing in the sky, looking shocked with her multiple eyes opened wide as she saw the ball of gray mist floating within the crater.

The girl tried to fly towards the ball of mist, disregarding the [Mechids] around. However, she stopped mid-way as her body shivered uncontrollably. She immediately turned around, and her eyes fell on Mei and the others. Without hesitation, she disappeared from her original location and appeared in front of Mei.

"What is with that?!!!"

Thirteenth, the [Eye of Excitement] cried out, asking the frantic question to Mei and the others.

However, none of them were able to answer. It was not only because the people she asked knew nothing at all but because Thirteenth forgot to turn down the godly aura she was emitting. This showed how agitated she was.

At this moment, the Deity, Diwata Iraya, moved forward. As Deity like her could at least stave off the powerful aura from the [Eye of Excitement].

"Please, turn down your aura. No one would be able to communicate in this case."

Diwata Iraya said with a bit of hidden hostility. The [Diwata] did not have any favorable impression of the [Eyes]. However, this was not the time and place for settling grudges and stuff.

Thirteenth finally realized her blunder. Nonetheless, she did not even turn to Diwata Iraya to respond and just turned down the aura she was emitting. In the end, she still focused on Mei and with the same question.

"What happened to him?"

The tone was a bit calmer, but her expression was not that different from before.

However, the only question that Mei could answer was...

"We don't know."

***

Inside the crater, Mark hovered within the ball of gray mist with his eyes closed. Sweat could be seen forming from his forehead from time to time, only to evaporate almost immediately.

This gray mist was not mist. It was actually the [Aura of Death]. If [Miasma] was pitch black due to its corrupted and destructive nature, the [Aura of Death] was gray due to its connection with life and souls.

After all, death would not exist without life, and the colors of the purest souls were shades of white.

From the voice that echoed within Mark's head, he needed to swallow the malevolent nature of the [Aura of Death]. However, getting covered with the ball of the [Aura of Death] was clearly the opposite of swallowing it. It was more like he was being swallowed by it from another's perspective.

However, Mark was clear that he was not being swallowed by it. In order to swallow the malevolent intent, he needed to let all of it out first. Letting the intent out meant releasing all of the [Aura of Death] from his body.

At first, one would think that it would not be easy. After all, Mark had just learned that some freak of a Goddess actually gave him something absurd. However, it was not an issue with Mark.

Mark had [Miasma] always circulating within his body, not to mention that his new ability, [Magical Energy Manifestation] gained from the crystal of the Earth Demon, increased his ability to control energies within his body.

Thus, letting the [Aura of Death] out did not pose that much of a difficult task. Of course, it still required time. There was no way he could let new energy he barely grasped out in one go. It caused the [Aura of Death] surrounding his body to grow bigger and bigger.

It was a dangerous task. After all, the [Mechids] would surely not just watch while he did his thing. That was why Mark activated his [Shadow Mist Movement] at the same time. It allowed him to escape into a subspace to evade any possible attacks. However, for some reason, he could not sense any incoming attack, which bothered him greatly. Unfortunately, he needed to focus and bring this new power fully under his control.

Unknown to Mark, the [Aura of Death] already created a defense mechanism of its own. After a large amount of the [Aura of Death] was released in one single spot, it created a domain of its own where only the living and the dead could enter.

And the [Mechids], who were not living beings, could not pass into the domain at all.

After all the [Aura of Death] was released, the new markings on Mark's body dimmed in color.

Mark opened his eyes. He could not see anything but darkness. However, Mark could feel the [Aura of Death] surrounding him. He had the urge to swallow this energy using his [Miasma]. However, Mark had already noticed. This aura and his [Miasma] did not show any rejection against each other while inside his body. In fact, the two coexisted too smoothly that he never noticed the [Aura of Death] inside his body until it was awakened by his [Demon Transformation].

With this thought, Mark went against using the aura to recover his weakened [Miasma]. If the two energies could coexist, he could make use of both.

But for that matter, Mark needed to eliminate the malevolent nature of the aura first.

Mark raised his head, facing the sky. He closed his eyes once more and let the [Aura of Death] enter his body through his forehead. Mark did not know why he was doing it like this, but he instinctually did it. It was as if the voice was helping him and manipulating his body to take the right steps.

The [Aura of Death] entered Mark's head.

"ACK!"

It was painful. Mark felt like his head was about to split. Still, he noticed that the malevolent intent and the [Aura of Death] became separated from each other. The intent was left inside his mind while the aura continued to flow back into his body.

Mark finally understood. It was the benefit of being an [Empath]. He was able to filter the intent, which carried emotions out of the pure aura.

The process was painful, but it was working.

With the malevolent intent beginning to lose the power of the [Aura of Death], it would be nothing but emotion without impact or strength to influence his mind. Mark would be able to subdue it in no time, and the aura that flowed back to his body became purer.

The process continued for a minute or two. As it went on, Mark felt the energy within his body surging wilder than before.

And this new power began to stimulate new changes in Mark's highly adaptive body.

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