Mutagen

Day 234 - 10:15 PM - Trampled Ruins, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo

Flames raged on the back of the [Boss of Oshiage]. Parts of its carapace glowed with an amber-like hue. The charring on her humanoid upper body slowly thickened, forming another layer of armor to protect her naked breast and stomach. And lastly, the gigantic blades that made up her arms glowed bright orange, indicating the high temperatures it had.

Furthermore, the transformations were still at the beginning stage.

Although a bit slower, minute changes could be observed on her body as the [Boss of Oshiage] continued to attack the Priestess.

SHING! CRASH!

The swinging of its gigantic blades echoed as it sliced through the air and everything else on its way.

"GAH! Why are you only chasing after me?!" The Priestess yelled in frustration before turning in a certain direction. "And you! Why are you just watching?!"

The person in question, Mark, was currently sitting on the rooftop ledge of a slightly intact but inclined ruined building. Since the [Boss of Oshiage] was not giving the Priestess any leeway to cheekily shoot talismans at him, Mark had a little bit of free time.

This was one disadvantage of a three-way fight. If two of the three got into a heated exchange, the remaining one would have a nice free time to watch and relax. It was pretty much what was happening right now. While it was not exactly a three-way fight, since there were more than a thousand participants in the horde, only three people were at the center of the battle, and the others were more or less just a nuisance.

What about the [Ruin Stalkers]? Those fast-moving ruin-dwelling [Infected] would definitely not leave Mark alone, right?

Well, the Priestess' sea of flames killed a huge population of the [Infected] horde in the area. And among those kills were the entire population of the [Ruin Stalkers] and other fast-moving [Mutated Infected].

That result was not surprising. Since the [Ruin Stalkers], [Predator Types], and [Agility Types] moved faster than other [Infected], their kinds were the closest to the fight. And, of course, they were within the scope of the Priestess' area of effect attack.

It was not like there were no other [Infected] left. It was just that most of the remaining [Infected] was not that agile to bother Mark from where he was watching.

And if some of the [Infected] could annoy Mark...

BOOM!

Mark would nonchalantly throw a black fireball at them, killing them immediately.

Most of the remaining annoyances were the [Spitter Types]. After all, whatever they could spit from their bodies would reach quite far away.

And it was not like Mark was getting bored or anything. He was actually watching the [Boss of Oshiage] quite intently. After all, she was showing pretty strange behavior.

The [Boss of Oshiage] developed a slight emotional fluctuation. She also mutated amidst the terrifying attack that the Priestess unleashed.

Most importantly, an [Infected's] mutation process was not something one would be able to see every day, not to mention a [Patient Zero], which was a special existence even among the [Infected].

Mark was not just engraving the scene into his mind, either. He actually took out a video camera to record the occasion. It might not be that good to record a video during the night, but thanks to the Priestess' flames and her bright halo, Mark had free lighting to record the subject as clearly as possible. The camera he had was pretty expensive too. It was something that he would not dream of being capable of buying before the apocalypse.

Seeing that Mark was ignoring her, the Priestess frowned. She wanted to fight Mark, but this monster chasing after her was not giving her a break. Worse, her fireballs stopped working on the mutating [Boss of Oshiage]. They would at least leave scorch marks before, but now, the fireballs would not even leave anything on the flame-covered body of the enemy. Even her lightning talismans were barely working.

And that forced the Priestess to change tactics.

With a wave of her arms, another barrage of talismans flew towards the [Boss of Oshiage]. However, instead of burning to ashes, the talismans dissolved into pieces as jetstreams of water shot out of them.

The [Boss of Oshiage] could only stop on its tracts as it faced the water jets from the Priestess.

Compared to fire and lightning, water element attacks had less destructive power. However, it had heavier force, flexibility, and, most importantly, water was fire's weakness in the practice of [Onmyodo].

And even if not within the practice, water attacks would be far more suitable to fight the current state of the [Boss of Oshiage].

The [Boss of Oshiage] was stopped, but the Priestess was done fighting this unwanted enemy.

As the Priestess retreated a significant distance, the Priestess began conjuring another pentagram with her talismans.

"Moku Ka Don Kin Sui!"

The Priestess chanted the same opening line.

However, this time, the disintegration of the talismans started with the Wood Element Talisman, with the last being the Water Element Talisman.

"Source of life, accumulate and gather." The Priestess glared as she yelled. "Swallow mine adversary!"

A huge amount of elemental energy surged from the imaginary pentagram the Priestess conjured as water gushed out of the formation. And in the blink of an eye, a six-meter tsunami swallowed everything in front of the Priestess.

Mark had no choice but to abandon his position. The tidal wave that the Priestess conjured was far taller than the building ruins he was sitting at.

The gigantic wave spread forward, swallowing everything in its path. Not only the [Boss of Oshiage] and the remaining [Infected], but even the taller buildings that the flames were unable to reach were submerged.

Unlike the flames, which only covered a particular area, the water spread out through everything it could pass. Many debris and [Infected] were pushed out as the water even flowed past outside the Forbidden Zone.

After being covered in hellish flames, the Forbidden Zone now turned into a submerged ruin.

The sudden change in temperature collapsed even more buildings. Many [Infected] died, while more were thrown out of their territory.

And as for the [Boss of Oshiage], the sudden change in the temperature of its body caused it to harden, creating a five-meter statue in the middle of the Forbidden Zone.

Mark flapped his wings as he flew over the disaster the Priestess created. And from what he could tell, the [Boss of Oshiage] was now dead.

It was an unexpected and anti-climatic death. The [Boss of Oshiage] sure mutated and gained more strength. It was very likely that she managed to gain power using the Priestess' flames as the catalyst. Unfortunately, that was both lucky and unlucky since the Priestess' powers were not limited to fire and lightning. With the boss having a body of flames, it became too vulnerable to water. While a meager amount of water would not be able to stop its rampage, a tsunami-like amount of water definitely could.

And at this scene, Mark looked a little disappointed. He was a little interested to see what the final form the [Boss of Oshiage] would take after its mutation finished its final stages.

"Haah..."

Mark shrugged as he immediately flew out of the way.

Without warning, a huge tree root shot from below Mark. And even though he already flew out of the way, it twisted and turned, following his movements.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

Mark flew out of range of the first root, but a few more appeared on his path. A few even tore through the ruins, while others squashed the [Infected] instead of coming after Mark.

And the culprit for these tree roots...

"Hmmp!"

The slightly angry Priestess stood above another ruined building that was slightly above the water that had yet to drain fully.

With another wave of her sleeves, several talismans flew. However, instead of shooting toward Mark, these talismans flew to the ground below Mark's location. The talismans submerged under the water before conjuring the gigantic tree roots, which attacked Mark and the [Infected] in the area.

It was now time to continue the fight. With this thought, Mark stored the video camera back into his [Spatial Ring]. He then flew towards the Priestess, all while evading the gigantic tree roots swinging at him.

The Priestess had decades of experience using her abilities. While it did not seem like she was thinking about it, she was actually putting many details around her into her mind when using her abilities.

Although it looked as if the Priestess was just hurling fireballs and lightning bolts at Mark repeatedly to no avail, it was more or less to gauge Mark's initial capabilities.

When the [Boss of Oshiage] blocked her fireballs, although the Priestess looked frustrated, she used that massive amount of flames and heat to try and measure how much the boss could endure. Of course, it went out of control as the flames seemed to have caused the boss to mutate. But as soon as she got the chance, she ended the boss with a single attack, taking advantage of the weakness the boss now had.

And now, using the effects of the tsunami she used to kill the [Boss of Oshiage], the Priestess was now conjuring those dozens of meters long roots. Without the water in the surroundings, these roots would be weaker and could only reach half the length of what it was showing now to attack Mark. It was as if defeating the boss and creating an advantageous field for her were both added to her calculations.

BOOOM!

After evading the gigantic tree roots, Mark and the Priestess were once again engaged in close-quarters combat.

At this point, the Priestess was getting more and more frustrated.

Yes, Mark was pushing the fight more than before. However, the Priestess could tell he was not taking it as seriously as she wanted.

Then, there was only one thing that the Priestess could do.

It was to make Mark serious.

BAM!

Mark got pushed away as the Priestess took advantage of the repelling enchantments of her fans. And before Mark could even land, the Priestess already threw a barrage of talismans at him.

Fireballs flew and twisted around Mark, lightning bolts shot at him at lightspeed, strong streams of water burst forth to block his path, and tree roots grew from the ground to restrict his movements.

And if that was not enough, one of the talismans shot under the flood water below Mark. Then...

BAM!

An earthen pillar suddenly shot out of the water. The earthen pillar actually reached Mark, who was flying around eight meters from the ground.

Mark managed to evade at the last second. But if he was hit by the pillar, he would definitely break dozens of bones on his body.

Looking at the barrage of attacks, Mark was sure the Priestess was trying to force him to get serious.

However, this was not enough. Mark still had some leeway in dodging the attacks.

And the Priestess could see that fact as she immediately prepared for another powerful attack.

"Moku Ka Do Kin Sui!"

| сom The Priestess began to chant as she formed another talisman pentagram.

"Nature, absorb thy essence!"

The Priestess yelled, and the talismans withered, starting from the fire talisman and ending with the wood talisman.

"Restrict this opponent of mine!"

RUMBLE!

As the elemental energy from the Priestess converged, the entirety of Oshiage rumbled.

BOOOM!

More buildings collapsed, and the already ruined streets were torn to pieces. Gigantic roots tore everything in their paths as they grew out of the flooded ground. In the blink of an eye, the Forbidden Zone became a plant apocalypse occupied by living roots.

And all of those roots were aiming for a single target.

Mark, besieged by hundred of roots varying in size and length, could only attempt to fly as high as he could. In this scenario, it was the most rational move, as there should be a limit on how long these roots could grow.

But as said before, the Priestess was putting these details into her mind. The roots were a trap, forcing Mark to fly to the sky.

WOOOOM!

Mark's eyes frowned as she felt a strong fluctuation of concentrated energy. It was different from the energy that the Priestess had used so far. And as he turned to look at her, Mark saw that the halo on the Priestess' back was brightly glowing as she conjured another pentagram made by her talismans.

But this time around, there was no chant, and the talismans did not turn into pieces.

SHOOOOOM!

Slightly imbued with the aura of Goddess Amaterasu, the Priestess shot a powerful beam of light at Mark. It was not only powerful, but it was fast and massive.

Evasion was impossible.

Mark smirked. The Priestess indeed managed to force his hands as he encased his body in a shell of [Miasma].

And there, a tower of light shot to the sky witnessed for several hundreds of kilometers away.

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