Mutagen



Day 341 - 1:10 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Riverbank, Kachidoki, Reclaimed City, Ruins of Tokyo

A body akin to flowing magma, enveloped in yellow flames. Such a giant standing over seven meters emerged from the river in Gar'Vlam's place.

The emergence of Gar'Vlam in this form caused the freezing water to begin boiling. The ice that covered the surface of the Sumida River due to the blizzard began to thaw at an alarming rate.

Within the area, a few hundred meters around Gar'Vlam. The coldness of winter snow was replaced with the sizzling temperature of a heatwave. 

Comparing the heat of Shin's flames to Gar'Vlam's, it was akin to a candle flame being compared to a wildfire.

It was as one would expect from the Flame Demon Deity.

The flame giant turned his head, facing Mark. The latter could not help but cold sweat on his back.

Mark could feel the pressure created by Gar'Vlam's presence. It might not be as strong as the presence of the Gods. And even if compared to the [Eyes] and Sinogo, Gar'Vlam's pressure was weaker. However, it was filled with unrestrained hostility against Mark, making it stronger than it was supposed to be.

Gar'Vlam floated over the boiling river. Without a word, or maybe, he could not speak in this form, Gar'Vlam stretched out his right hand at Mark.

And with a higher surge of temperature, a fireball, three times larger than Mark's height, formed in an instant.

"Well... Damn..."

Those were Mark's words as he saw the giant fireball fly in his direction.

Mark's wings flapped as hard as he could as he flew near the surface of the river. Compared to his flight speed, the fireball was much slower. Nonetheless, Mark did not dare to be careless. As soon as the fireball made contact with the river water, Mark used his [Shadow Mist Movement], turning into a surge of black mist and flying faster than before.

And Mark was right with his actions. The moment the fireball made contact with the water, with its temperature higher than the fireballs before, caused a far stronger explosion of steam. But that was the least of everyone's concerns. It was because the fireball exploded into a surge of flames spreading out in every direction.

Without regard for whether it was allies or foes, the surge of flames enveloped the entire area with a shockwave of melting temperatures.

The Serpent God and Amihan were still exchanging horrifying attacks. And the two remained unfazed by the spreading flames. Yamata-No-Orochi's body was far sturdier to be fazed by such flames. On the other hand, Amihan could use her abilities to block the flames and diver it away from her.

Unfortunately, it was not the case for everyone else.

Mark immediately flew to the sky to escape the surge below. Even if he turned into mist, there would be no escape if he remained near the water.

As for the others, their respective fights locked in stalemate were interrupted.

The Priestess and the Empress managed to retreat using their own methods. 

Using [Sukuchi], the Priestess vanished and appeared in every step she took over the surface of the water. In no time at all, she reached a distance she could easily defend against the wave flames.

The Empress used a different method. She gracefully jumped and stepped over the surface of the water, retreating while encasing her body inside a hollow bluish fireball. While the wave of flames caught up with the Empress before she reached a safe distance, her [Fox Flames] negated any damage she should have received.

On the other hand, the enemies of the two were not in too good of a situation.

Aoba was much slower than everyone. He could not retreat in time and was swallowed by the wave of flames. Fortunately, his prided, sturdy body managed to resist the flames. His entire body was singed, but he was still in a shape to continue fighting.

Renea was unfortunate, however. Spiders and flames would not mix well together. Her web traps that hindered the Empress in their battle were all burned to nothingness. And the person herself received no light injuries as the wave of flames caught her. While she managed to retreat far enough not to die, she was in no condition to continue fighting.

The two were angered by Gar'Vlam's actions. However, they could only swallow the insults and curses they wanted to throw toward the Flame Demon Deity. What could they do? They were just subordinates who could not deny the orders given to them. If they defied Gar'Vlam, it would not be surprising if they turned into food for the Serpent God on the spot.

While the effect of Gar'Vlam's attack turned out for the better for the Priestess and the Empress, it was the exact opposite on the other side of the fight.

Since Yukine caught Tsukiko and fled, she was lucky to be away for the moment. 

Kouki managed to stall the fight with Shin and Yoko alone. The powerful [Tengu] would not have such a problem standing against a [Demonized Human] and a barely capable Siren. Unfortunately, he was unable to gain the advantage, either. It became dangerous for him since Shin began using his [Space Tears] to try and rupture Kouki into pieces.

And then, the explosion of Gar'Vlam's attack happened after the emergence of his flame body.

Kouki was unable to flee immediately. The reason was not because he was slower than the wave of flames. It was because Shin was unaffected by the flames and continued attacking Kouki in one hand and protecting Yoko in the other.

The hindered escape caused Kouki to nearly lose one of his wings, burning its feathers and causing instability in his flight. He barely managed to reach the riverbank on the side of Kachidoki. But, by the looks of it, it was better for him to not continue the fight.

As for Shin and Yoko, they were unscathed. Shin's blessing that Gar'Vlam gave him allowed Shin to be unaffected by the flames. He even managed to shield Yoko from it.

The two were able to continue fighting. However, Shin had a different idea.

It might feel bad for them, but Shin grabbed Yoko and took the opportunity to escape. Yoko seemed to be against it since Tsukiko was captured. However, there was nothing much they could do. Once Yukine returned, Yoko would end up in danger. At the least, they knew that Tsukiko was captured alive. If Tsukiko was alive, they could try to retrieve her next time.

Just not now. Not when there were monsters protecting the Reclaimed City.

As Shin escaped with Yoko, Gar'Vlam took a quick glance at them. However, Gar'Vlam did not show any intention to stop Shin. For Gar'Vlam, it was better for Shin to leave this place. It was one less distraction for him.

BOOM!

A sudden explosion caused Gar'Vlam's gigantic body to shake a little.

Gar'Vlam faced forward. His eyes, made of burning flames, stared at Mark. It seemed that while Gar'Vlam was distracted, Mark tried something which caused the explosion.

However, Gar'Vlam felt nothing but a little shake.

And worse, it just made Gar'Vlam even angrier for some reason.

Gar'Vlam raised his hand once again. He was about to conjure another attack. This time, it was a few fireballs about a fourth of the size of the previous one. The one before was large and powerful. However, its size caused the speed to lessen. Sacrificing size and power, Gar'Vlam created fireballs with more speed.

Strange enough, Mark flew down as soon as Gar'Vlam raised his hand. Mark then flew as fast as he could, circling around Gar'Vlam while keeping around two meters distance above the surface of the water.

Gar'Vlam followed Mark, aiming his hand at him.

Finally, Gar'Vlam began his barrage of fireballs. Each fireball, over two meters in size, created large splashes on the river. It was as if Mark was being chased by artillery bombardment.

While dodging the fireballs, Mark finally flew higher.

The enormous fireballs continued to rain in Mark's direction. As Mark did his best to dodge, the fireballs missed, continuing on their trajectory, laying waste to the already ruined Tokyo.

***

Mark felt a bit relieved as Gar'Vlam followed his flight.

One giant Serpent God was already a problem. Fortunately, Amihan was still holding her ground against it. And now, Gar'Vlam turned into another giant. While The Flame Demon Deity was not even around a quarter of the Serpent God's size, a seven-meter giant was still enormous.

Worse, Gar'Vlam's attacks could lay waste to anything without mercy or control.

That was why Mark could only bait Gar'Vlam. Mark flew lower, diverting Gar'Vlam's attention from the background, which was the Reclaimed City. As Gar'Vlam could only see Mark and the river below him, Gar'Vlam failed to notice what Mark was doing.

Mark made Gar'Vlam turn his back on the Reclaimed City. This way, any missed attacks on Mark would not lay waste on the Reclaimed City and fall into the already destroyed ruins of Tokyo instead.

And now, Mark could exchange attacks with Gar'Vlam to his heart's content.

Mark tightened his hands on the weapons he was carrying. However, it was not the combined swords.

In each of Mark's hands, he was holding unto a spherical item. Each item was about the size of a bowling ball.

As Mark evaded another fireball, he spun his body and threw one of the items.

BOOOM!

The item made contact with the flames of Gar'Vlam's body and exploded.

One of these items caused Gar'Vlam's body to shake earlier after Shin's escape.

And the same happened now.

Gar'Vlam's body shook. However, it was not because of the impact of the explosion. It was because the explosion actually took out a good chunk on the magma-like body of Gar'Vlam.

There was no doubt whatever Mark was doing was inflicting damage on Gar'Vlam.

Unfortunately, the damage would not last long. The damage done by the explosion would end up getting covered by the flowing magma afterward. There seemed to be no point at all in what Mark was currently doing.

However, Mark had a smile inside his helmet.

Mark threw the other sphere in his hand at Gar'Vlam. It ended with the same result.

But the only thing that Mark said about such a result was...

"Hmm... It's doable..."

Mark then fetched another pair of those spheres from his [Spatial Ring]. He was ready for another round of bombardment.

At this time, the communication talisman that Mark received from the Priestess glowed inside his armor. 

"You need help?"

The Priestess' voice echoed into Mark's ears.

At this moment, the Priestess and the Empress were watching Mark's fight with Gar'Vlam. The two were freed from their fights after the river thawed due to Gar'Vlam. 

Without the ice covering the surface of the river, there was no foothold for any ground battle to happen. Unfortunately, both the two women had limited capabilities in terms of flight and overwater battles.

The same went for Aoba and Renea, stuck on the opposite side of the river.

It seemed that no one on both sides expected Gar'Vlam to affect the battle this much.

Now, the Priestess and the Empress were contemplating supporting Mark in his fight with Gar'Vlam. The two did not jump into action, realizing that Mark seemed to have plans in case they ended up ruining it.

And Mark's reply?

"Then, can you block his fireballs?"

Mark asked as he continued to dodge the endless fireballs coming his way.

"Want us to protect you?"

The Priestess asked.

"No," Mark replied. "Protect the city. I need to turn this guy facing the Reclaimed City, but his fireballs are dangerous."

"Why turn him around?"

The Priestess was confused.

"No time to explain," Mark answered. "Can you do it or not?"

"Alright..." The Priestess sighed. "I'll trust you and do my best."

And there, the Priestess erected a new barrier. However, since her current capabilities were limited, the barrier only covered the wide area around the docks of Kachidoki.

However, that was more than enough.

Mark immediately flew down to the surface of the river before going around Gar'Vlam. 

Gar'Vlam floated forward and tried to either grab Mark or smash him with his fists. However, his large frame made it harder to catch the tricky Mark.

Mark also flew further when Gar'Vlam tried to get close. Flying close to Gar'Vlam would probably stop him from firing his destructive attacks. However, Mark could not do it since Mark could feel his armor heating up when flying too close to the Flame Demon Deity.

Gar'Vlam was now facing the Reclaimed City, shooting fireballs at Mark like a machine gun. If it was before, the missed attacks would have laid waste to the Reclaimed City. However, the barrier the Priestess erected managed to hold on against the barrage of attacks.

Unfortunately, it would not last long. The barrier was draining the Priestess for every attack it was receiving.

As such, Mark finally made his move, as he charged as close as possible to the center of  Gar'Vlam's chest and threw the metal spheres in his hands right in the center.

BOOOM! BOOOM!

Two explosions occurred simultaneously, creating a gaping hole in Gar'Vlam's magma-like body.

But Mark was not stopping as he immediately took another pair and threw it before the hole in Gar'Vlam's body regenerated.

BOOOM! BOOOM!

And another pair.

BOOOM! BOOOM!

After six simultaneous explosions which caused Gar'Vlam to stagger, the gaping hole in his chest, which reached the center of his body, revealed something unexpected.

Gar'Vlam's true body was there, suspended inside the magma-like body.

It seemed that Gar'Vlam was also surprised. He never expected Mark to see through this ability.

But as Gar'Vlam tried to retaliate after his body was exposed, a beam of light shot from one of Kachidoki's buildings. That familiar beam of light, but thinner and had more penetrating power, shone from that building and through Gar'Vlam's chest.

Gar'Vlam's eyes widened as his magma-like shell began to fall apart. He looked down. A hole could be seen in his chest, which obliterated the core of this body of his.