Mutagen



Day 341 - 1:25 PM - Final Defense Line, Ariake, Reclaimed City, Ruins of Tokyo

[Infected] through the bridge and [Mechids] over the water. Enemies were coming closer to Ariake at every second. And the first ones to attempt to take the first step behind the Defense Line were the [Mechids].

Hover Transports with energy shields. It was something the forces of the Reclaimed City were unprepared for. As the first enemy vessels jumped over the miraculous seabed wall and past the coastal barrier, the soldiers and volunteers prepared for a dangerous close-quarters fight against the alien robots. But what the people around did not expect was the move of a seemingly harmless girl with green hair.

Emika moved her head in a circular manner, making her hair create a powerful spinning momentum. And as she reached the fastest speed she could go, Emika released her [Mutator Ability], turning her hair into thick vines, whipping and latching onto the Hover Transport mid-air. The barrier around the Hover Transport prevented direct impact with the vines, but that did not matter, as the vines latched swiftly around the barrier before throwing the vessel back to where it jumped from, outside the seabed wall.

The barrier protected the Hover Transport from any attacks it received. However, there was little it could do to protect its cargo from falling after its balance got thrown off by the vines in did not manage to tear through.

Without resistance, [Mechids], unsuited for underwater functions, fell into the water. While it would be questionable if this would break them, considering these robots could resist the vacuum of space. But without specific underwater functions, it would be extremely difficult for most of them to return to battle.

Ignoring the fact that the first Hover Transport got repelled, or maybe they did not have time to calculate and react to the unexpected situation, the other Hover Transports still jumped over the seabed wall.

Unfortunately, unlike the first Hover Transport that managed to jump past the coastal wall, the following Hover Transports failed to jump even just over the seabed wall. The thick wall of vines shot toward them with the same momentum as before, swatting every Hover Transport mid-air like flies.

The crowd cheered in pleasant surprise. It was the same for the people watching through the monitors inside the laboratory.

Emika protected Ariake from the initial attack of the [Mechids]. A little girl, barely a teen, could do such. Why could not the adults do the same? While ability could be an issue, they could at least have the same bravery as this young female warrior.

As the fighting morale increased further, the intensity of the fight surged. Even so, the agitated [Infected] was still a problem at the bridge, while there was also the issue with the forces from Shinonome retreating from their posts.

At this time, a radio call from the retreating forces entered the communication line.

"Dawn Defense Troops to Ariake Defense Line. Field Commander, Sir. Do you read?"

The Field Commander was pretty surprised. After all, he could already see the retreating forces of the Defense Troops from Shinonome, and they were only contacting through the radio at this moment.

"We can already see the retreating troops from Shinonome. Why is the contact only coming right now?"

But the reply shook the hearts of those who heard it.

"Sorry, Sir, but I am not within the retreating forces. We failed to establish contact since there was a communication jam until now. The Defense Line in the Shinonome border had fallen. A few of us stayed behind to cover the retreat of the troops you could now see. Please, do not send rescue or reinforcements and establish a secondary Defense Line toward Shinonome."

"Sh*t! Group up! They're here!"

The soldier on the other side of the radio was interrupted by the shouting of other soldiers on their side. And in a hurry, the soldier said a few last words. Sir, please tell our families we love t-."

The communication got cut off, leaving nothing but static. It seemed that the communication jap happened again.

And then, everyone turned their heads in the direction of Shinonome.

It was because a pillar of black flames exploded over the buildings after the communication got cut off.

Those flames caused the soldiers and other people to panic. However, it was the complete opposite for the members of Evernight, as they were familiar with those black flames.

At this time, Berrak's shouts echoed towards the other members of Evernight.

"Hey! Look at the wall! Below the water!"

Berrak's shouts pushed Odelina to take point. And as she did, a four-legged spider-like [Mechid] jumped over the wall in front of her. It seemed that some of the passengers of the Hover Transports managed to traverse the short distance to the wall and climb up.

The spider-like [Mechid] twice Odelina's size immediately raised its right front leg to pierce the human in front of it. Everyone exclaimed. It was dangerous, after all. And because Odelina stood in front of the [Mechid], the soldiers could not shoot.

Everyone expected a disaster.

Unfortunately for everyone's expectations and that [Mechid], it showed up in front of Evernight's head maid and third in command.

Odelina raised her left arm against the trajectory of the leg. The two limbs of different sizes clashed. The [Mechid] was unable to pierce through, even if its gears began to creak and its wires exuded sparks due to the force it was trying to give out. And then, Odelina calmly raised her other hand and punched out.

BAM!

Everyone had another wave of shock as they saw the [Mechid] lose its balance and fall to the water with a gaping hole in its body. After the [Mechid] fell out of sight, the only one left for everyone to look at was the maid clenching her fist with a strange bone-line armor around her wrists.

The Field Commander saw the prowess of the members of Evernight. He was surprised and relieved at the same time. He then began issuing orders to support the retreating forces from Shinonome and to begin forming a new Defense Line to the East.

ROOOAR!

A roar echoed at the bridge. The Defense Forces and Berrak's summons were holding on tightly. No [Infected] could pass through the living barricade the summoned monsters established.

But as the slower [Infected] began to catch up, more powerful [Infected] began to flood the bridge.

The roar just now came from a five-meter [Infected] with a rock-like body. Did the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] throw this giant too? While that was a legitimate question, no one had the time to answer it. The giant was moving straight forward, rushing like a tank. It did not care whether it had to push its own allies off the bridge. It only wanted to attack the humans on the other side.

Knowing that it was an [Armor and Tank Type Infected], the [Vanguard Soldiers] readied their special cannons for another volley. But to everyone's surprise, the giant grabbed a few [Infected] in front of it and threw it against the trajectory of the special shells the soldiers fired, causing one of the shells to explode mid-air and cause a chain reaction.

The giant [Infected] was a highly intelligent one, it seemed.

Fortunately, the [Vanguard Soldiers] were ready for these kinds of situations. Not all of them fired their cannons. It was a multiple-volley defense. Even if reloading the cannons would take twenty to thirty seconds, they were ready to fire another volley if the first one failed.

The next volley shot forward, and the giant [Infected] tried to block it with the same tactic. However, the gap between the shells this time was wider. Even if a few special shells exploded mid-air, not all would get caught in a chain reaction.

And this time, the electric field covered the giant [Infected's] body and the path before it.

But to everyone's dismay, the giant [Infected] only stopped for a few seconds. It then roared in rage and accelerated its advance.

The giant [Infected] ran forward with loud thumps of its legs. It put its right arm forward, charging at everything in front of it. As it ran, its speed increased. If no one stopped it, even the golems blocking the bridge would not withstand its charge.

But at the opportune moment, a black hole appeared in front of it. Without being able to stop its steps, it involuntarily entered the hole in space. The next thing everyone noticed after that was the same black hole appearing hundreds of meters above the Serpent God. And there, the same giant [Infected] flailing in the sky at it fell on top of one of the heads of the Serpent God.

ROOOOOOOARRR!!!

The Serpent God roared in pain and saw the culprit. The head that got hit opened its mouth immediately and caught the giant [Infected], crushing its stone-like body into pieces with its teeth before spitting the corpse out.

And that amazing fiasco, a smaller hole appeared in front of the bridge, and the familiar member of Evernight Group came out.

As she arrived, Spera ignored the stares of the unfamiliar people and faced Odelina and Ren.

"Mark told me to help here instead."

Spera said.

Ren sighed in relief. Spera's portals could really be of help here. And if the worst came, she could probably help transport the people here to somewhere safer.

SCREEEEEEEEECH!!!

At this time, another screech came out of the [Siren of Death's] mouth, seeing that her forces were unable to push through the human's defenses.

But this time, it would be different.

SHOOOOM!!!

From the flying vessel in the sky, a beam of light shot toward the annoying [Siren of Death]. The attack came very unexpectedly. Still, the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] actually attempted to raise its right arm to protect the [Siren of Death].

Unfortunately for the two named [Infected], that beam could melt through a blockade of cars, not to mention a blockade of corpses.

The beam tore through the abomination's arm and swallowed the siren's entirety. And as the [Siren of Death's] entire body melted due to the extreme heat, she gave her dying screech.

Unlike the previous ones, this screech was extremely loud, to the point of making everyone's ears hurt.

At first, everyone thought that it was just a screech of pain until all the [Infected] within a few kilometers roared and growled in unison. It was like when a horde had been alerted in a certain popular game several years ago.

And then, all the [Infected] within the range of the screech had their eyes exude a reddish glow.

The previous screeches of the [Siren of Death] caused agitation among the [Infected]. But now, all of them were straight-up berserk.

Even the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] began to move forward. With its gigantic body, it would be able to cross the waters without problems.

Following the abomination's charge, everyone could see thousands of [Infected] on the other coast throwing themselves into the water in an attempt to cross it. And in the sky, thousands of shadows appeared, all with eyes glowing bright red under the cloudy winter daylight.

"Everyone, get ready," Odelina took command over the members of Evernight. "Master hasn't fought yet because he's watching over us. We should show that he can leave this place to us."

The members of Evernight nodded. After spending time within the base, while Mark was mostly emotionless and cold, he could be a worrywart toward his own people. Although Mark gave the same treatment to the NPC units that he controlled in the games he played. But at least he would give more emphasis on his real followers because you could not reload reality if something went wrong.

With Odelina's orders, everyone prepared for the berserk retaliation of the [Infected]. And seeing the members of Evernight going into action, the present members of the Temple and Black Lotus also followed suit.

But as everyone's preparations seemed simple and straightforward, the Evernight Group, once again, caught the attention of people around them.

It was because the girl before opened another portal at the request of one of the maids, in which they called upon an orange-armored monster with a mouth on its stomach. The maid then jumped onto the monster's shoulder, ready to fight.

On the other hand, their three youngest members showed something more eye-catching. The two had pets beside them, while the oldest of the three had a younger-looking maid.

And the three girls uttered.

"Cavall..."

"Inaba..."

"Brunhildr..."

"""...Valkyrie Mode!"""

To everyone's shock, the bodies of the pets and maid began transforming in a mechanical way, showing pieces of machinery inside their bodies before they became equipment to be worn by the three girls.

The [Vanguard Soldiers] that saw that could not help but complain inside their hearts. They thought their [Vaguard Armors] were already cool. But what could be cooler than what they had just seen? In any case, they could only keep their comments within their hearts. It was not the time for anything else but the intent to fight.

ROOOOAR!!!

It was because not only more of the enemies were coming. The [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] was already on its way.