Mutagen

<strong>Day 54 – 11:02 AM – Industrial Area, South District, Bay City Settlement, Parañaque City, Metro Manila</strong>

Outside the Industrial Area, the General and the other military officers waited impatiently. From their expressions, anyone could tell that the operation to deal with the rebels and capture the perpetrators were at a not very optimal status. Instead of securing the perpetrators, their soldiers were the ones being secured. Although many soldiers were already able to adopt the right approach towards the strange enemies, there were still those that fell victim and vanished into the shadows.

Due to the impatience of the officers, they already started to supervise the communication and directly gave orders to the squads inside the Industrial Area. It was then that they received an unexpected report from the sniper squads.

"Break! Break!"

A voice shouting through the radio traffic caused it to clear.

"Eagle 1 to HQ! Eagle 1 to HQ! We spotted one of the main targets leaving the management building. Target 3 with the reddish colored robe jumped out of the building through the window on the third floor. Over!"

"This is HQ, Eagle 1, where is the target going? Over."

The one that answered this was Captain Dela Rosa himself.

"Please wait!" There was a short pause. "The target is capable of flight and just landed on the crane! Two more people appeared out if thin air on the crane! Please give instructions! Over!"

"Just stand by until further instruction is given. Over."

"Yes sir! Over and out!"

Hearing that, Captain Dela Rosa hurriedly peeked out of the command vehicle since the tower crane could be seen even outside the Industrial Area. As the captain tried to get a clearer view, he saw that the other officers and soldiers around were already watching the scene where two of the figures on the crane started to fight.

"General, the sniper team is asking for instructions about the target on the crane."

Captain Dela Rosa spoke to the general which seemed to have something on his mind as he watched the scene on the crane through a pair of binoculars. To the captain's question however, instead of answering it, the general started to speak about something else.

"Dela Rosa, do you remember our suspicion that Senator Estrada could not be the one who are killing the survivor teams under those pigs."

"Yes General."

"Didn't they say that the only witness saw two people wearing robes similar to the ones the people from that organization?"

"I also remember that." At this moment, Captain Dela Rosa realized what the General was trying to say. "Is it perhaps those two fighting with the target?"

"We have no proof but it is very likely. Tell the sniper squads to not interfere with those on the crane right now and concentrate on aiding the ground troops."

"Yes Sir!"

While everyone outside was gazing at the ongoing battle on the crane, a sudden horrible move was made by the enemy camp.

"Storm 1 to HQ! Storm 1 to HQ! The enemies finally appeared in droves! They are too powerful! We need more people!"

Not only was that radio message heard. Following the message, the gunshots inside the Industrial Area intensified as the main enemy forces finally appeared.

***

On the jib of the Crane, Mark watched the battle between Mei and Flam. The two already had dozens of exchanges while trying not to be bothered by the beams and metal supports on the crane. Still, none of the two gained the advantage until now.

In terms of speed and flexibility, Mei was superior but in terms of battle experience and insight, it was obvious that Flam had the advantage. Even though Flam was hardly moving and was only receiving the attacks, none of the attacks Mei had made actually hit his body. Each attack would either be dodged or blocked with the scabbard of his sword.

If not for the psychic ability Mark gave Mei, she would have lost in this fight already. [Force Blink], that was the ability Mei received from the [Mental Crystal] containing the psychic ability of Elailia, the last princess of Eriellis. Like Freed, her psychic ability was also a movement type. It was another similarity Mark found between Psypathogen and Mutagen. People related to each other was very likely to get similar abilities.

Elailia's ability however was just [Short Range Teleportation] which allowed her to transport herself to a desired place within a short distance instantaneously. That was how a young girl like here that did not have much battle capability was able to last till the final battle. The ability the princess had no regard to obstacles or dimension and she was able to move in and out of an enclosed space without any problem as long as she was able to fit in that space. The setback however was that she could not use it to teleport inside things and the ability would fail if there was not enough space to fit her body at the desired location.

After Mei received that ability however, it evolved and it was very likely that it was because of her physical constitution. When she activated that ability, an invisible ellipsoid energy barrier would surround the space around her body. The size and shape of the barrier would vary depending on the dimension occupied by her body. If she activated the ability while stretching her hands out, the barrier would be larger and wider while if she used it while crouched down, the barrier would be smaller and shorter. After the barrier was erected, that was only when she would vanish from her initial position.

As for what the barrier could do…

BAM!

Finally, Flam was sent flying and his back hit one of the steel beams on the crane.

When Mei vanished and appeared behind Flam, the latter managed to read her move and preemptively counter attacked. He charged forward to where Mei would appear which made him enter the space occupied by the invisible barrier when she appeared.

Anything that was not included in her movement when she appeared would all be pushed away by the barrier. There were also restrictions as to what would be pushed away and it was those that could be moved by force. If the thing inside the barrier when she appeared was an immovable wall or someone powerful enough to withstand the push of the barrier, it would be Mei who would be pushed away.

Unfortunately, the restriction in distance did not change at all. Mei could only travel up to four meters away from the initial point where the ability was activated. Any more than that was impossible.

Still, those restrictions did not matter at all in Mark's eyes. Just being able to move instantaneously was already envying. Although he could also move fast, there was still a delay as he needed to travel the actual distance he wanted to go. His [Shadow Mist Movement] was fast but not instantaneous.

Tossing those thoughts aside, Mark felt proud about Mei's improvement when he was gone. Being able to fight like this now was amazing since she was nothing but a powerless trapped princess when he found her. It was quite a pity though that he was not there to witness the process of her growth.

"Tch! I got careless."

Flam voiced out as he wiped the blood at the corner of his lips. The force that pushed him away was not a joke at all. It was even more painful than blocking the bullets from the pistol Mei had. It felt like he was hit by a speeding truck.

However, the smile on his face just got deeper as he felt the pain in his body.

"This is getting really fun! You're not strong physically but that power of yours is superb! Come on! Fight!"

Like a madman, Flam started laughing. He removed his hood revealing the young face he had. It was a Mark had estimated, Flam's appearance was really like a high school student that had yet to graduate in his final year. However, Mark would not expect that his real age was the same as what he looked like.

After removing his hood, Flam used his right hand and reached for the handle of the sword on his back.

"I haven't had fun like this for a long time. It would be a shame if I don't go all out!"

Flam then pulled out the sword from the scabbard revealing an odd looking blade.

The blade of the sword was not shaped similarly to the shape of the scabbard. Instead, the six foot long blade was shaped like a wave which made it enough to be put into a shorter scabbard.

Seeing the sword Mark looked with interest.

"So, you're main body is a Flamberge?"

Mark spoke his assumption which made the enemy look at him with surprise.

"You're able to see through me? Amazing!"

Flam replied in glee. There were very few that were able to see through his true nature and those people were the ones worth fighting. It just meant that not only one but there was two people here that were strong enough to interest him.

Mark on the other hand nodded in understanding. The enemy just confirmed his assumption. When this guy appeared, he already noticed the two consciousness he had and the sinister aura coming from that sword on his back. Although it might sound like fantasy, he could only conclude that the sword was a cursed weapon and the young man was being possessed by the sword.

Still, he did not expect that the sword would be a Flamberge.

The Flamberge was also known with the names Flame-Bladed Sword and Wave-Bladed Sword.  It was a sword that was likely of German or Swedish descent during the 13th century.

Of course, it was more popular to Mark as a sword found in a lot of role-playing games.

Still, Mark could not help but find the sword in being held by the enemy odd. The wave of the blades was more prominent causing it to be wider than normal.

"I'm not really fond of talking about myself so…" Flam spoke and stretched his neck. "Let's continue!"

Flam smiled. There, his demeanor changed. Mark and Mei could feel the energy around him burst out.

Without further wait, Flam charged towards Mei and a speed faster than his movements before. He then waved the sword towards her neck which made her shiver as she felt the intense killing intent. Mei was almost late to dodge and Mark was already about to intercept but she still managed to activate her ability on time.

As Mei vanished from the trajectory of the slash, it hit nothing but air, or as it appeared. However…

CLANG! CRANG! CREEAAAK!

The jib of the crane started to creak as the remaining metal supports were not able to handle the weight anymore. Flam's slash hit nothing but the energy behind the attack severed most of the beams and metal supports under the jib of the crane. Now that there was not enough strength to support the weight of the crane, it started to break.

CREEEAK! TANG!

One last creak and the jib of the crane were split in half. The part where the three stood started to fall unto the ground.

The three jumped off and wings sprouted from Mark's and Mei's back while bursts of flames kept Flam afloat. The three were safe and seeing that his opponents were also capable of flight, Flam was even more fascinated to fight them.

At the bottom of the crane however…

"AHHH!"

"WAAAAH!!!"

"GRRRAAAOOOHHH!!"

Both human and inhuman screams echoed. As the enemies already went out to fight the soldiers upfront, their battle was also intensifying. However, a lot of them were under fighting under the crane. With a large part of the jib of the crane falling from more than a dozen meters height, the buildings where it fell also collapsed. Both the collapsed buildings and the jib of crane buried a lot of soldiers and members of Auraboros underneath.