Mutagen

<strong>Day 147 - 1:27 PM - Philippine Sea, 16 Kilometers North of Semirara Islands</strong>

"How in the world..."

Berrak was speechless.

Although Berrak was not confident of fighting the enemy, he was sure that he could escape, albeit with a few sacrifices. The ability of his pet, Baku, was not just turning day into a pitch-black night. It was capable of dulling the senses of everything engulfed by that darkness, erasing any chances of being tailed.

Berrak never expected that the enemy could still follow them. The enemy even brought his mount into the fray.

One more thing. Berrak learned what offense that Liden did to deserve his death. To say that he and his men would play with that thing's wife? Really? Liden and his men were courting death. That was, without a doubt.

When Berrak saw Mark for the first time earlier, he psychologically disabled the manliness of that group of men after they lustfully whistled at his wife. And Liden had the guts to say that to the very same person.

There was nothing that they could do now. Liden did the act, and the older brother supported the other instead of apologizing. Both of them were marked for death and dragged him in.

"Damn it."

Berrak cursed.

He had been into many dangerous situations and almost lost his life several times. This time, however, was the first time he felt the most hopeless.

What could they do now? Berrak racked the deepest parts of his brain. Could they escape? Not. There was no way. His flying serpent, Baku, could use that ability as much as its energy could handle. However, there was no way that it would work on the same opponent twice in a row.

Could he offer something in exchange for the lives of these two arrogant idiots? Maybe treasure? Maybe a pet?

Unfortunately, when it came to treasures, he had none. Berrak had been a noman all his life. The only time he stayed in one place was when he was still a child learning things from his master. Since his master vanished, he had been moving around, putting the things he learned into practice.

Searching for astray spiritual and demonic creatures was not easy at all. It was even harder to find clues about their whereabouts. Berrak would spend months to years to find one, and taming it was not a piece of cake either and sometimes life-threatening. There were even times that he had to abandon the thought of taming creatures that he found just because they were too strong for him.

Living as a nomad disabled him from being able to amass any kind of wealth. Even if he found some valuable things in his endeavors, he would end up selling the items to fund his worldwide journey.

That was why Berrak was dirt poor. It was just a few years ago that he settled down in this country. It was after he almost died after chasing a

All Berrak had was his pets. However, aside from Baku, none of the remaining ones would be comparable to that black demonic dragon that the opponent was riding. Besides, there was no way that he would be able to give any of his tamed creatures. They were bound to him by a contract, and the only way to severe that was when either party dies. If he wanted to give him any of his pets, he would need to kill himself.

There was no way he would choose that end.

Berrak was out of any options. Maybe the last thing he could do was plead. Nevertheless, he was more convinced that they would die here.

"Is there no way that you will let these two go?"

Berrak shouted in a respectful voice.

"You..."

General Seguerra was rendered speechless. He never expected that his trump card was actually this useless. He had magical abilities and these fascinating summons. Yet, he could not or even dare do anything against the enemy.

Of course, that gesture from the Marines General did not escape Berrak's attention. With a sigh, he yelled.

"Shut up!"

Of course, General Seguerra was not happy being constantly scolded like this. A person like him that climbed up the ranks of the Military was now reduced to this. Unfortunately, he could not do anything but flinch. His position as a Marines General had no use in these circumstances. At least, he knew that much.

On the other hand, Liden had no ability to speak or complain anymore. Mark's sudden appearance behind them took a toll on his mind. He started to reach his limit in enduring the pain of his broken arms.

Actually, Berrak was not expecting anything as he asked that. In any case, if there was no hope at all, he did not mind making a last-ditch effort. Although he might die in the end, in the least, he fought.

Berrak stared at the enemy. Although he had Baku, a flying serpent with fish-like characteristics, the black dragon in front of him appeared to be far more intimidating despite being smaller. Despite the current situation, he could not help but feel a bit of envy.

To Berrak's question, Mark replied with another.

"I'm curious. Why is someone like you so keen on protecting lowlives like them?"

Berrak was surprised at that question. He thought that he would be faced with an answer that was filled with hostility. However, what he received was something filled with curiosity instead.

***

Mark, on the other hand, observed Berrak and his pet named Baku. He could tell that this guy, although not innocent, was not a bad person. It was why Mark was confused as to why Berrak was protecting those two.

Berrak stared at Mark and answered.

"Because of a promise. That's why I can't back down here."

"A promise? Then, you will protect them even if you die?"

Mark asked another.

"I don't really want to die here." Berrak bitterly smiled. "But even if I have to."

After those words, Berrak tapped Baku's back and jumped off.

With another surge of energy, the surroundings went black once more.

Unlike before, it was shorter this time. However, by the time the surroundings returned to normal, the flying serpent was gone together with General Seguerra and Liden. All that was left was Berrak, riding on top of a Thunderbird, and two more flying creatures. One was a wasp about the size of a motorcycle, while the other was unexpectedly a black-colored pegasus.

"You actually stayed behind."

Mark said.

"As if would have any other choice," Berrak replied before glancing at his summons. "Espa, Greos, Trua, this might be our last fight together. Go all out!"

With those commands, the three creatures flew in different directions. By their movements, it seemed that Berrak wanted to surround Mark and Chaflar at the center.

This way, not only that Mark would not be able to chase after Baku but would have to be wary of attacks coming from different directions.

Mark watched the three flying creatures as they surrounded him and Chaflar without any intervention.

And finally, they started to attack after reaching their positions in almost an instant.

With flaps of their wings, the Thunderbird, Trua, and the Pegasus, Greos, sent bolts of lightning towards Mark and Chaflar. Different from the two, the Wasp called Espa buzzed its wings, creating sound distortions in the air.

The three attacks flew towards Mark at the same time. Furthermore, Berrak started to chant, making the space around slow down. It was not some sort of time magic, but he was compressing the space using magical energy.

In order to not die here, Berrak was betting on his abilities, even the ones that he was not really good at using.

With the space around him compressed, Chaflar could not move, and there was no chance to evade the incoming attacks.

But then, without even Mark doing anything, a strong wind blew. Suddenly, the bolts of lightning shot off away from Mark while the wind created a barrier, blocking the sound quakes from the wasp.

That was when Berrak saw something fly out of Mark's bag.

"Sh*t."

There was a Sylph there. It was no other Amihan. She already started to learn the ways that Mark used the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal]. This time, she used the colloids in the air to create an invisible conductor that diverted the directions of the lightning bolts. Even the barrier of wind that stopped the sound quake was created by her as the attack traveled with the wind as the medium.

Berrak began to hate the situation more and more. The longer he fought this guy, the more he realized that there was no escape.

Nevertheless, Berrak could not give up. He kept the space around Mark compressed as he called upon his other summon.

At the ocean below them, a huge magic circle appeared by Berrak's command. And there, a blue serpent appeared. It was Berrak's only summon that could be called in the ocean.

"Mare! Attack!"

Berrak bellowed.

The Sea Serpent roared. The seawater around it began to swirl as water spouts were created under the blue sky. The tornadoes made of water rose towards Chaflar, intending to swallow them and pull them down to the ocean.

Finally, Mark made his move.

Mark waved his hand, and a hazy black smoke covered them. With the appearance of that smoke, the compression of space that Berrak painstakingly maintained shattered.

PUFF!

Berrak spat out blood as the backlash hit him. However, he barely felt the pain from it. It was because he was overwhelmed with shock.

There was no way he would not recognize that black smoke like energy. A type of magical energy that swallows others, and could destroy any living matter. It was no other than Miasma.

A living being with a physical body that could wield Miasma. This was the very first time he had ever heard or seen something like this. Even formless demons that possessed a living body could not wield Miasma without destroying their possessed bodies. And yet, this thing in front of him blatantly used that very same kind of Miasma to shatter the magic he cast.

With the compressed space shattering, Chaflar flew up, evading the water spout from below.

Now, Chaflar flew higher than Berrak's group, making Mark look down from above.

This made Berrak feel that he was really small.

"Anything else?"

Mark asked as if he was waiting for more.

However, Berrak was already injured by the backlash. Even his summons could not do anything to Mark.

He finally chose to give up. In the least, the two that he promised to protect should have managed to get away, right?

With those thoughts, Berrak plopped flat on the back of his Thunderbird. His body was aching from the backlash and there was not a chance of winning this. Not even escape was plausible.

Without any other orders from Berrak, the four beasts moved closer to each other, wanting to protect their master. Strange enough, the enemy was not making any threatening moves.

"Say, you're dead now, right?"

Mark asked.

Berrak did not reply. There was nothing else to say anyway.

Then, Mark smiled.

"You're dead now, so your promise already ended, right?"

Those questions made Berrak really confused. What did Mark want to say?

"Then, how about I let you live, but your life is mine, now."

Mark proposed.

"What do you mean?"

Berrak forced himself to speak, although blood was leaking from the corner of his lips.

"Exactly that." Mark tilted his head. "If we continued here, you will die. That's why consider yourself dead, and you already fulfilled your promise. I will give you a new life, and you will have to be one of my subordinates. I value people with strong abilities, you see."

"You will let an enemy freely follow you around?"

Berrak asked.

"Of course not."

Mark said as he threw a surge of Miasma into Berrak's body.

Berrak was extremely scared, thinking that Mark made his body rot.

"Don't worry, that won't harm you. Well, unless you did something undesirable."

Mark's words made Berrak contemplate. He did not want to die here. Even his pets were showing concern towards him right now.

With a sigh, Berrak gave up.

"I had no other choice, do I?" He said. "It's either follow you or die. I guess I'll choose the one where I'm still alive."

"Good choice," Mark smiled. "Well then, you're dead, and the promise you are saying earlier should have ended already... So..."

With those words, Berrak suddenly froze.

"You..."

Berrak was in disbelief. Just now, Baku sent a message in his mind.

General Seguerra and Liden were both beheaded by a flying sword.