Mutagen

<strong>Day 157 - 7:32 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon</strong>

On the balcony of his house, Mark sat alone. With a cup of coffee in his hand, he gazed at the sky.

Today was the threshold. The final day that Earth would be seen as it was before the apocalypse. At any time, the world-changing catastrophe would happen.

However, none of them knew when it would happen. It might be today or might happen tonight. It might even be tomorrow.

One thing was definite, nonetheless. Today would mark the start of another era on Earth.

An era not ruled only by science but also magic.

But, of course, it was not the humans nor the magical races that reigned the new era.

It was the infected who would rule it.

There was nothing to do now but wait. At these times, it made one think about how powerless an individual could be in the face of such a catastrophe.

"Gege?"

Mei peeked out of the door with a soft call. She then came out after seeing Mark sipping his coffee while looking at the sky.

"Are you going to wait here the whole day?"

She asked.

"Yeah?" Mark replied. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime event. I don't want to miss such a thing."

Planetary debris from space hitting Earth. It sounds like a horrifying event. However, there was also the tinge of anticipation in Mark's voice. It seemed like he was excited about it.

Mei noticed that tinge of excitement and could not help but tilt her head in confusion.

Mark, in turn, noticed her asking expression and explained.

"Well, I always have a strange fascination with disastrous scenarios, especially world-ending ones. For some reason, I think that this world is the most beautiful when it is struggling. And after that, the world would grow without humans, turning everything into breathtaking sceneries. So, I want to see it with my own eyes. The event that would end the previous world."

"Sounds crazy, right?" Mark asked, knowing how absurd this interest was. "I don't watch too many movies, but I probably watched all disaster and apocalyptic ones in the world no matter what language once they became available in pirate sites."

Mei ignored how crazy it sounded and sat on the chair in front of Mark.

"That's illegal," She remarked with a smile.

"Haha, what can I do?" Mark shrugged. "I don't have money. Even if I have extra, it all goes to video games. I also don't feel good going into crowded cinemas and finding distributed copies of non-mainstream movies in our country is like finding a needle in a haystack."

"I guess that's true."

Mei smiled.

With this, Mei fulfilled her goal for this time. Mark looked like a lonely traveler waiting for the end of the world while gazing at the sky. That was why she came out. It was good that there was something they could chat about as she accompanied him.

And there, the two waited together.

Fortunately or not, nothing happened early in the day, aside from the surroundings being too quiet. Everyone in the base knew what was going to happen. Afraid, most of them decided to stay within the safety of their homes, only coming out to get food during breakfast and lunch.

Lunchtime ended, late afternoon came. Nothing was happening.

Some people thought that it might not happen today. Some began to doubt the information they had.

Mark, on the other hand, began to feel a bit restless.

The more it came late, the more dangerous it could become.

It would be better if it happened tomorrow. However, if it happened during nighttime, things could get awry.

During the night, the eastern countries would be on the side of Earth furthest away from the sun. It meant that the eastern countries, including the Philippines, would be facing the direction where the planetary debris would come from.

When that happened, the Eastern countries would face the brunt of the catastrophe.

But as Mark considered the worst-case scenario, a humming sound entered his ears. Just when he thought that he was just hearing things, he felt that everyone inside the base was confused.

Everyone was hearing the same humming sound in Mark's ear, and they were looking around for the unseen source.

The animals in the base were all scared. Even Chaflar and Laelaps were not exceptions.

Even Crimson appeared in front of Mark, only to rest on his shoulder because of fear.

Mark heightened his senses and turned to the sky by reflex.

What they were hearing was not a hum. It was the vibration of air due to some cause.

That cause, without a shred of doubt, should be the incoming planetary debris as its arrival affected Earth.

"Gege, this sound!"

Mei and the others rushed to the balcony where Mark was still waiting. All of them saw Mark staring at the sky.

"It's starting," Mark said as he opened his wings. "All of you stay inside. Do not go outside unnecessarily. Odel, I'll leave them all to you."

"Yes, Master. Leave everyone to me."

Odelina nodded and urged everyone to heed Mark's words.

"Gege, I'll go with you."

Mei said, and Mark nodded.

The two of them flew off towards the sky, flying above the base.

***

In the space above the western side of Earth, several individuals floated. It was a magical sight, considering that all of them were hovering without any protective suit that humans required to traverse space.

They were the ancient Gods gathered for this event. There were twenty of them, with three being Supreme Gods from lower realms. However, none of them even could contend to a Lower God back in their time with their current strength.

Hovering at their positions, they started at the adversary in front of them.

A chunk of debris from an artificial planet that was about the size of the moon.

"Is everyone prepared?"

A male Supreme God, wearing a gold chain armor, whose eyes looked like Beryl and had an Emerald pupil, asked. However, almost no one replied to his irritation.

"Just don't mind them." Bathala sighed as he replied. "Let us start."

With the Georgian Supreme God Armazi, and Philippine God of Creation, Bathala, leading the group, they started gathering their energies into a ball of blinding light.

***

The entire world was enveloped in confusion and fear. The humming sound began to grow louder and louder without anyone knowing where it was coming from.

It did not matter whether it was the humans or the animals. Everything was panicking on the unknown event that no one could run away from.

However, in the western night sky, everyone saw a chilling sight.

There were three moons in the sky. The real moon was already setting, but there were still two overlapped together.

The larger moon had a darker hue compared to the real one. On the other hand, the smaller moon was emitting light too bright that one could mistake it for a miniature sun.

Fear overcame the confusion as the people watched the phenomenon with their own eyes. The humming in their ears did not stop and began to drive people crazy.

Pray. It was the only thing that the people could do. Unfortunately, those prayers were addressed to a different God than those who needed it at this moment.

But then, the western night sky turned as bright as day.

Everyone was shocked as they covered their eyes in pain.

And then...

BOOOOOM!!!

The loud rumbling sound of explosion enveloped the entire planet.

Everyone turned to the sky as the brightness was replaced by the sight of an explosion in space.

The witnesses were all terrified. Many of them ran to hide while others were stunned in place.

Chaos ensued as the moon that had just appeared in the sky shattered to pieces in front of everyone's eyes.

The shockwave of the explosion traveled towards Earth. Everyone saw the clouds in the sky being blown away into nothingness. Even with the atmosphere protected Earth, it was not enough to stop the shockwave.

The rumbling sound traveled nearer and nearer to the ground. Many people fell to their knees facing their impending doom.

But as they thought that they were going to die, the rumbling sounds vanished. The shockwave they expected never came.

The fear diminished, with confusion enveloping everyone once again.

However, the explosion was just the start.

Everyone gazed at the sky. Those people who ran into their homes stepped out and did the same.

There they saw...

Hundreds, thousands, even millions of fragments of the exploded heavenly body rained down to Earth like a barrage of shooting stars.

It was a spectacular sight. It was amazing.

That was until some saw the fragments demolish everything as they landed.

The humans and animals could only scream as they tried to run away.

***

Mark and Mei flapped their wings in the sky above their base. Both of them were gazing towards the east. It was where most of the eerie sounds in the air were coming from.

It was until they turn their eyes back to the sky.

Silhouettes of objects covered in flames flew past over their heads.

Just how many were there?

It was countless.

Mark nodded to Mei as they flew higher. It was until the point that they could see the sea in the eastern part of Quezon.

SPLASH!

Large space debris covered in flames, about the size of an aircraft carrier, crashed into the sea.

The impact caused a terrifyingly high tidal wave that traveled towards the shore.

If the two settlements in Infanta and Real, Quezon still existed, both settlements would be swallowed whole by the waves.

"They said that they were going to protect Earth, right?" Mei asked in dismay. "If this continued, everything will be destroyed."

Mark had the same thought. With how many pieces of space debris raining down into this planet, everything would be obliterated in no time. Not to mention the heat created as the debris entered the atmosphere continuously. Soon, the surface of the Earth would turn into a burning wasteland.

But then...

WOMP!

An almost inaudible sound entered Mark's ears.

Mark reacted by reflex as the entire Earth was enveloped by a monochrome color.

At a split second, Mark's eyes dilated as he covered his and Mei's bodies in Miasma. The world turning monochrome had traces of magical energy in play.

And then, there was nothing but silence.

Mark opened his eyes. Everything was frozen. He looked at Mei, and he was immediately filled with dismay.

Like everything else, Mei was also frozen in a monochrome hue, even if he tried to protect her.

Mark was about to lash out to question what was going on. It was when a transparent silhouette of a woman in white robes appeared in front of him like a ghost.

"Please do not fret. We had no choice but to stop Earth's time temporarily."

Mark gazed at the being, feeling the pressure from her similar to a God. It was when Fourth and Nineteenth appearing behind her like servants was when he realized who the woman in robes was.

"Are you the Observer?"

Mark asked.

"Yes." The woman in white robes nodded. "We did not expect that thee were able to resist this world's will. Nevertheless, it just proves thee as a unique being."

"Seriously, what is happening?"

Mark asked with a frown.

This time, it was Nineteenth that replied.

"Some mishaps happened. Two of the Gods that were supposed to cooperate tried to plot evil. We had no choice but to eliminate as a priority, or worse could have happened."

Hearing the reason, Mark could not blame them. Looking at how transparent the Observer was and the amount of magical energy leaking from her body, it was likely that she was supplying the energy to stop time on her own.

"Well then, we have no time to lose." The Observer spoke. "Fourth, thee should go."

"Yes, Master."

Fourth bowed in respect as she left the side of the Observer. The moment she did, both the Observer and Nineteenth vanished from Mark's sight.

With the Observer gone, Fourth returned to her usual childish demeanor.

"Okay, let's start!"

She exclaimed.

Nonetheless, Mark was looking at Fourth strangely. Fourth, right now, was not a little girl but a fully grown beautiful lady.

"That appearance did not suit your attitude."

Mark said nonchalantly.

"What is wrong with my appearance and attitude, huh?!" Fourth screamed. "Just go home already!"

Just as Fourth screamed those words, the monochrome hue that enveloped Earth faded as time flowed once more.

And, of course, the rain of hell also ensued.