Mutagen

<strong>Day 157 - 3:17 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>

Time began to flow once more, so as the wake of destruction.

Gigantic chunks of unknown metal continued to rain all over the entire Earth.

Buildings collapsed, homes crumbled, even lives were not spared.

Settlements were crushed, survivors faced their helpless deaths.

Humans screamed in terror as they watched the sky.

The oceans overflowed with tidal waves, swallowing everything near the coast.

Seawater began to heat up, causing marine animals and plants to perish.

Mutated marine animals dived deeper and deeper into the ocean to escape.

Mountains and hills turned into craters, and forests were ignited ablaze.

Roars of mutated animals could be heard as they fled in utmost fear.

Parts of cities turned into piles of rubble, burying anything inside, alive or not.

And the infected, of course, watched the sky in curiosity until their bodies turned into scattered pieces of meat or even dust.

It was all because of the pieces of planetary debris that rained from the sky.

All of it happened during the time that the Eyes were late.

***

As the time freeze ended, Mei flinched. As someone whose eyes were enhanced, she immediately realized the sudden changes in her surroundings.

Mark was flying in a different place, while an unknown woman was now shouting at him like a child.

"Gege? Who?" Mei asked, not realizing who the woman was until she saw the woman's familiar eyes. "Ah..."

It was not surprising that Mei did not recognize Fourth immediately. Compared to her body as a little girl, her current rich lady-like appearance was too different. Not to mention her attitude that did not change even a tiny bit.

After shouting at Mark, telling him to go home, Fourth immediately faced the sky.

There was no time to waste further.

Fourth raised both her hands, her three vertical eyes glowed.

Mark and Mei raised their heads. They could see a faint light slowly cover the entire sky.

Then, the two frowned. Mark released the [Mental Crystals] from the [PsyCrystal]. Mei took out her sniper rifle, the [Shooting Moon Blade]. They were ready to attack as they saw a large, flaming red chunk of metal falling towards their home.

The falling planetary debris was about seventy meters in diameter. It was more or less the length of a passenger airplane. Not only was its surface entirely red because of its entry through the atmosphere, but it was also falling too fast.

It would definitely turn the base into a heat-filled hell even if it could not entirely flatten it because of the [Blood Metal] structures.

But before the two could act, Fourth's voice rang into their ears.

"Just stay put if you two are not going home!"

With her words, the two immediately knew that Fourth was going to handle this problem.

The enormous debris collided with the veil of light above the base as soon as the two relaxed.

Then, the three people trembled at the explosion-like collision. They all watched the debris as it crumbled into smaller pieces, raining towards the land. Furthermore, those pieces fell not towards the base but in different directions, unprotected by the veil of light.

Nonetheless, those smaller pieces of debris had various sizes. The largest ones were the size of a passenger bus. Their fall towards the land still caused substantial damage to the surroundings.

At that scene, Fourth took the initiative to explain, glancing at Mark and Mei behind her.

"You two don't have to worry. This barrier extends all over Southeast Asia, which is the area under my protection. I can guarantee that as long as there are no unexpected circumstances, none of these useless pieces of metal will fall unto your base."

When Fourth said those words with confidence, a few more large chunks of metal were falling towards their direction.

And as Fourth had said, all of them crumbled as they collided with the veil of light. The large ones split into smaller pieces before scattering, while the smaller ones were obliterated entirely.

But then, Mark asked a question, looking at a large piece of debris that created a wide crater by the foot of the mountain.

"You said that it covered your whole territory, but those fell not too far. And you're not only protecting our place, right?"

"Duh, of course not!" Fourth yelled with hands raised and eyes glowing. "Our powers are limited given that the number of humans on Earth dwindled drastically! There is no way that we will be able to cover the entire Earth and maintain it while facing all this falling debris! Besides, our duty is to protect humans! Other things come second!"

Several explosions were heard as several gigantic chunks of space debris crashed onto the barrier that covered the New Infanta Settlement. The space debris also broke down into pieces and fell away from the settlement.

However, Mark noticed something.

"Isn't Infanta Settlement's barrier weaker than ours?"

It was not hard to notice. The chunks of space debris that fell from the ones that were supposed to hit Mark's base were thrown far all the way to the foot of the mountain. Those in New Infanta Settlement fell quite close, enough that the dust and tremors from the crash reached the settlement.

"It can't be helped!" Fourth irritatingly replied. "The strength of the barrier corresponds to the humans inside it!"

That statement made both Mark and Mei confused.

It was not surprising that the strength of the barrier would scale with the humans since the existence and powers of the Eyes also rely on humans. Specifically, the collected emotions of the entire human race.

However, the population of the New Infanta Settlement was within several thousand. Mark's base could not compare to it, considering it only had around two hundred people.

And yet, the barrier around Mark's base was more powerful compared to the one that covered New Infanta Settlement.

As if knowing what was inside Mark's mind, Fourth added.

"Not everything is about quantity! The strength of the people, their unity, emotions, and even their trust in their leader. All of it matters! A group of several hundred people united to build a new home under the leadership of someone they trust cannot be compared to several thousand people in a settlement just staying there to leech off their leaders!"

"That is why I am here!" Fourth confessed. "The strength I can gain from your base is more than enough to protect it! If I positioned the foundation of my barrier here, I could distribute the excess energy to other places that needed it!"

"<strong>OI!</strong>"

Mark called out complaining. Of course, anyone would be displeased to hear something like this.

"Don't worry!" Fourth assured. "I'm not doing it blindly! I prioritized distributing the energies at those places we knew you had a connection to! For example, Bay City Settlement and the NPA Settlement where you're parents are staying! Those places needed more energy since they built their settlements beside a huge body of water! A single tsunami can wipe out those places entirely! The remaining went to those places that your people had relations to in one way or another within Southeast Asia."

With that said, Mark's displeasure died down immediately. Although he did not know whether Fourth was being considerate or if it was a privilege given to him, it was a good thing.

After that, Mark stayed silent and did not bother Fourth anymore. Fourth was putting effort into maintaining the barrier, and she needed to put her attention to it more instead of answering his questions.

That was why with Mei by his side, Mark watched the rain of hell from the sky.

The red hot chunks of metallic space debris from an artificial planet. Countless of these things left flaming trails as they all pass through the Earth's atmosphere. It was truly a scene of destruction only seen in movies. But now, Mark was witnessing it with his own eyes.

Streaks of red light painted the sky. It was a scene that was engraved permanently in Mark's memory.

For Mark, a scene within a zombie apocalypse sure was exciting. This, however, looked beautiful and amazing, despite how destructive it was.

***

The rain of hell continued on for several minutes. However, the whole thing felt longer, especially for the panicked people, praying for safety and thanking the miracle that happened.

People around the world cheered, seeing the end of the frightening rain of flaming space debris. They did not mind the destruction left by the event. The most important thing was that all of them were miraculously alive.

Outside the barriers, the miraculous shell that kept humanity alive, there was nothing but destruction. Melted craters, ruined buildings, flattened mountains, burning forests, and of course, dead people.

Not every human survived the catastrophe. Many people, both unlucky and foolish, perished. Although Fourth made it clear that quantity was not everything, there was no mistake that small, weak, and ununited settlements would have a smaller and thinner barrier to protect them.

Small settlements and hideouts were obliterated, along with everyone living inside. Those that were gathered by nothing but fear of the apocalypse were unable to support a barrier enough to make them survive.

The already dwindling human population of the world decreased drastically even further.

Unfortunately, for those that survived, it was only the beginning.

Earth's temperature continued to increase. That countless pieces of planetary debris that entered the atmosphere and burned caused the drastic rise.

Soon, Earth would begin to burn. This drastic increase in temperature was more than enough to start forest fires and even melt the polar ice caps.

However, before the world began to see that temperature increase as a threat, the true danger started.

As if the sky was a delicate globe made of glass that fell to the ground, the sky began to crack.

The cracks slowly grew as if intending to spread anxiety and fear to those seeing the spectacle.

Between the cracks was another world, unknown to most people on the surface of the Earth.

This horrifying sight was not only witnessed on the Mortal Dimension. Those in the Spirit Dimension also watched the same scene with utmost fear.

Then, as if it was already planned, the magic-filled cold air from the Spirit Dimension blew into the Mortal Dimension. The magic-filled air started to quench the increasing temperature caused by the planetary debris.

Earth's temperature began to cool down once more, even a bit colder than before.

But, of course, while it brought fort an unexpected fix to a problem, the cracks in the sky did not mean a good thing entirely.

Slowly, the cracks continued to cover the entire sky.

Soon, the cracks were no more, and all the witnesses could see were the reflection of the other side, divided by a mirror-like visage.

***

Mark and Mei stared at the sky, seeing the complete replica of the mountain they were flying over. They could even see the familiar Stone Fortress that the Brown Duendes ruled over in the Eastern Mountains.

"Brace yourselves!"

Fourth yelled to the two, still keeping the barrier as strong as possible.

And then, with a blinding flash, the sky glowed bright even compared to the sun.

Everyone could not help but cover their eyes due to the blinding light. It did not matter whether they were Human, Demon, Spirit, Elemental, or Cryptid.

The bright sky deprived everyone of their sight for a moment.

Before their eyes could recover, those who stood on land fell to the ground. They all lost their balance.

There was an Earthquake.

The entire Earth, both the Mortal and Spirit Dimensions, was shaking violently.

As if the craters from the disaster from space a few minutes ago were not enough. The land cracked open and separated.

Then, new, unfamiliar land filled the cracks.

Countries became vaster and the coastlines extended to the waters.

Old mountains grew, and new mountains appeared.

Chasms appeared on oceans and seas, cliffs opened across the borders.

Countries and Continents became separated and isolated from each other.

The old Earth was no more.

Earth was reshaped.