Mutagen

<strong>Day 203 - 1:15 AM - Central Area, Safezone, Corregidor Military Settlement, Island of Corregidor, Province of Cavite</strong>

"W-What is this..."

The noisy woman among the Elite Soldiers muttered as their entire group slowly succumbed to the pressure.

Whether it be those elite soldiers lying in wait or the abnormal ones surrounding Mark, all of them slowly fell onto their knees.

<strong>"ACK!"</strong>

Some began to wail in pain as their head felt like splitting. A plethora of emotions they did not own began to corrode their consciousness, pulling them down to the floor.

The weaker ones began to bleed from their noses and ears. Unexpectedly, the majority was still far from completely collapsing.

Those who could still move a bit could only gaze at Mark, who hovered above them. It was not the first time. The members of the Elite Special Forces already saw individuals with wings before, especially ones shaped like the wings of a bat. They had dealt with problems involving paranormal anomalies in the past. Some of those incidents include the appearance of demons.

And even though they were just humans, their experiences with their job was more than enough to allow them to know.

The target the government intended to capture was not just some [Mutator], and definitely not an [Evolver].

Their target was Demon, but not just some Demon either. The target known as Mark might have been a Demon far outclassed the ones the Elite Special Forces of the Philippines had encountered since the day it was founded.

Hovering above the mostly incapacitated soldiers, Mark was rather surprised. His goal here was not to kill but stall time and render the enemy soldiers incapable of fighting temporarily. After all, it would be useless even if General Perez began to lead this place if its manpower became severely incapacitated.

Still, Mark did not expect this. Compared to the enemies he used mental attacks before, these members of the Elite Special Forces lasted longer. Some of them could even move even a little bit when the people he used the same attack in the past already passed out by the same amount.

Most surprising of all...

"Demon..."

The noisy woman's eyes flared with hate as she concluded that Mark was a Demon.

<strong>"DEMONS SHOULD NOT EXIST!"</strong>

The noisy woman roared as she stood up.

This really made Mark surprised. This female soldier was forcefully resisting his mental attack due to her pure anger.

"Tunia!"

The other female soldier, the one that conjured flames, called out to the noisy woman. Unexpectedly, she also began to resist Mark's mental attack. No, not only her. Two more soldiers, both among the five hiding in the dark, began to stand up.

"Lila... Can you still move?"

The noisy woman, Tunia, whispered to the flame user.

"A little."

Lila replied.

"Capture is not possible," Tunia said, glaring at the opponent in the sky. "Then we can only do our job."

There, Tunia grabbed a different gun from what she initially used. The first gun she had earlier was a standard-issue pistol. A Rock Island Armory 1911 Series Semi-Automatic Pistol.

The weapon Tunia took out from the holster behind her waist was a gun with a model Mark had never seen before.

It seemed to be a customized weapon. Unexpectedly, Mark felt uncomfortable after it was unholstered.

<strong>"GO!"</strong>

Tunia shouted.

At the same time, the flame user, Lila, waved her hand.

<strong>WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM!</strong>

Balls of flame, as large as basketballs, flew towards Mark,

Mark could only evade the flames. Even though he would not be harmed by the attack, his clothes would definitely burn.

<strong>CLANG!!!</strong>

<strong>SWOOSH!!!</strong>

At the same time, the other two soldiers waiting for the opportunity to attack moved.

One attacked with a very long chain, while the other shot a crossbow bolt at Mark.

Of course, both attacks missed as Mark evaded despite the speed of the attacks.

What made Mark frown, however, was the weapons used just now gave the same feeling at the noisy woman's pistol, making Mark rather uncomfortable.

The attacks from the two men hiding did not bother Mark too much. The most troublesome one was the barrage of fireballs flying his way.

<strong>BANG!</strong>

Finally, Tunia made her attack, shooting the strange-looking pistol at Mark. She timed it at the time Mark evaded one of the fireballs.

Unexpectedly, the gun sure was strange. It shot at a speed that normal guns should not be able to. Even Tunia was blown back as she shot her weapon.

Due to the speed, even though Mark evaded the attack, the left one of his third pair of wings was pierced. If Mark did not activate his [Future Prediction], causing his left eye to glow violet, he would not be able to avoid the attack at all.

"What the hell?!"

Mark was surprised. His third pair of wings was different from the other two pairs. It was actually ethereal, made of [Miasma]. It existed, yet not at the same time. Thus, although it helped Mark during flight, it could not be hit by most attacks as if it was made of gas.

Yet, the wing hit by the bullet actually tore through it like he was hit by a cannon. He could even feel the searing heat left by the bullet after it passed through. Good thing that Mark activated his [Future Prediction], causing his left eye to glow violet, allowing him to see a few moments in the future. He managed to avoid the attack that was about to punch a large hole through his stomach.

At this point, Mark turned to Tunia, who finally passed out. It seemed that she was betting on that single shot that she could barely do. Although she was able to shoot her weapon, she could not handle its power.

It was the same for the other two soldiers still standing. Mark evaded their attacks, but the more they attacked, the weaker they became.

In the end, only the last one standing was Lila. She slumped to her knees as she saw all her comrades either injured or unconscious.

Mark landed in front of Lila. His torn misty wings had already recovered.

Surely, Lila was scared. It was not surprising. The Demon in front of her knocked out everyone without even attacking directly. Even right now, she could feel the mental attack coming from the enemy.

Mark wanted to approach Lila to ask a question. But before he was able to...

"Stop right there you Demon!"

A small man appeared and stood on Lila's shoulder.

Wearing green clothing, a green hat, and a pair of pointed shoes while standing near a foot tall. It was a Green Duwende.

"If you're going to do something bad to her, I'll be your opponent!"

The Green Duwende exclaimed.

Mark squinted. The Green Duwende was saying all those, but his legs were actually shaking mad.

Shrugging, Mark turned towards the woman called Tunia before turning back to Lila and the Green Duwende.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to kill," Mark said. "If I am, all of them should be dead by now."

Mark then left Lila and the Green Duwende as he spotted the thing he was looking for.

It was the gun that Tunia used before she passed out.

After Tunia was blown away after she attacked, the gun was thrown to the ground, covered in rainwater and mud.

Mark did not care, as he squatted down and picked up the gun.

<strong>SIZZLE!</strong>

"Tch!"

Mark clicked his tongue, enduring the painful burning sensation on his right palm. Despite the pouring rain, he could smell his flesh burning.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Are you stupid?! Why is a Demon like you trying to hold a [Blessed Weapon]?!"

Lila shouted, forgetting her fear after she saw what Mark was doing.

"Why are you warning him?! He's an enemy?!"

Even the Green Duwende reprimanded Lila for saying something stupid herself.

Mark could only smile. This Lila sure was different. So different that she managed to have a contract with a Green Duwende that was only supposed to appear before children.

Nonetheless, Lila's words answered Mark's suspicion. The gun in his hand, the crossbow and its bolts, and even the chain earlier. All of these were the so-called [Blessed Weapons].

"A [Blessed Weapon]. This is the first time I saw one."

Mark said as he inspected the weapon he picked up, ignoring the fact that his palm was smoking badly. It actually had a name engraved on it with its intricate carvings. Its name was actually Beatrix. It looked like a pistol, but the impact sure was like a hand cannon.

But while watching Mark, Lila concluded something.

"You... You're not an Evil Demon."

Lila voiced out, with her fear disappearing slowly.

"How can you say so?"

Mark asked in a lax manner.

He did not expect to hear anything more, but Lila actually explained.

"[Blessed Weapons] are the bane of Demons and Evil entities. However, it reacts differently depending on how evil the entity is. A normally evil being would burst into flames after touching one. But you, you're only getting seared. It's only reacting to the fact that you are a Demon."

Mark thought about it. Was he evil or not?

Well, he might be a bit evil. In the least, he would not attack innocents and kill them for entertainment, unlike most known Demons.

With those in mind, Mark approached Lila.

"Here, take care of these kinds of weapons properly." Mark handed the [Blessed Pistol Beatrix] to Lila. "You guys will definitely need it in the future."

Lila and the Green Duende could only stare at Mark flabbergasted. Mark actually handed them the weapon that could potentially kill him and turned his back on them.

However, Lila had no capability to fire this gun at all. Among their group, even though she was noisy, only Tunia could fire it at least once.

Lila watched Mark as he began to walk away. Looking around as if checking something. Suddenly, he turned back, looking at her.

"By the way. Have I seen you before somewhere?"

Mark dropped a line which made Lila even more confused. She could only shake her head as she definitely did not meet someone like Mark before.

Seeing her answer, Mark scratched his head. With a shrug, he flew away, leaving the area littered with unconscious people.

Mark actually wanted to take at least one of those [Blessed Weapons]. However, he endured the urge. This place needed these weapons once Demons started getting active. As for him and his base, something like this was not that needed. They could defend themselves properly against Demonic entities.

That was why Mark could only leave. The battle here already ended. The last thing to do was to confront the masterminds.

Mark looked at his palm. It was seared black. It was quite unexpected but the recovery of the burn on his palm was recovering rather slowly than normal. It seemed that his regeneration was affected by the fact that his body was now of a Demon's and the injury came from a [Blessed Weapon]. Fortunately, his wing that was hit was not among the two first pairs. It would have been troublesome to fly if his physical wings got blown off. After all, flight needed balance.

Flying towards the Presidential Mansion, Mark suddenly stopped as something flashed on his mind.

"Now I remember where I saw her. No wonder she looked familiar."

Mark murmured as he turned back in the direction of Lila.

From what Mark remembered, there was one time where a little girl was shown on television for a very unusual phenomenon. Many things around her would get caught on fire for no apparent reason, without anything to cause the fire. It caused quite a stir, and many so-called "paranormal specialists" were called to investigate, saying rumors and stuff without proper evidence.

Yet, one day, the coverage about the girl suddenly stopped. They said that the parents of the girl were concerned about the attention they were getting and requested privacy.

But by what it looked like, the last statement seemed far from the truth. The girl was taken away by the Philippine government to be trained as a soldier because of her psychic abilities.

And that girl was Lila.

Well, now that Mark remembered, that was the last thing to think about before confronting the masterminds. He also needed to end it now. The guys outside might need his help.