Mutagen

<strong>Day 240 - 10:16 AM - Mount Canlaon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros Occidental</strong>

With the alliance established, Mark and the two [Diwatas] moved to join Chimetrice to fight Sinogo and his minions.

Below, Chimetrice was pretty much struggling. Not that he could not handle the enemy. However, even if he was powerful, what he could do in the middle of several gigantic opponents was limited...

Especially since Chimetrice had yet to release his true form.

Chimetrice's body was a combination of several holy and demonic creatures. Yet, he looked like nothing else but a human with wings of a falcon at this moment.

It was not like he was trying to hide his real appearance. It was just that his true form was inconvenient to use in one way or another. Pretty much due to its uncanny features. For example, half of his body was made of the Cursed Tree he was sealed in.

Thus, Chimetrice reshaped his body into a more human-like form. But also, because of this reshaping, he could not exert his original power to the fullest without releasing his true form.

In the first place, Chimetrice was following Mark's example. It was to not use their powers and abilities carelessly. It was due to the residue of their magical energy, possibly causing the [Infected] to mutate into stronger and unfathomable beings.

Now, of course, Mark had a lesser restriction on this part. Earth and the Spirit Dimension had fused, and magical energy now existed on Earth. Sooner or later, some of the [Infected] would gain magic-type mutations. Still, Mark and Chimetrice's powers were too powerful to let the [Infected] get ahold of it.

Well, now was not the time to keep these restrictions.

Since Chimetrice lacked power, he needed a stable foothold to exert more strength in his attacks. He landed on the ground and began fighting using his fist. He managed to kill and topple some of the [Behemoth Class Infected]. However, he could not do so continuously due to Sinogo's presence.

Soon, Sinogo and the more than a dozen [Behemoth Class Infected] surrounded Chimetrice, and his figure was covered by the enemies' gigantic bodies... It was then...

"HAH!!!"

Chimetrice let out a loud shout.

<strong>BOOOM!!!</strong>

All of a sudden, the ground shook. The bipedal [Infected] giants, who had less sense of balance, were toppled to the ground while the others flinched. Even Sinogo felt odd and jumped back, causing more destruction due to its sheer size and weight.

The giants fell to the ground causing dust to cloud the surroundings aside from one place at the center.

There, Chimetrice stood with his left hand reaching to the ground. His true form was, once more, unveiled. His six wings from different creatures expanded, and the evil aura within him exploded.

It was a form of a Devil with the appearance of a Chimera. Or maybe, a Chimera made to resemble a Devil.

A [Devil Chimera] to fight against the Gods.

The three that were about to join the battle could only pause mid-air.

Mark could not help but smile while Tinala and Binituin shivered in fear.

"T-that is-!!!"

The more conservative Tina was in utter shock. As a [Diwata] born from nature and harbored positive energy, they were distraught to feel the negative energy from Chimetrice.

"Don't worry," Mark spoke, looking at the [Diwatas] behind him over his right shoulder. "An evil energy doesn't inherently mean an evil entity. He was created like that and not because he wanted to be one. Besides, it's not like his aura is harming you two."

The two [Diwatas] stared at Mark and at the scene below. It was true. They felt fear due to the natural aversion due to the nature of their energies. However, Chimetrice's evil energy felt rather tame and contained to cause them any harm to anyone aside from the enemy.

"ROOOARRR!!!"

Sinogo roared as loud as he could. He then opened his mouth as wide as possible. And there, raw energy began to gather.

"Well, sh*t..."

Mark cursed. Who would expect that Sinogo would feel threatened by Chimetrice's transformation?

Worse, Sinogo was charging his attack while facing Mount Canlaon.

If this attack succeeded, everything on the battlefield would be wiped out in an instant, including the entire Mount Canlaon.

Everyone that saw the scene began to panic. Even the front line had gone disarray causing the [Infected] to push forward and out of the giant crater.

"Chimetrice! Stop him!"

Mark shouted with utmost urgency. He did not even wait for the two [Diwatas] to react.

<strong>WHOOSH!!!</strong>

Mark's body vanished into a surge of black mist and headed towards Sinogo. As his body appeared and disappeared, he traveled several hundred meters in a blink of an eye.

Chimetrice also ignored the [Behemoth Class Infected] surrounding him. The ground cracked and exploded as he kicked his legs, propelling him towards Sinogo.

The two [Diwatas] were late to react but immediately followed. Even so, they were lagging behind the two. Mark was using his [Shadow Mist Movement] consecutively. On the other hand, Chimetrice's leg strength and flight capabilities allowed him to move faster than the two.

But then, the two [Diwatas] noticed. Mark was moving higher and higher instead of straight towards Sinogo. On the other side, Chimetrice continued his fight as close as possible to the ground.

And for the second time, the two [Diwatas] froze as Mark stopped his flight. Flying as high as he could over Sinogo's body, he also unleashed his transformation.

It was the very same transformation he used just the other day when he fought the [Encantado]. Even so, it was far more than enough to surprise the two [Diwatas] like how they were surprised at Chimetrice's true form.

But even so, it was not enough...

Mark released the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal]. At the same time, he used his [Blood Enhancement] on his wings, making his three pairs of wings glow red. And then, Mark controlled the wind. Not only did the wind begin to push him, but the wind resistance in front of him vanished.

And there, Mark began to plummet like a meteor.

Sinogo felt the sudden influx of magical energy from above. But he did not feel afraid. Instead, he paid more attention to Chimetrice, who was closing in in front.

But then, Sinogo seemed to panic. Chimetrice's presence in front of him suddenly vanished. It began to charge its attack faster while beginning to retreat one step at a time.

In front of Sinogo, Chimetrice continued his flight. However, his second right wing, the wing of the Crow, was emitting some faint energy fluctuations around him. It erased his presence. The ability of a magical crow known as a trickster.

Chimetrice never really turned invisible or anything. Only his presence was erased.

However, since Sinogo was opening his mouth too wide. His vision was obstructed by his snout due to his eyes being above his mouth. As he was only relying on his other senses to find Chimetrice, the latter felt to have suddenly vanished.

Unfortunately, Sinogo had already begun charging his attack. There was no way to stop it.

And...

<strong>WHOOOM!!!</strong>

The ball of light in Sinogo's mouth finished forming and was ready to fire.

But at the same time, Chimetrice arrived under Sinogo's snout. On the other hand, Mark was the same as he appeared in front of Sinogo's eyes with a puff of black mist.

<strong>WHAM!</strong>

Chimetrice landed and kicked the ground, putting his strongest uppercut towards Sinogo's chin.

<strong>BAM!</strong>

Mark landed his most ferocious kick on Sinogo's nose.

<strong>SNAP!</strong>

The force from the two attacks coming from below and above forced Sinogo's mouth to close with a loud snap. Several of his gigantic teeth cracked with some even getting torn off from his gums.

Sinogo could only stare at Mark as his unpenetrable scales got dented over his nose, filling his nasal cavity with his blood.

Worse, the ball of energy that Sinogo was about to fire became stuck inside his mouth.

<strong>BOOM!!!</strong>

The entire province shook as a dome of light larger than the mountain enveloped the eastern plains along with the eastern coast. Sinogo's attack exploded inside his mouth, causing an explosion that covered around five kilometers around him.

Everything was flung away by the strong shockwave that came after the explosion, whether it be trees, [Infected], or even the large amount of water along the eastern coast.

Luckily, the explosion occurred at the back of the [Infected] army. It even swallowed a large chunk of the army, even all the [Behemoth Class Infected].

The bad thing, however... The shockwave threw all kinds of things away into the middle of the magical army. The magical army was in disarray and many were instantly killed after many gigantic [Infected] crushed everything they fall onto.

There was no need to rebuild the front line as the [Infected] army and the magical army were mixed all together into a bloody massacre.

Tinala and Binituin were left stunned after they stabilized themselves from being flung away by the shockwave. Everything happened too quickly.

"Where are they?"

The younger [Diwata], Binituin, showed worry for their two allies. Both Mark and Sinogo charged in to stop the total annihilation of their army and their sacred ground.

"The question is are they still alive. With that explosion, it's not surprising if they died just like that."

Tinala remarked with a frown. She was rather angry. Not because of Mark and Chimetrice, but because she was unable to do anything in the previous scenario.

"Don't just go killing us."

A voice entered the ears of the two [Diwatas] as Mark flew below them from the ground, followed by Chimetrice.

Both the two of them looked ragged. They even had burns here and there.

"Are you two okay?"

Binituin fearlessly approached the two in worry.

"Do I look like okay?"

Mark said, pointing at his legs. It was intact, well, mostly. The muscles of Mark's legs were clearly torn, and his skin was ripped off.

"Damn, it hurts."

Mark complained.

"You overdid it. Even I would take some damage, falling from that height at that speed."

Chimetrice voiced out, looking at Mark's condition.

"What about you? Is your body alright?" Mark changed the topic and asked Chimetrice. "You shielded me from the direct impact."

"I'm fine," Chimetrice said as he tore off the burnt bark from the wooden part of his body, which immediately started growing back. "Something like this won't kill me."

"Well, same for me."

Mark said as the wounds he got were clearly starting to heal on their own visible to the naked eye.

"Monsters..."

Tinala remarked with disbelief. The injuries Mark and Chimetrice got were already healing. It was unbelievable to see.

"Well, it looks like the blessings we received really protected us. If it was the same as the first time, I would get severely burned by that even if you protected me."

Mark said to Chimetrice.

"I also noticed it. The damage I received was unexpectedly low for that kind of explosion."

Chimetrice agreed.

"I never expected that Sinogo already gained sentience," Mark grumbled. "I should have checked earlier. Last time, he only seemed intelligent and odd, but there seems to be no sentience yet..."

And then, Mark sighed...

"Unfortunately, it's far from over."

Mark added with a serious face, turning to the cloud of dust that the explosion caused. Chimetrice was the same. At the same time, both Tinala and Binituin also felt it.

<strong>ROOOAARR!!!</strong>

The loud roar was heard, causing a soundwave from within the cloud of dust. The roar blew away the dust that obscured everyone's view.

And there, Sinogo stood, as towering as ever.

Nonetheless, Sinogo did not escape the damage of his own attack. His snout was mostly blown off, with his torn flesh dangling on his face. Even his scales incurred damage all over his body. There were burnt places, while some were cracked open and bleeding.

It was unfortunate. This kind of damage was never enough to stop a rampaging [Infected] no matter what size they were.

If there was something significant that changed, it was the fact that Sinogo's eyes were glowing fiery red in anger as he stared at the silhouettes of Mark and Sinogo from afar.