Mutagen

<strong>Day 240 - 10:57 AM - Mount Canlaon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros Occidental</strong>

Using the combination of [Miasma], [Butterfly of Knowledge], and the [Crystal Staff], Mark had the chance to end this battle. That huge mouth made by thick [Miasma] could have swallowed Sinogo entirely.

This battle should have ended there.

However, the worries of Fourth and Nineteenth were not unwarranted. They had the reason to.

Before the [Feast of Darkness] touched Sinogo, another explosion of light bloomed around his body. The roots that bound his body were incinerated to ashes instantly. Chimetrice that stood at Sinogo's back was forced to retreat and not without injury.

And the worst of it... Mark's attack disintegrated to nothingness.

Mark suddenly felt the emptiness inside him. [Miasma was different from a person's usual energy. It would not replenish on its own and grow by absorbing magical energy from others. Every time Mark released his [Miasma], it remained connected to him. And he could recall the [Miasma] back into his body.

In this clash, Mark felt a large amount of his [Miasma] vanish. It felt as if he had lost something valuable but could not pinpoint what. Of course, he knew that it was [Miasma], but that was just how it felt for him.

Mark clenched his fists and teeth as he stared at the blooming dome of light around Sinogo. He now understood the feeling when he stole the energy that Lord Seis accumulated.

It was unpleasant.

However, Mark was not inclined to sympathize with Lord Seiz. After all, it was a battle. Gaining or losing something was inevitable.

Still... It was unpleasant.

***

Near the peak of Mount Canlaon, the [Eyes], Magwayen, and the rest of Mark's group watched the battle. It would normally be impossible to see what was happening clearly from here since the battle was happening several kilometers away. However, Nineteenth opened some sort of magical distortion that showed everyone around what was happening there.

Even the [Mini Cube] had already landed, and everyone in Mark's group was present to watch the show. Well, the two sisters, Bella and Donna, were rather uncomfortable. It was the first time the two were around Godly beings, and three at that.

While watching, Nineteenth sighed.

"Sinogo's potential is reaching its peak. It is getting far dangerous for them."

And then, the dome of light exploded. It even caused the scene through the distortion to blur and shake.

The sky cleared up, and the dark rain clouds disintegrated. The harsh weather Mark created was instantly cleared, and even the rainwater on the ground and the slippery wet mud dried up. It was all due to the searing heat that came from that explosion of light.

In an instant, the advantage that Mark created by calling a storm was gone.

"It's better if they retreated now."

Fourth had the same opinion as Ninteenth.

"But do you two really think that he will do that?"

Magwayen asked the two [Eyes] only to be subjected to hostile and silent stares. She could only shrug, turning back at the scene they were watching.

***

When the light exploded, the uncomfortable pressure spread out into the surroundings.

Mark immediately flew in front of Mei and Amihan, making a shield of [Miasma] to protect them. On the other hand, while Chimetrice managed to endure the force without getting blown away, the two [Diwatas] were thrown far after getting hit by the surge of energy.

Tinala and Binituin stabilized themselves after getting flung about two kilometers away. Nonetheless, it was clear that they received severe damage. The bodies of the two turned more ethereal, and their energies were far weakened to continue the battle.

From here on out, this battle was left to Mark, Mei, Amihan, and Chimetrice.

The explosion of light began to shrink. Slowly, Sinogo's figure emerged from the shrinking dome of light.

Mark frowned. It was the same for the others.

Sinogo had gone into another mutation.

The giant man was still around five meters tall. However, the crocodile-like features of his body had spread out. He now looked like he was covered in golden scales and armor. The markings on his body were also glowing brightly. It was similar to how the markings of Mark's body glowed before.

<strong>FLAP!</strong>

Three pairs of gigantic golden wings opened wide on Sinogo's back.

Ignoring his current appearance, Sinogo stared at Mark with no expression. The fear he had before was gone, and he saw Mark as nothing but an ant to be crushed beneath his feet.

Sinogo's power was surging. His body became covered with a glowing aura while releasing surges of electricity around his body.

The [Infected Sinogo] had now gained increased control of the power he seized from the seal that confined him. It was still far from full control. It was not surprising as a God's power cannot be wielded that easily.

Still, as the Supreme God of the Sky, Kaptan ruled over the clouds, wind, lightning, and the weather.

And Sinogo now gained a fraction of this power.

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

Sinogo's wings flapped. The electricity around him surged.

Then, his figure vanished, leaving nothing but an explosion of wind and dust from where he previously stood.

<strong>BAM!</strong>

A clash was heard mid-air.

Mark created a thick barrier of wind in front of him before dragging Mei and Amihan out of the way.

Sinogo crashed into the barrier of wind, causing that loud sound. But the barrier was immediately torn apart without effort.

Fortunately, Mark already dragged Mei and Amihan out of the way as Sinogo passed through their initial position.

Even so, the wind that was generated from each flap of Sinogo's wings caused their dodge to be unstable.

But before Mark and the two gained stability...

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

A sonic boom was heard from above as Sinogo's figure came swooping down on the three.

"TSK!"

Mark clicked his tongue as he pushed Mei and Amihan away, even pushing the two with a strong gust of wind.

Mei and Amihan were flung away from Mark, who was currently Sinogo's sole target.

Sinogo's right claw came swooping down on Mark as his body turned into a surge of mist, trying to dodge the fast attack. He intended to pass through the gaps of Sinogo's claws and counterattack at point-blank range.

But to everyone's surprise...

Mark was forced out of his misty state as he made contact with the aura around Sinogo's body.

<strong>BAM!</strong>

Mark was hit by the claw and was sent flying down to the ground. He crashed to the ground, causing a cloud of dust to form.

Flapping his wings, Sinogo hovered in the sky, watching the cloud of dust below. He only had his sights on Mark, and it seemed that he did not want to repeat his mistakes before.

Mark was subjected to Sinogo's sneak attacks twice and managed to survive both times. Sinogo always thought that Mark would not be a problem to him but always returned to be the greatest threat he needed to face.

Now, Sinogo was intent on killing Mark this time, and he would not let Mark out of his sight. Not even a single second.

Seeing what happened, everyone watching was shocked. Mark was almost turned into meat paste before, and he was now hit by the far more empowered Sinogo.

Sinogo then flapped his wings. The cloud of dust had yet to dissipate, but he was already getting impatient. He wanted to see what happened to Mark and prepared to soar down to the ground.

"GEGE!"

Mei shouted as she fired her [Shooting Moon Blade] at Sinogo. She could feel that Mark was still fine but definitely not in a perfect state. She could not just let Sinogo attack him again.

The beam that Mei shot went straight to Sinogo. Sinogo tried to ignore the beam. But unexpectedly... It actually tore through the aura around his body and burnt his scales.

Sinogo halted mid-way and turned to Mei.

"Pest."

To everyone's surprise, Sinogo spoke using the [Spirit Language]. It was his first word, but it showed that he now had the ability to speak, albeit just a little.

Sinogo waved his hand. The wind began to spiral in front of him and began to form into several small tornadoes. One would know that tornadoes were vertical or diagonal and not horizontal. That was just what Sinogo conjured. These horizontal tornadoes might be far smaller than an EF 0 tornado. However, the spinning speed might even be comparable to an EF 3, considering how they began to greatly affect the surroundings.

And to everyone's horror, such a horrifying attack was aimed at Mei and Amihan.

Mei began flying back, and Amihan was helping her by removing the air resistance in front of her. However, just flying to retreat would not do as the wind began to affect her flight. It was also questionable if her ability to travel instantly would help, considering the distance she could travel was far shorter than the size of the tornadoes.

And as Sinogo stretched his claw forward, the tornadoes shot toward Mei's direction.

At this time, a figure shot from the cloud of dust below. It was Mark. He looked dusty, but he did not seem injured at all, unlike before. Mark flew towards the trajectory of the tornadoes, turning into mist every now and then.

Mark's intention was clear. He wanted to protect Mei.

But to his dismay, the figure of Sinogo appeared in front of him. The giant was already attacking with his claw.

Mark turned into a surge of black mist. This time, instead of passing through the gaps of the claws, he circled around it. The aura could force Mark out of the misty form, and there was no way he would touch it another time.

Unfortunately, Mark's idea just would not work. As Sinogo's first claw missed, the other claw came crashing down on Mark.

Mark tried shooting some laser beams using his [Photokinesis Mental Crystal], but it could not even pierce through the aura around Sinogo.

And on the other hand, Mei was struggling to fly away as the tornadoes behind her began to pull her back. Worse, the spiraling wind seemed to follow her movements.

It was when Chimetrice appeared, charging his way between Mei and the spiraling wind missiles.

Sinogo's winds glowed as he summoned his own gust of wind. The wind from Chimetrice formed a wall that halted the tornadoes. But it seemed that the wall would not last long at all.

Amihan watched the scene behind her. It was shameful that a [Wind Spirit] like her was being threatened by someone else's wind attack. She gathered her courage, jumping off Mei's shoulder. Amihan then flew towards Chimetrice, intending to help with her abilities.

Below, Mark was hit by Sinogo's attack once more and came plummeting to the ground. However, he was barely injured. The transformation he got earlier surely enhanced his body's endurance. But most of all, Mark was using a cushion of wind to protect his body from Sinogo's physical attacks and when he plummets to the ground. Even the cloud of dust when he crashed down was created by the wind cushion instead of his body.

Still, Mark was not without damage. The force from the impact would still rattle his insides.

But the pain was the least of Mark's concerns. Mei and Amihan were in danger.

Mark stared at the sky. Sinogo was just staring at him while Chimetrice and Amihan were doing their best to negate Sinogo's attack. Mei also tried shooting a couple of beams at the tornadoes, but it barely had any effect at all.

<strong>BA-DUMP!</strong>

Mark's heart was pumping loudly. Was he getting nervous? What was this sense of powerlessness?

At this time, Mark saw something on Sinogo's face.

The bastard was smiling at him while glancing at the situation of Mark's companions.

Sinogo was getting revenge for what happened in the previous rounds of this battle. Furthermore, he clearly knew that magical attacks would barely do anything to Mark and was using his claws instead.

The situation reached a turnaround.

The one cornered before was now the one with the advantage.

It was this time... Mark took out his last crystal. The one he had never used before. Since it was something he had yet to discover, he wanted to try if it would at least bring any advantage.

Mark stimulated the crystal. But to his dismay, it was not activating at all. Was it a dud? He should have tried it before instead of using it here now.

What a blunder.

It was a dilemma.

But a crisis could bring forth an opportunity.

...Especially when the voices echoed inside the head of two individuals.