Mutagen

<strong>Day 240 - 11:00 AM - Mount Canlaon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros Occidental</strong>

To everyone's dismay, the battle faced a complete turnaround.

It was like what Fourth and Nineteenth warned them about. Sinogo's strength far surpassed what Mark's group could handle. It was just that Sinogo had yet to reach his peak potential in the earlier rounds. Now that Sinogo had reached his highest point, Mark's group was now the ones that were backed in the corner.

Mei was currently being chased by dangerously spiraling winds. Although Chimetrice was now blocking it with Amihan's help, it would not take long for the wall of wind they created to be broken. Even if Mei tried to use this opportunity to flee, the attack would just continue following her until she was sucked by the strong winds.

And Mark, he was now blocked by Sinogo. None of his attacks managed to harm the giant at all, and he was heavily disadvantaged in terms of speed.

If this continued, the only one who would make it out alive in this battle against Sinogo would be Chimetrice. Furthermore, the escape would be extremely tedious.

This scene unfolded as the strong winds shook the entire province. Even if it was just a fraction, the power of the Sky God was not something to joke about.

***

At Mount Canlaon, everyone watched the predicament while enduring the violent winds. They could only have worried or serene expressions while watching the scene before them.

Worse...

"They lost the timing to safely retreat," Nineteenth sighed. "One wrong action would mean the end for them."

Fourth did not say anything. There was not a single tinge of excitement on the little girl's face. Contrary to the emotion she embodied as the [Eye of Excitement].

On the side, the members of Mark's group began to rack their brains for anything they could do.

And among them, there was only one that could supposedly help.

"Spera, can't you open a portal for them to escape?"

Ilia inquired Spera, who had her eyes closed in concentration.

"I'm trying!" Spera shouted in frustration, only to open her eyes a second later. "But the interference is too strong! I can't open a portal anywhere near them!"

"Same for me," Jaeya grumbled at the side, tightly hugging Theodore in her arms. "My [Telepathy] had been cut off."

"Papa! Mama!"

Miracle called out loud. If not for Abbygale not letting go of their youngest, she would have already run to try and help their parents.

Abbygale looked calm, but her eyes were worried and nervous.

However, contrary to everyone else's states, Magwayen, Iola, and Aephelia watched in calmness. The Goddess of the Underworld even seemed to be smiling and anticipating something.

"The power of a God Being could only be fought by another God Being," Magwayen murmured. "Are you going to wake up or let this end here in tragedy?"

No one heard Magwayen's whispered words, especially since the winds were blowing too strong. But what was she saying?

On the other hand, Iola and Aephelia watched the distortion, showing Mark failing to use the unknown crystal.

Aephelia was silent, but Iola voiced out some words. Not as the girl that lost her memories but as the Keeper.

"Your majesty... Listen to the crystals..."

***

Back at the battlefield, Mark was gritting his teeth in frustration. Sinogo was tightly guarding his every move while slowly pushing his attack through the wall of wind created by Chimetrice and Amihan.

Furthermore, Mark was currently subjected to Sinogo's condescending stare.

That stare, Mark was familiar with it.

It was the same eyes that the [Monarch Types] he encountered before had. It was especially for the [King Types], who appeared to be the embodiment of arrogance and superiority.

Furthermore, Sinogo was clearly executing his revenge on Mark for the things that happened earlier.

And as if to torment Mark, even more, Sinogo waved his claws. The spiraling winds that Sinogo and Amihan were struggling to block slowly moved towards each other.

The horizontal tornadoes began to darken as more dust and debris were sucked in. In a few moments, those several tornadoes fused into one, and the wall of wind could barely block its sheer size. It did not reach an extremely large size, but the speed of the wind inside it was more than enough to grind large structures into debris.

Worse, it began to tear the wall of wind even faster than before, absorbing the wall into its being. Both the tornado and the wall were made of the wind. The only difference was if the two sides were moving or spinning in the same or different directions.

Mark racked his brains out to try and escape from this situation. But as they said, tricks did not matter against overwhelming strength. Mark knew as such, and the simulations he did in his head were all ending up in failure.

In the air, Amihan and Chimetrice did their best to block Sinogo's attack. Amihan even employed the things she learned from Mark but to no avail. Her power was severely overwhelmed by Sinogo's control of the wind.

There was no way that a little [Sylph] like her would be able to contend against a power that came from the Supreme God of the Sky.

But Amihan did not intend to give up. Even if she lost her life here, it would be worth it. Mark and Mei treated her as a family after she spent more than a hundred years with no one by her side.

And at this point... Amihan lost control of the wall of wind.

<strong>WOOOOOM!</strong>

Amihan's loss of control over the wall caused it to severely weaken. And there was no way that Chimetrice would be able to continue blocking the empowered attack alone.

The wall of wind they created instantly began to spin and became part of Sinogo's attack.

Amihan was the first one subjected to the force of the wind, pulling her into its spiraling maws.

And the small [Sylph] had no way of resisting as she was thrown off her flight and was swallowed by the moving spiral of wind.

Amihan was the first, and Chimetrice was the second. And soon, Mei would end up the same.

Mark's eyes widened as both Amihan and Chimetrice became prey to the violent winds that Sinogo controlled. But to his relief, the two were still alive somehow. He could still feel their consciousness, although Chimetrice seemed to be in a lot of pain.

It was clear that Chimetrice was protecting Amihan since she only seemed to be feeling afraid but still unharmed.

On the other hand, Mei was yet to be swallowed by the wind. She used her all to fly as fast as she possibly could, with her body flashing with bright light here and there. However, the spiraling wind continued to chase and was rapidly catching up.

And Sinogo was having fun watching their predicament.

Mark clenched his fists. What was he supposed to do?

But all of a sudden, a voice echoed in his head.

"You're not giving up now, are you?"

It was a familiar voice using a language born of Earth but had been lost in time.

This voice... It was Keeper's voice.

As Mark realized whose voice it was, scenes quickly flashed in his eyes.

It was a scene where Keeper stood in front of him while being trapped in a cave. No, it was not Mark.

"This is... Freed's memory?"

It was a fragment of Freed's memory. A time when one of their cards failed to work.

"Listen to the crystal. What does it want?"

Mark then saw Freed raise his hand, opening his enclosed fist. It was a crystal that failed to work for some reason.

With that last scene, Mark snapped back to reality, realizing that he already raised his right fist and opened it in front of him. It was the same scene where a crystal failed to work for some unknown reason.

Mark then noticed as he turned his arm. The [Psycrystal] was glowing. It was not that the memory coincidentally appeared inside his mind. The [Psycrystal] triggered it.

It was not the first time that the [PsyCrystal] showed sentience. Not only the [PsyCrystal]. Even the other crystals did the same.

These items were definitely not sentient beings. However, they seemed to have their own will about things in their surroundings.

It was the same this time, whether it be the memories or the will of the crystals.

"Listen to the crystal, you say."

Mark said, holding the unresponsive crystal between his right index finger and thumb. He was sure that it did not mean that the crystal would magically speak to him. But as he looked at the crystal, he had one urge.

In that memory, the crystal in Freed's hand had worked by using it in tandem with another crystal.

But this one Mark held in his hand...

To the surprise of everyone watching, Mark swallowed it.

While his strange action would not mean much to the others, those who knew about the effects of the crystals did not expect Mark's action. After all, Mark had already consumed a few of these crystals. And each time, the pain due to the changes brought to the body by the crystals would intensify.

It was not wrong to say that it could lead to death by circulatory shock if the pain exceeded the threshold of one's mind and body. Not to mention that there were crystals incompatible with each other and could cause conflict in the body and kill the user of the crystals.

Yet, Mark took the risk.

Mark grit his teeth. The pain began to spread to his whole body, especially his head.

The previous time, it took Mark several hours to completely consume the [Lightning Manipulation Crystal] he had. And it should also take a few hours this time.

But time was not in Mark's favor.

And the fastest way that Mark's body would adapt to the change was...

Mark's blood churned, turning into sharp blades inside his body. And to everyone's shock, Mark fell unto his knees with his flesh and skin being torn and cut by his own blood.

The wounds healed, but Mark kept repeating the process. At the same time, he used his remaining magical energy to use the [Butterfly of Knowledge] to further increase the process of healing and self-injury.

Unexpectedly... Sinogo watched with interest as Mark began suffering. In his eyes, there was nothing else that Mark and his group could do.

In the sky, the spiraling wind continued to chase the distraught Mei. She became even more worried as she felt Mark's current suffering.

And inside the violent wind, Amihan opened her eyes. She finally noticed that she was still alive. Around her was a barrier of wind protecting her body. And Chimetrice was shielding the barrier with his body.

The wind sure was strong and violent that it was slowly slicing through the tough body of Chimetrice.

Amihan felt helpless...

However...

When she lost her parents due to the foreign humans, she was unable to do anything. But now, she was stronger than in the past.

Although she did not know whether it would be of any help, Amihan began to gather all her energy around her body.

It was when a familiar but also unfamiliar voice of a woman entered her ears, making her frantically look around.

The voice asked Amihan...

"Little embodiment of the wind... Why let the tainted wind restrict you?"

"Who?"

Amihan asked back, losing grasp of her gathered energy which could only disperse to nothingness.

And as the little [Sylph] asked the voice that question, the scene around her changed.

Amihan was now flying in the middle of a dirt path inside a forest she had never seen before. Yet, the forest felt extremely familiar to her.

Then, a beautiful woman appeared from one end of the path. The woman wore a white gown that fluttered lightly in the wind. The woman walked towards her, but her feet never touched the dirt below her feet.

And when Amihan saw the woman's face... She was shocked.

The woman then smiled.

"Who am I? I am you."

The woman answered the question as Amihan stared at that face that looked extremely similar to hers.

"To be exact..." The woman continued to speak, looking at Amihan as if she had seen her lost child after a long time of separation. "You are a fragment of me."