Mutagen

<strong>Day 240 - 11:12 AM - Tañon Strait, Region VII, Central Visayas</strong>

It was less than an hour before noon. The sun should be up and shining in the sky.

But within the vicinity of Tañon Strait and the nearby coastal areas, it was as if there was an ongoing storm.

The sky was dark, and the winds blew strong.

Lightning flashed repeatedly, and thunder roared one after another.

The waves within the waters moved violently, and they swallowed the areas near the beaches.

Since the apocalypse began, several strange phenomena have started happening in many parts of the world. Many of which were events akin to doomsday scenarios.

And this time, something similar was happening in the body of water between the island provinces of Cebu and Negros.

But who would have thought it was caused by two powerful beings fighting? Not to mention two individuals that commanded the powers of Gods in the myths?

Of course, those who did not know would not think of such a possibility. And rationally thinking, such a thing was not possible at all.

Yet it was happening.

***

Back in the sky above the center of the Tañon Strait, the icy waterspout continued to spin. Inside the violent winds, Sinogo struggled to maintain his flight while shielding his body with his aura.

With the wind blowing violently inside the waterspout, anything in flight would have a hard time. And because of the shard of ice flying inside, it was impossible to maintain flight at all. The shards of ice flew at alarming speeds. Anything that entered it would likely end up shredded to pieces.

Even Sinogo was struggling. Not only that he could not fly stably, but also because his aura was being slowly shaved off.

They said that the eye of a tornado was the safest compared to its edges. However, it was not the case here. With the shards of ice hitting each other, most of them would end up bouncing off towards the center. The vortex of the water spout became where the shards of ice converged, turning it into a meat grinder.

It did not take long, and Sinogo received his first wounds.

The shards of ice repeatedly shaved away the aura shielding Sinogo's body until parts of it vanished. Although the aura was restored as soon as it could, the slight opening was more than enough for the shards to inflict injuries.

Of course, the wounds Sinogo received were far from something that could kill him. Nonetheless, staying trapped inside the waterspout for a prolonged period might cause his demise.

And as one would expect...

Sinogo gave up on defense.

No, it was definitely something unexpected.

In this situation, one's reflex was to protect their vitals. Even Sinogo initially did as he protected his head and body with his arms and wings. It was his action, even if his body was protected by that film of magical aura.

And now that Amihan's attack was actually able to damage him, Sinogo's current actions became even more irrational.

Sinogo's aura vanished and was restored repeatedly. However, his body was also increasingly injured every millisecond that passed by.

It was when the space around Sinogo began to shake. It was not only Amihan who could control the wind. He was the same. The space around him shook as he took control of the wind inside the waterspout Amihan created.

Sinogo's control of the wind was clearly inferior to that of Amihan's. Nonetheless, it was more than enough to divert any incoming damage.

And as Sinogo converged his energy and released everything in an instant...

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

A loud explosion of air was created as Sinogo tore the entire waterspout apart, scattering strong winds, water, and ice in every direction.

"WAH!"

Amihan was also blown away, only managing to stabilize herself after getting thrown a kilometer away.

The two were separated with a great distance between them. At this distance, it would not be surprising if Sinogo lost visuals of the small Amihan.

But that was not the case.

The two were not using their eyes to sense each other but the strong magical energy they were releasing.

Sinogo was wounded. Even if his aura had already been restored, the wounds on his body were clear for anyone to see. Unfortunately, Sinogo did not have the ability to heal himself, which was in Amihan's favor.

Ignoring his wounds, however, Sinogo chased after Amihan. He would not let the pest have the chance to make another powerful attack.

Amihan, on the other hand, stared at the incoming Sinogo. It was not like she was unfazed, but she had no choice but to continue fighting.

The [Sylph] waved her hands, and the wind around her danced. She then flew at speeds faster than she had ever in her entire life and avoided Sinogo's frightening charge.

Missing his target, Sinogo turned his waist around, throwing bolts of lightning towards Amihan, who now flew above him. In this position, there was no way Amihan would be able to use the water below to shield her body from the lightning Sinogo conjured.

As expectedly, Amihan could only try to evade the attacks. She was almost hit several times. Fortunately, although her body felt the electricity passing in the air, she was able to evade the sudden attacks and remained unharmed.

***

On the previous battlefield, everyone arrived at the location where Mark and Chimetrice were waiting. With Amihan shifting the battle somewhere else, the others could safely reunite with Mark.

In addition to the members of Mark's group, Magwayen and the [Eyes], a few more individuals joined in. First was the three [Diwatas] of Mount Canlaon. And surprisingly, the black-dressed [Diwata] from Mount Madia-as, Silim, had arrived.

The moment everyone arrived, Mark's attention was already on someone.

"Do you have to stare at me like that?"

Magwayen returned the stare with a knowing smile.

"About Amihan... You also know about it."

Mark replied.

No one interrupted the clash of stares. Everyone here knew the fault that lay on Magwayen here. Even the newly arrived Silim, who shared the same blame, just looked the other way.

The two clearly knew Amihan and her connection to the Goddess of the Wind. However, the two never told anyone, including the person in question. This would not have been an issue. However, Magwayen clearly supported Mei and Amihan's intention to join the battle because of this reason.

"Why do you have to question me as if I did something wrong?" Magwayen shrugged. "My intentions saved your lives, mind you."

Mark could not refute that. As Amihan awakened her concealed power, it saved Mark, Mei, and Chimetrice from immediate harm.

"That aside," Nineteenth interjected. "Taking that crystal in front of your enemy is such a dangerous move. Why would you think of doing that?"

"Do I have any other choice?" Mark replied. "I some Goddess informed me about Amihan, I wouldn't have done it."

The blame returned to Magwayen in the end. She started to feel annoyed getting all the blame. But Mark also had a point there.

"This is why we warned you before." Fourth grumpily sighed. "It's too early for you to take on that guy. You are lucky that [Sylph] is actually someone's incarnation. If not, things could have gone worse."

"Are we getting back to this discussion?" Mark replied to Fourth. "I already told you two that we can't just retreat from here."

Fourth could only stare grumpily at Mark. His head was too hard to change his mind. It was not like his reason was not valid. But still, Fourth felt annoyed at Mark.

"And why are you here?"

Mark asked someone who was not supposed to be in this place.

"There is no way I should not. The entire region is already affected by what is happening here." Silim replied. "If this place fell, the next would be our home. In the least, I could prepare my people to leave if the worst came."

It was true. While Mar and the others could not see it, the entire Visayas could already feel that something was wrong. In fact, droves of [Infected] started moving towards this location, attracted by the strong magical fluctuations in the area.

On the other hand, animals were already fleeing the vicinity, trying to escape the possible catastrophe they could face if they stayed.

And for the magical beings, the weak ones could only shiver. The fluctuations released by the battle caused their entire existence to become unstable.

The only ones who could endure the situation were the ones gathered in Mark's location.

"You two want to go back?"

Mark shifted his attention to two other people. It was the sisters, Bella and Donna.

The sisters were clearly uncomfortable. Unlike everyone else here, the two were basically just regular people. Fortunately, the presence of the [Eyes] kind of negated the direct effects of the auras coming from Sinogo and Amihan. If not, they should have passed out already just from the pressure emitted in the surroundings.

Bella and Donna looked at each other. In the current situation of the battle, there was nothing that the two could help with. However...

"Can we stay?" The younger, Donna, asked Mark. "We are already here. I want to see how this ends. It's just a once-in-a-lifetime event, right?"

"I want to see it too."

Bella added.

Donna was a free-spirited woman, and she was quite courageous. Her reply was not surprising. The more unexpected thing was that her older sister agreed with her.

"Then, suit yourselves."

Mark nodded. He had no qualms with the two stayings here. It would not change anything whether they stay or escape.

At this time, the battle in the Tañon continued to rage.

With the help of Fourth and Nineteenth, everyone around Mark could watch everything that was happening.

"She's holding out well," Nineteenth complimented Amihan's current prowess against Sinogo. "She is using her small stature to her advantage."

Normally, the larger ones had the size advantage. In this battle, however, Amihan had the advantage as the smaller one.

Because Amihan was small, she was hard to hit even with supposedly precise attacks. It was like how it was hard for a human to hit a fast-flying fly.

If Sinogo wanted to hit Amihan, he needed to create wide attacks that would affect a large area. Sinogo would have been able to make such using wind attacks.

However, Amihan had greater command and control over the wind. Wind attacks became ineffective against her.

Most of all, Sinogo wanted to eat Amihan for her magical energy. At least, for now, the giant was trying to kill Amihan without destroying her whole body to dust.

But who knows how long would it stay like this? Sinogo could go impatient and just start a full-blown attack at Amihan without regard for the result.

At this time, Chimetrice stood up with Ilia clinging to his arm.

"I have already recovered," Chimetrice declared. "I am joining the fight once more."

Ilia let go of Chimetrice, and no one tried to stop him. Everyone was also counting on Chimetrice to end this battle.

With a strong flap of his wings, Chimetrice soared to the sky once more. He then flew towards the east, where the battle between Sinogo and Amihan ensued.

Seeing that scene, Mark sighed. He was the only one left that could join this fight. However, he was still not ready.

Mark clenched his right arm. He could feel his whole body churning in pain. In fact, it was rather strange.

When Mark swallowed the second [Lightning Crystal] he acquired, he also felt like being electrocuted, and lightning bolts repeatedly flashed out of Mark's body.

But now, Mark was only feeling pain after swallowing the dud crystal. This pain was only brought by his self-harm and the ongoing changes inside his body.

While Mark had those thoughts, the space suddenly shook.

It surprised everyone, even the [Eyes], as all of them looked at the sky.

All of a sudden, Mark felt his body churn. He gazed at the sky, looking at the familiar formation of the swirling clouds.

Finally, the power from the crystal surged inside Mark's body. It forced everyone to retreat, but the one shocked the most was Fourth.

"No way! This presence! When did you get that bastard's power!"

Fourth shouted in shock as she felt the familiar presence and power getting emitted from Mark's body.