Mutagen

<strong>Day 240 - 11:23AM - Tañon Strait, Region VII, Central Visayas</strong>

Sinogo glared at Mark with burning pain on his back and burning fury in his eyes.

With this, Sinogo's wings were down to four. One was lost to the [Tribulation], and now, another was torn off by Mark. The first loss was the middle left, while the one Mark got was the upper right.

This kind of injury was, without a doubt, would decrease Sinogo's flight speed by more or less a third of it.

And it was clearly Mark's intention as he tightly clasped the wing he tore off from Sinogo.

Sinogo gained a fraction of the power of The Supreme Sky God Kaptan and the tough half-golden crocodile body provided by the mutation caused by [Mutagen]. But both these things were not exactly the most troublesome aspect of Sinogo.

It was Sinogo's speed.

Despite the current situation of the battle, Mark was still unsure if he could kill Sinogo with a single attack. The fact that Mark only managed to punch one hole on Sinogo's shoulder despite attacking with five claws was the evidence.

And one more thing...

Mark's body surely was empowered in this form. His enhanced [Clairvoyance] could help him fight toe to toe. But despite this, the only thing that could pierce through Sinogo's aura and deal direct damage was his strange-looking right arm.

Since the damage Mark could deal seemed limited in every attack, he decided to focus on reducing Sinogo's speed first before everything else. It would be bad if he managed to deal accumulated damage on Sinogo only for the enemy to flee in the end.

If Sinogo fled at his current speed, there was no way Mark and the others would catch up to him.

Mark should cut off the enemy's way of retreat first. And he needed to do it before Sinogo realized that only Mark's right arm could damage him.

As Mark threw away the wing he tore off from Sinogo, he went on the offensive. The wind exploded behind him, and he flew at his fastest speed.

And Sinogo also charged in rage.

The flying speed of Sinogo was significantly reduced. Earlier, no one could even follow his movements, and he appeared to move instantly from place to place. Now, the audience could see a blurry image as Sinogo flew toward Mark.

Sinogo was still fast, but not invincibly fast anymore.

<strong>BAM!</strong>

Mark and Sinogo reached each other, with Sinogo unleashing the first attack.

Sinogo swiped his right arm diagonally downwards, trying to tear Mark with his golden claws. However, Mark stopped just a few inches before the attack and flapped his wings to fly upwards. Sinogo's claw passed just right below Mark's left foot, but the force of the attack tore a large line on the waters below.

The attack missed, and Mark counterattacked with a kick to Sinogo's face. Unfortunately, the kick did not connect as Sinogo blocked the kick with his left arm and claws. It caused a deafening clang as the armor on Mark's foot made contact with Sinogo's golden scales.

Mark's attack did not cause as much force as Sinogo's attacks which caused large impacts in the waters below.

However, Sinogo suddenly found his body being forced to move. And it was late when he realized.

Mark moved his right foot. He did not intend to cause any kind of impact on Sinogo that could force the enemy away. Instead, as his right foot and Sinogo's claws connected, he made sure that it was the joint between his lower leg and foot that made contact.

And then, like a claw, Mark pulled his leg backward, causing Sinogo's body to be thrown forwards with a clockwise turn.

In no time, Sinogo's back was facing Mark once again, to Sinogo's horror.

Sinogo immediately tried to flap his wings and evade Mark, but his speed was slower than before. Mark's right hand already clasped another wing.

Mark's strange arm and the aura on Sinogo's wing clashed. However, as if Mark's claws were acidic, they tore through the aura as if melting it. It caused some black ooze to disperse in the air.

But now, with a ruthless kick on Sinogo's back, Sinogo was thrown away once more.

"GRRRAAAAA!"

Sinogo wailed in pain. Another one of his wings was torn off from him.

This time, it was the middle-right wing of Sinogo that was taken away by Mark.

In Anger, Sinogo charged at Mark. All of his energy churned strongly, and the sky started spewing lightning bolts one after another. The wind also tried to pick up. Unfortunately, Amihan had already taken control of the wind in the surroundings, and Sinogo was unable to stir chaos within the wind any longer.

The sky began shooting lightning bolts at Mark. However, Mark did not dodge at all. He took all the lightning attacks, which seemed to cause Sinogo some glee.

Amihan began shooting blades of wind unto Sinogo, but the giant ignored it. The most that the blades could do was obscure his vision a bit.

Sinogo then shot forward with both his hands in front. He clearly wanted to pierce Mark with both his claws and end this in one go.

Nonetheless, Sinogo suddenly faced a terrifying truth.

Mark was unscathed by the lightning bolts as his body spewed lightning of its own. After all, Mark's current body was mostly composed of the energy from the [Tribulation]. The power of the lightning from the [Tribulation] was far stronger than the ones that Sinogo could call.

Mark waved his right arm. A veil of [Miasma] was released, absorbing the lightning that hit it.

Sinogo reached Mark, and his aura tore through the [Miasma]. Just before Sinogo could hit Mark's chest, he moved sidewards, turning his body to his left. Sinogo's body passed right in front of him as Mark evaded the incoming attack.

Only Sinogo's remaining two left-side wings could hit Mark in this situation.

And Mark unceremoniously swiped his claw in front of him, taking away another of Sinogo's wings.

Sinogo was now left with only his bottom-right wing and his top-left wing. It was not even a pair.

This time, Sinogo, once again, felt fear towards Mark. It was just like before. He could not even release any painful growl anymore.

Even if Sinogo now gained unprecedented power for an [Infected], he suddenly felt at a loss facing this enemy.

'Flee.'

It finally dawned on Sinogo, and survival became his priority.

Sinogo roared, making it rain lightning bolts at Mark while trying to deter his enemy from moving. Sinogo then turned away.

But all of a sudden, Sinogo found himself unable to fly properly. He could still fly, but he was unable to muster any speed or even balance himself.

Sinogo noticed that the wind was blowing rather strangely. His eyes fell unto Amihan, smiling as she controlled the wind blowing unto Sinogo. Having only two wings that were not even a pair and not even symmetrical at all, Amihan's wind only made Sinogo struggle in his flight.

Sinogo lost the ability to fly. And knowing that, the smart [Infected] knew what he needed to do.

While his wings were lost, his feet were still intact.

Sinogo let himself fall while making sure that he was heading towards land.

With a loud crash, Sinogo landed on both his feet. The dust and sand of the beach caused a cloud due to the giant's landing.

Sinogo now decided to run. But to his shock, he was stuck.

The giant turned at his right foot. A thick vine now coiled on it.

Sinogo forced his right foot to move, and the vine was torn apart...

Only to find out that his other foot was now stuck too.

Sinogo saw a figure kneeling at the edge of the beach. It was Chimetrice, waiting for Sinogo to land.

At this time, hundreds of vines shot out of the sand, trying to drown Sinogo with sheer numbers. Sinogo tried to fight back. However, for every dozen vines he destroyed, another dozen shot out of the sand.

<strong>BAM!!!</strong>

And from above, the wind blades of Amihan began to rain. While the wind blades did some damage to the vines, it was negligible.

Amihan was reducing Sinogo's aura rapidly, and his resistance towards the vines was lessening by the moment.

Finally, Mark landed nearby, to Sinogo's horror. Sinogo frantically tried to flee, but the vines kept him in place.

"This is the end."

Mark said, releasing a cloud of [Miasma].

Sinogo did not understand Mark's words, but they filled him with fear.

However, a cornered rat would fight back, as they said. Sinogo mustered all his strength and erupted with a bright golden glow. The vines were all torn to pieces, the wind blades were stopped, and the cloud of [Miasma] was erased. All of it happened in an instant.

But while it all happened in an instant, it was just that instant. As fast as the golden glow bloomed, it also vanished.

Sinogo was left standing, not understanding what happened.

Everyone realized. The aura surrounding Sinogo was gone. Even the golden glow of the markings on his body had dimmed.

Without anything else to protect himself, vines shot from the sand once more and constricted Sinogo's body. He struggled hard, but he was now losing strength. Even without his aura, Sinogo could still flee with only his speed. But it was too late now.

And there... Mark spoke as he approached Sinogo step by step.

"A God's power is unique. The source of its strength is different from others. Unless you obtained the source itself, the power you can utilize will be limited and, ultimately, run out sooner or later. Using the [Tribulation], the wind blades, the vines, and even the [Miasma] you thought you erased without effort. All of those are to slowly deplete your source of power."

Mark then sighed.

"What am I saying? I'm sure you can't understand me at all."

Mark then stepped in front of Sinogo with his right arm clawed around the latter's neck.

"As I said before... This is the end."

Mark said to Sinogo.

"You... I... Kill..."

Sinogo growled back before Mark clasped his gigantic right arm.

Without the protection of the aura, Sinogo's head was easily squished into pieces of meat and splatters of blood.

Getting Sinogo's head destroyed... It was a fitting death for an [Infected].

But definitely not a fitting death as a messenger of an Ancient God even as a traitor. Unfortunately, the era of Gods had long ended, and it was now the era ruled by the apocalypse.

And Sinogo, despite being a former messenger of Kaptan, was nothing but a mere [Infected] in this era.

Sinogo's body dangled lifelessly, being constricted by the vines.

The vines retracted as Chimetrice removed his hand from the ground. It caused the headless body of Sinogo to fall down.

Mark stared at the lifeless body. He let out a sigh.

And then, Mark's body began immitting smoke. His body... it began to disintegrate.

As if getting snapped out of existence, Mark's gigantic body slowly turned to dust and vanished. It left Mark falling to the ground in his birthday suit.

The moment Mark's feet touched the sand, he immediately fell to his bottom. His body was feeling extremely weak. It was no surprise due to the nature of his new ability.

Mark opened his hand. There, his [Spatial Stone] lay. His [Storage Ring] was destroyed by his transformation and left only the stone. It was still usable as he immediately took out something to wear.

After he struggled to at least wear some pants, everyone arrived at his location.

Everyone was celebrating the tough win, but the only thing Mark could appreciate now was the worried embrace from his wife and daughters.

Mark was really feeling extremely weak right now. He could probably sleep a whole month without a problem.

This battle would decide the fate of this country, and they managed to claim victory. But in the end, it was not without losses.