Mutagen

<strong>Day 241 - 10:21 AM - Barangay Bagawines, Municipality of Vallehermoso, Province of Negross Oriental</strong>

Barangay Bagawines was a coastal barangay far east of Mount Canlaon. A few months ago, before the apocalypse began, it was only a rural area with a few small settlements surrounded by ricefields.

When the Fusion of Dimensions arrived, it became a grassland with barely any ruin of the past civilization left around it.

And just yesterday, the grassland turned into a wasteland with nothing but dirt and rocks.

Now, it had become a landing area for a few [Aquatic Infected] coming out of the waters of the Tañon Strait.

As expected, yesterday's battle attracted all sorts of [Infected] creatures into the area. Whether it was from the other parts of the island provinces of Negros or Cebu, they began gathering near the Tañon Strait. It was the same for the [Aquatic Infected] that swam from the northern and southern areas of the islands into the strait.

At this moment, the number of [Infected] gathered was still small. Yet, this small number might still be able to take down a decent settlement or two considering most of these were high leveled [Mutated Infected]. Adding the circumstances and different traits and types of [Infected], the faster ones to arrive were, without a doubt, the mutated ones.

Past seven months after the apocalypse began, most of the [Infected] had already shown varying mutations. Some might only have their arms or legs changing. Others did not even have any resemblance to their past appearance left. At this point, it was extremely rare to see [Infected] that had yet to mutate.

And now, a lot of them began to gather on yesterday's battlefield. While the [Infected] saw nothing but the barren wasteland, they did not wander away from the general area affected by the battle.

Everyone knew that the [Infected] lacked awareness and relied on their instincts. Well, most of them, at least. But with that fact, it was very likely that the [Infected] gathered here did not even know what attracted them in the first place.

Of course, the reasons were the energy fluctuations of yesterday's battle and the residual energies left in the surroundings.

These residual energies would seep into the surroundings. However, there was barely anything to absorb these energies here. The place was devastated and the only things left were the barren land and scorched soil. That was why the likeliness for these residual energies to cause mass mutation among the [Infected] was lower.

Still, it was better not to be complacent.

The ground itself could absorb these residual energies. And in particular locations of the battlefield, some of the [Infected] began to show some rather strange behavior.

It was to eat dirt.

Who would expect the [Infected] to eat dirt on their own? It was already proven that the [Infected's] preferred diet was flesh, especially those of the living. No one had seen an [Infected] ingest dirt even if they were deathly starving.

There were pretty few that showed such behavior. Too few that if it was not weird and strange, no one would notice such actions. Furthermore, they were not doing it continuously. Some would bend down, grab some dirt and shove it in their mouths. Although they would swallow the dirt in their mouths, they became uninterested in doing it once more and would continue wandering around instead.

As said before, there were certain locations where the [Infected] showed such behavior. One was where Sinogo's attack exploded in his mouth, and another was where Sinogo was hit by Mark's lightning attack [Miasmic Judgment]. Both locations were where the ground was exposed to strong magical energies, and it was very likely that both instances left more residual energies on the soil.

Fortunately, no strange mutations caused by the residual energies had appeared so far. However, the more [Infected] gathering in this location and the more time they spent staying, the higher the chance that some of the [Infected] would mutate due to the residual energies.

That was why...

BANG!

A three-meter tall [Mutated Infected] with elongated limbs and claws fell with a bullet hole on his forehead.

It was not only a bullet. Dozens of arrows also rained from the sky, killing more of the [Infected] that gathered in this location.

And the culprit for these kills... It was Mark's group and the remaining warriors of Mount Canlaon.

The residents of Mount Canlaon did not want another Sinogo to appear and the sacrifices yesterday to be repeated. And as such, they decided to make sure that no [Infected] would gain such power. They chose to eliminate the [Infected] as much as possible before they became too much of a dangerous threat.

As for Mark's group, they were not really needed here. As guests, they did not have to interfere with the problems that the residents of Mount Canlaon were facing. After all, their only business here was Sinogo, and he was already killed.

No one would blame them if Mark's group just went home already. Even the problem with the [Infected] and the residual energy could be checked from time to time with Spera's help.

However, of all people, Mei insisted that they stay here for a bit. And since there seemed to be no problem with it, everyone agreed.

Alawana, the current leader of Canlaon, also allowed them to stay. It would be shameful for them if they declined their saviors for a small favor.

And since they were staying, they also decided to participate in eliminating the [Infected]. Not only that it would serve as practice, but they could also gather some [Mutagen Stones] without putting much effort. In the first place, the residents of Mount Canlaon had no use for these stones stuck in the brains of the [Infected] and would gladly give these junk to Mark's group instead.

In the fight, however... Mark was excluded.

Among the members of the group, Mark was the most affected by yesterday's battle. His body was weakened and fatigued, while his magical energy and [Miasma] were almost drained empty.

On the other hand, Amihan and Chimetrice were the complete opposite of Mark. Amihan was empowered due to her awakening, while Chimetrice did not really incur anything negative from the battle. It really showed how much of an Anti-God Creature Chimetrice was with his indestructible body.

And it was the main reason why Mei insisted on staying. Once they returned home, it was unlikely for Mark to get any proper rest. He would need to help on things around the base and would most likely spend his time on other things instead of resting.

Here, Mark had no choice but to rest since there was barely anything he could do in this place anyway.

As such, Mei and the others participated in thinning the numbers of the [Infected] gathering in the area. It was all while Mark stayed behind in the Secret Realm of Mount Canlaon.

***

Inside the Secret Realm of Mount Canlaon, Mark shrugged his shoulders. If it was Mei and his little girls, he was confident that they would be able to handle a few hundred [Infected] without problems. In the first place, it was not like the plan was to fight face to face. It was to attack from a distance while dealing with those that came near to them.

Still, being left alone here was rather boring for Mark.

While sitting beside the very same table they had lunch yesterday, Mark began twiddling his fingers. His fingers began secreting blood that started taking the shape of a ring.

Without anything to do, Mark decided to recreate his [Storage Ring]. The [Spatial Stone] was intact, but the ring itself was destroyed during his transformation. In the first place, the stone could work on its own. It was just that it was inconvenient to put it inside his pocket and search for it every time he needed to take something out of its space.

Since it was not the first time Mark made this ring, it did not take long. It took only a minute or so, and the ring was recreated.

And now... Mark was left with nothing to do once again.

"You look really bored."

Mark was sighing when the annoying voice entered his ears.

"What do you want now?"

Mark grumbled, looking at the avatar of Magwayen, appearing from the [Mark of the King].

"For someone who doesn't show much emotion, you're really someone not easy to forgive, are you?"

Magwayen asked though she was not really asking for an answer.

The Visayan Goddess of the Underworld had a hand in a lot of things that happened in the battle against Sinogo. In fact, she was part of the reason why he looked too tired these past days.

After the [Trial of Regrets], those around Mark noticed his lack of energy and would often ask if he was fine. It happened several times, and it was something that was hard to hide.

The reason for that awful state Mark had was the blessing he and the others received after passing the [Trial of Regrets]. To be exact, the energy within the blessing.

Since Mark spent more time within the trial and absorbed most of its energy, Mark actually underwent some conflict of energies inside his body. It was his [Miasma] and the blessing, fighting each other.

It was not surprising since [Miasma] and the energy of righteous Gods were the opposite kinds of energy. And with both existing inside his body caused Mark to suffer. It was not like he was in pain or something, but Mark's [Miasma] and the energy within the blessing were trying to oust each other.

This conflict would only stop once one was eliminated. However, Mark could not have that and was holding both energies back. It caused him to get tired as he did it constantly.

There was no way Mark would let go of his [Miasma]. As for the blessing, it was needed to fight Sinogo.

But when the blessing was not useful anymore, especially when Sinogo regained his humanoid body, Mark did not hesitate to throw away the blessing and let his [Miasma] reign over it.

That was the time when Mark was swatted away by Sinogo and ended up getting his body severely injured. At that time, some traits of the blessing were already integrated into his body due to his mutation. There was no problem in removing the remaining energy.

It was the cause for the markings on Mark's body that turned golden due to the blessing to return to being black-colored. The remaining traits of the blessing caused his wings to change, however. This change was accompanied by a bit of defense strengthening on his body.

Magwayen definitely knew that Mark was in that state. However, she seemed more interested in what Mark would do than to give actual advice and help.

It was the same when Magwayen agreed for Mei and Amihan to join the battle, and Amihan ended up awakening a power she never knew she had.

In one way or two, Magwayen was an annoying existence. It was not something surprising, however. After all, Gods were bored existences and were looking for ways to entertain themselves. Furthermore, Magwayen barely had any work to do in her world due to it being stagnant.

Thus, it was only Magwayen finding entertainment in Mark and his group.

Ignoring Magwayen, Mark thought of things he could do while resting. Magwayen also decided to stay silent, knowing that Mark had no intention of speaking to her.

In the end, Mark's attention was targeted to certain items that were already inside his ring.

It was hundreds of what seemed to be hawk feathers and hundreds of golden scales.

Where did these things come from? The feathers came from Sinogo's wings, while the scales came from his arms, legs, and tail.

Sinogo died in Mark's hands. However, being affected by [Mutagen] to a high degree, his body did not turn to dust or vanish like most Deities in the past.

And that body left some precious materials for Mark to use.