Mutagen

<strong>Day 251 - 1:32 PM - Unnamed Mountain, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>

Immediately after receiving the message, Mark and Deriellio headed back to the village. Because of Deriellio, the travel that would take a few minutes only needed a few seconds.

Mark found the situation to be very odd. Although the attack was too sudden, why would Diwata Iraya need to call for him? It was not the first time, and although casualties were not surprising, the residents of the village had managed to thwart any dangers so far.

And given the usual attitude of the magical creatures, it would be uncanny for them to rely on outsiders to protect their own turf unless it was unnecessary.

However, instead of finding Diwata Iraya waiting for Mark, he found Mei and the members of his group waiting for him, along with Aliya and Gennie.

"What's going on? Where's Iraya?"

Mark asked his ancestor.

"Diwata Iraya had already gone to the southeastern foot of the mountain," Aliya answered Mark's question with a worried expression. "It seems like there's something different with the enemy this time, and the first group to ambush it was all killed already."

The people of this village organized their warriors in groups to fight the [Mechids]. Depending on the kind, shape, number, and possible strength of the enemy present, a different group would be sent to ambush it.

Although this tactic was not exactly flawless, it had worked so far. Having different groups with different strategies had helped in dealing with the [Mechids] attacking the village. There would be casualties and injuries, but it was something to be expected when fighting a dangerous enemy.

Besides, even if the first group sent to battle failed in their ambush, they should be able to flee. The forest and the mountains were their homes, and they knew every nook and cranny of the place to allow them to escape. And then, another group could be sent and fight the enemy using a different tactic.

But this time, the group sent to ambush the enemy was killed before the battle could even start. It was more than enough to cause worry to the people of the village. Thus, Diwata Iraya and Morlkil had to go intercept the enemy.

Unfortunately, in Diwata Iraya's current state, it was unknown if she would be able to help that much.

Suddenly...

<strong>SHOOM!</strong>

A beam of light pierced the sky from the southeastern foot of the mountain. It immediately took the attention of anyone that could see it as it glowed brighter than the sun in the sky.

It was hard to tell why that beam was fired to the sky, but it was clear who shot it. A beam of light that was strong without any magical fluctuation in the surroundings, the cause was definitely the enemy.

The beam disappeared as fast as it appeared. Mark immediately turned to the rest of his group.

"Mei'er, Amihan, Spera, Chimetrice, we're going," Mark ordered. "The rest, stay in the village for now."

The little girls were quite disappointed with Mark's decision. After all, they would be left behind again. However, none of them complained, knowing that Mark was just worried for their safety. The enemies they had this time were far more unpredictable than humans nor the [Infected].

Human actions could be predicted by Mark by reading their emotions. The [Infected], on the other hand, was also unpredictable, but this unpredictability was limited by the fact that [Mutagen] could only affect its victims physically. And even if [Magical Infected] already existed, their magical abilities remained the same with only their physical body changing and mutating.

The [Mechids] was different. They had no idea what they were capable of and what kinds of technology these alien robots possessed until it was seen.

Thus, a [Infected] Sinogo was actually a more plausible enemy than the [Giant Mechid] trapped in the southeastern mountains. Sinogo might be strong as a former deity that gained a fragment of the power of a god. However, Sinogo's abilities were predictable due to knowledge acquired from the myths and the people Mark encountered beforehand. They only had to match Sinogo's strength in order to kill him, although they had pretty much struggled with it.

The [Giant Mechid]? Who knows what that monster was capable of. It could be nothing but a gigantic piece of scrap metal, but it could also be a  nuclear bomb waiting to explode.

All things had to be carefully considered if they wanted to deal with the [Giant Mechid]. It was the same for the minions popping out of it every now and then.

With the team decided, Mark's group of five moved together with Deriellio to where the beam of light came from.

The group immediately arrived at the battlefield only to see an unfortunate scene.

A large patch of the forest at the foot of the mountain was cut down, leaving a circular patch of land littered with fallen trees and plants. The trees were clearly cut with something sharp, seeing the smooth cut trunks of the trees.

But with those fallen trees were fallen magical creatures, sliced and diced the same as the trees and plants in the surroundings.

And the culprit stood tall at the center of it all.

"An Agrissa? No, it just looked similar."

Mark could not help but blurt out with a frown on his face after seeing the enemy.

The [Mechid] was large. It stood four meters tall with a flat crab-shaped body and legs similar to a spider's extended underneath its body. On top of its body were the same type of dual emitter laser weapons similar to yesterday's [Spider Mechid]. In fact, its legs also looked the same, although having blades extended on both the outer and inner parts of the forelegs. This appearance made the forelegs look similar to a mantis'.

As Mark's group arrived, Diwata Iraya was extending her arms wide. Then, a magical barrier was created, similar to the one found in the disposal pit.

Seeing the light in the surroundings distort a bit, the [Mechid] seemed alarmed. It began firing its lasers in every direction, only for the rapid-firing lasers to vanish upon touching the barrier.

When the lasers seemed to show no effect on the barrier but had done no harm to its body, the [Mechid] stopped moving at the center of it, seemingly waiting for the next move of its enemies.

Mark's group arrived at Diwata Iraya's side, which was quite a distance away from the battle.

"You have arrived."

Diwata Iraya said to Mark while her attention was focused on the enemy inside the barrier she created.

"What's the situation?"

Mark asked.

"It is as you can see," Diwata Iraya answered distraughtly. "Our warriors tried to fight it, only to end up in those conditions. Dead without their bodies intact. The ones you see are only a fraction as some Spirits and Elementals had already vanished or turned to dust."

Mark looked at the battlefield. Aside from the bodies, he saw a lot of arrows and spears littered around the [Mechid]. These arrows were not just your regular arrows but fired by [Anggitays] with the help of [Sylphs] and [Yasaws]. The penetrating power of these arrows and spears was pretty high and could probably pierce through a fully armored tank. In fact, this was how the magical creatures of this mountain managed to fight the [Mechids] before.

Yet, not a single scratch could be seen on the [Mechid] at all.

"Its body is different from the previous ones."

Mark murmured as he observed the [Mechid].

Compared to the [Mechids] that Mark saw in the disposal pit, the [Mechid] before them looked far different. Its body had an unworldly luster despite having a color that looked like a mix of iron and copper.

At this time, a shout could be heard from the remaining warriors.

"SHOOT!"

At that signal, a barrage of arrows, shooting as fast as an anti-materiel rifle, rained unto the [Mechid].

Similar to the barrier in the disposal pit, it allowed entry but not exit, trapping the [Mechid] within but allowing any attack to enter from outside.

But as the [Mechid] detected movements in the surroundings, slots on its body opened, and something made of light enveloped its body.

The arrows were deflected as they hit the light enveloping the [Mechid]. Strangely, the arrows did not break upon impact despite their strength and bounced off in different directions before falling to the ground.

"Like before, it had no effect."

Diwata Iraya said as she saw the result.

"A [Kinetic Barrier]... This is unexpected..."

Mark said, seeing the light that enveloped the [Mechid's] body. Something that he did not expect to see in real life.

"An Agrissa lool-a-like with rapid-firing lasers, blade forelegs, and a [Kinetic Barrier]. What an awful combination."

Mark added, confusing the ones that could hear him as to what in the world was he saying.

After the barrage of arrows ended, the light enveloping the [Mechid] vanished. It also closed the slots on its body before remaining still as before.

<strong>TOOTTOOTOOOOT!</strong>

A horn sounded, signaling the change of tactics. The warriors hidden in the trees around the battlefield all moved.

<strong>SWOOOSH!</strong>

One arrow shot right behind the [Mechid]. Since the barrier was down and it was shot at a blindspot, it should at least hit.

However, a slot behind the [Mechid] opened, partially protecting its body from the incoming arrow. Like before, the arrow was deflected, dealing no damage to the [Mechid].

Mark and Mei noticed it. While standing still, the [Mechid's] body had a slight glow coming from the gaps of its body.

While Mark's group observed, arrows came flying at random intervals, but the result was the same.

"Gege..."

Mei whispered.

"Yeah, I noticed."

Mark nodded, understanding what Mei was about to say.

When the warriors moved, the glow on the gaps would become visible as if it was scanning the surroundings. The [Mechid] seemed to have a motion detector, detecting movements in its surroundings and locating where its enemies were moving towards. It was also likely that it had a thermal detector and other searching mechanisms, allowing it to thwart any incoming attacks.

And these functions were clearly not present in the [Mechids] Diwata Iraya and her people encountered in the past.

"This [Mechid] is made to counter us, isn't it?"

Mark deduced to the surprise of everyone.

Yesterday, the [Spider Mechid] was killed without knowing where the enemy was and was killed by a single bullet shot by Mei.

Now, the [Mechid] was not only possibly packed with detection functions but a [Kinetic Barrier] specifically designed to stop small, fast-moving projectiles. It was all to counter what happened on the [Spider Mechid] yesterday, getting killed by a single bullet from an unknown assailant.

This circumstance just bolstered Mark's theory more. They were being watched, and the new [Mechids] was being made to counter the things the previous ones experienced.

And if there were no [Mechids] lurking around and monitoring things, there was only one answer.

They were being watched through the [Mechids] that they were fighting.

The sound of the horn was heard several more times. Even magical attacks were fired toward the [Mechid]. However, while the magical non-physical attacks seemed to pass through the [Kinetic Barrier], it was rather impossible to hit the [Mechid] as it moved as fast as the top speed of a race car without needing to accelerate and could suddenly stop in place as if disregarding physics.

At this point, the warriors were losing options.

The group then began to listen to Mark. He already formulated a plan while they watched the magical creatures fight the [Mechid]. After several minutes of discussion, they began to move.

"It's time for us to step out."

Mark said to Diwata Iraya and his group.

"Please."

Diwata Iraya said in gratitude.

Spera stayed with Diwata Iraya while maintaining a clear view of the battlefield. Chimetrice left the area to do the task Mark gave him.

On the other hand, Mark, Mei, and Amihan would try to fight the [Mechid].

And at the moment Mark, Mei, and Amihan entered its detection range, the [Mechid] froze and turned in their direction despite not being fully visible due to the plants and trees in their location.

"Damn..." Mark said with a bitter smile. "Don't tell me it can even recognize us."

The thought that these machines could even remember and recognize their enemies was quite chilling and uncomfortable thought to have.