Mutagen

<strong>Day 253 - 8:42 AM - Mountainous Crater, Municipality of Viga, Province of Catanduanes</strong>

The blurry figures of the magic-enchanted arrows whizzed across the battlefield. As each arrow passed by, they were accompanied by a terrifyingly powerful gust of wind.

Then, the spheres of light bloomed as the [Flying Mechids] exploded one after another. Some even got caught in another explosion, causing a chain reaction.

Unfortunately, not only that most of the arrows did not hit anything, but Mark and Chimetrice also got caught in the barrage of arrows. Some arrows passed near them, almost hitting them in the process.

Mark and Chimetrice were not bothered by the arrows, however. None of the arrows were directly flying toward them. And if one or two flew towards them by mistake, they had enough leeway to avoid it.

After all, with the arrows destroying the [Flying Mechids], the number of attacks they had to evade decreased. Furthermore, Mark was already aware of the possibility of getting caught in the middle of the rain of arrows.

This was an impromptu move for them to deal with the pesky [Flying Mechids]. There was barely any practice of Amihan to do this kind of thing. Even her control was barely passable. It was already good that some of the arrows hit and destroyed a number of [Mechids].

By now, fifteen [Flying Mechids] were destroyed, with five more getting caught in the explosions.

Like before, after an unexpected attack, there was a slight pause among the [Mechids]. Maybe, there was some lag in calculations. Unfortunately, the pause was just a second or two, not giving Mark and Chimetrice much chance to take advantage of it.

Mark turned his attention to the [Mechids] below. These track-wheeled [Humanoid Mechids] were far sturdier than the flying ones. Some of the arrows actually hit the [Mechids] below. However, the arrows barely damaged them.

It was another unsurprising thing since the arrows lost a lot of power after Amihan separated them all to attack different targets. There was no need to mention that the arrows hitting the [Mechids] below was purely coincidental.

Now, things had gotten easier, and the enemies were in disarray.

Mark and Chimetrice pressed on with their attacks while the [Flying Mechids] was still trying to avoid the barrage of arrows.

"Chimetrice! Vines below!"

Mark instructed.

Chimetrice faced his wooden arm towards the [Humanoid Mechids] below. And then, his fingers, like rapidly growing vines, shot towards his targets. The vines grew large, as thick as an adult's arm, as they quickly approached the enemies below.

The [Humanoid Mechids] immediately tried to retaliate, shooting a barrage of lasers at the incoming vines. While facing the barrage of lasers, the vines were damaged, burnt, and cut off. However, each damage the vines incurred only led to more branching vines sprouting from the damaged parts. The more the [Humanoid Mechids] resisted, the more vines they had to shoot.

It did not take long, and a stream of vines was already pouring unto the [Mechids] below.

<strong>BAM!</strong>

The stream of vines reached the resisting [Mechids] with a loud sound. These vines began to slither and curl like snakes, constricting the [Humanoid Mechids].

And like a lizard cutting off its tail, Chimetrice cut off the vines that he grew from his arm.

At this time, the [Fire Manipulation Crystal] glowed brightly in front of Mark's right hand. Then, a large burst of flames enveloped the ground below.

Immediately, the vines caught fire, and the flames quickly spread unto the surroundings.

It was the very same type of combination attack that Mark and Chimetrice pulled off to start the battle. However, it was strange to see the vines that Chimetrice released to catch flames. After all, he was an indestructible [Humanoid Chimera] that even the Gods of the past could not kill.

Normally, these vines were strong. Even the God of Fire that Chimetrice fought in the past could not burn through these vines easily. Nonetheless, one ability Chimetrice had with these vines was his complete control of their nature. He could make it sturdy as steel but as flammable as gasoline or as brittle a leaf but mostly impervious to fire.

With the vines made as flammable as possible, the flames spread and burned way above the melting point of common metals on Earth. Although the [Humanoid Mechids] were built with different metals, including the materials from the original [Mechids], many parts of its bodies were still made with metals from Earth. And even if these [Mechids] managed to resist melting, there was no way the meager amount of black goo inside their bodies would remain intact.

The flames burned the vines, and they turned to ashes. It freed the [Humanoid Mechids] from being restricted and immediately tried to retreat from the burning flames. However, their movements slowly became more and more sluggish as parts of their bodies, inside and out, melted. They also began to exude the foul odor of evaporating black goo.

By the time the rain of arrows ended, the [Humanoid Mechids] below had already turned into piles of unmoving scrap metal.

Mark turned towards the [Flying Mechids] and the [Giant Mechid] standing behind them. Only two-thirds of the [Flying Mechids] were left after the rain of arrows. It was not a bad result considering it was the first try.

It would have been nice if the arrows could fall non-stop. Unfortunately, there was no way that was possible. The number of archers was limited, and there was also a limit to Amihan's control of the wind, or things would go haywire if she overdid something she had no full control of.

But, of course, Mark would abide by the rule that the same attack would not work twice. At least, not as much as the first one. Giving another rain of arrows might increase the damage to the enemies but would not be that effective. Not to mention that the enemy was an intelligent robot capable of analyzing attacks it had seen before.

Nonetheless, another volley would not hurt.

Mark began tapping on his ring. His next commands were passed on immediately.

The [Mental Crystals] were called out, all of them circling around Mark's right arm. After the next volley of arrows, Mark intended to finish this fight. A prolonged fight was not something he would want now, especially after the prolonged fight with Sinogo.

After all, the enemy might have more cards to play. It was better to end this before those cards were shown.

Unfortunately, Mark already realized that burning the [Giant Mechid] might not be plausible. After all, these [Mechids], at least the ones that fell on Earth, managed to resist the hot entry into Earth's atmosphere, after all.

Mark then slightly nudged his head. Unknown to everyone, something flew from him towards the [Giant Mechid].

Then, the next volley of arrows was shot just before the [Flying Mechids] began counter-attacking. In fact, Mark and Chimetrice seemed to be the least of concern of the [Flying Mechids]. Not that the two were already disregarded, but the arrows did far more damage to them than Mark and Chimetrice so far. At least in terms of numbers in a short time span.

Seeing the arrows coming once more, the [Flying Mechids] moved. Not to scatter and evade, but they all flew in front of the [Giant Mechid] and hovered side by side.

<strong>SHOOOM!</strong>

All of a sudden, a large barrier was formed in front of the [Mechids].

In this kind of formation, both attacks using the arrows that they made so far immediately became useless. The arrows would only bounce off this barrier if it was the same as the first volley, and scattering the arrows would not work since the [Flying Mechids] were now behind the barrier.

These [Mechids] sure were annoying enemies. Just by seeing the attack once, they already moved to make a countermeasure.

Unfortunately for the [Mechids], however...

<strong>THOOOM!</strong>

The beam of light pierced through the daylight within the mountainous crater.

Mei shot her [Shooting Moon Blade] for the second time. The shot was timed just before the arrows shot from the sky under Amihan's control.

The beam shot straight to the middle of the [Fying Mechids], towards the [Giant Mechid] behind them.

And...

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

The beam shot through the [Kinetic Barrier] that could only block projectiles.

With the barrier pierced, the [Flying Mechids] behind it was swallowed by the beam.

<strong>BOOOM! BOOOM!</strong>

The [Flying Mechids] hit by the beam exploded, and with all the [Flying Mechids] gathered closely together, the first explosions caused a chain reaction.

In the blink of an eye, the barrier vanished, and the more than seventy [Flying Mechids] were no more.

Most importantly, the beam shot towards the [Giant Mechid], straight to the already damaged hole on its body. Following the beam, the concentrated barrage of enchanted arrows came.

Once again, the [Giant Mechid] received a full-blown barrage of attacks without any defenses. Unlike the first time, it stomped its legs to the ground to brace for the attack. However, it seemed the impact of the attack was much higher than it could handle. The front legs were lifted from the ground, and the [Giant Mechid's] enormous body stumbled and rolled after receiving the attack.

Then, Mark and Chimetrice followed up.

Chimetrice punched the ground once again, summoning vines to constrict the [Giant Mechid] and keep it in position.

Mark, on the other hand, flew where the gaping hole was created on the [Giant Mechid's] body. He saw how the attack actually damaged the inner layer of its armor, and more of its circuits could not be seen.

From then hole, something flew and landed on Mark's head. It was actually Crimson, who Mark sent to investigate for a bit.

When the [Giant Mechid] released the [Flying Mechids], Mark saw that the insides of the [Giant Mechid] were actually hollow and not filled with black goo. That was why Mark sent Crimson inside to look. Unfortunately, the investigation did not bear fruit since it was done for a very short time. It was also not easy since Crimson could not navigate through the go, even in his mist form.

Nonetheless, Crimson actually confirmed that there were still [Flying Mechids] inside the [Giant Mechid]. This would work in Mark's favor.

In any case, the [Giant Mechid] was damaged enough to see its insides, it was constricted, and Crimson had already returned.

Mark stretched his right hand facing the gaping hole. The [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal], the [Photokinesis Crystal], and the [Flame Manipulation Crystal] all glowed brightly.

Three attacks of different properties entered the [Giant Mechid's] body.

The scorching flames burned the black goo, paving a way for the wind and light attacks to infiltrate further inside the [Giant Mechid]. The light beam tore through thinner metal parts like a laser while the wind infiltrated and passed through every gap it could fill.

Being attacked from its insides, the [Giant Mechid] struggled. It was not like it was feeling pain. However, it seemed that it knew that it would get destroyed if this continued.

Unfortunately for the [Giant Mechid], the giant vines held through its struggles. Soon, Mark's attacks reached its inner areas. And there, Mark released a full-blown attack inside, depleting half of the energy from the three crystals he used.

<strong>BAM!</strong>

A muffled explosion was heard from inside. Mark could feel the surroundings becoming unstable.

Mark immediately left the gaping hole.

"Let's go!"

Mark shouted to Chimetrice, and the two of them flew away as fast as they could.

From behind, Mark could hear and feel the ongoing explosions inside the [Giant Mechid's] body.

Then, everything in the surroundings grew brighter. The wind and the ground shook violently.

<strong>BOOOOOM!!!</strong>

Accompanied by a blinding surge of light, the [Giant Mechid] exploded like a giant bomb.

But to everyone's surprise, even though the ground and the wind were shaking, no shockwave happened despite the loud explosion.

Mark took a look behind him, slightly covering his eyes with his hand.

Where the [Giant Mechid] was left, a ball of light slowly expanded outward, swallowing everything it touched.

That ball of light expanded wide, occupying about a quarter of the crater.

Then, after reaching its maximum size, the ball of light suddenly shrunk and vanished as if never existed. It was when everyone felt the aftermath of the explosion as the wind blew towards the space previously occupied by the ball of light.

Everyone tightly held onto their position, resisting the wind pulling them all into the crater.

When the wind stopped, they all saw the destruction left by the explosion, erasing not only the trees but even the ground and a huge part of the northern walls of the crater.

In any case, the [Giant Mechid] was gone. All that was left was to deal with the remaining [Mechids] on the island.

Or so they thought...

<strong>THOOOM!</strong>

A laser beam shot towards Mark from who knows where. The beam was not only large but highly destructive and radioactive.

Mark has yet to let his guard down and managed to evade the beam, which shot towards the sky after missing its target.

Frowning, Mark faced the direction where the laser beam came from.

A humanoid object slowly floated from the ground. Not only that, but several more [Mechids] began appearing where the center of the crater was located.

Mark clenched his fist. It looked like the battle was not over yet.