Mutagen



Day 341 - 12:52 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reclaimed City, Ruins of Tokyo

The Eight-Headed Serpent God of Chaos spewed fire towards the docks of Kachidoki. This high-temperature breath might not be able to melt stone and cement immediately, but it should be able to melt most industrial metals enveloped by it.

While its targets on the docks might be able to dodge it, it would leave a mark of devastation in everything else it swallowed.

But to the surprise of both parties, it was not the case.

The flames spewed by a God was actually blocked and negated. Its powerful flames could not create the expected damage and got swallowed by the violent winds of the conjured tornado.

...A tornado summoned by another Godly being.

The players of the opposing playfield fell silent, except for the two who were the cause.

No wonder Mark was unafraid of going against Gar'Vlam. Gar'Vlam might be far from his prime, but he was still a Demon Deity. And considering the time passed since the last time Mark fought Gar'Vlam, the latter would be much stronger than before.

In the eyes of both the Priestess and the Empress, Mark would need their cooperation to defeat the current Gar'Vlam.

But now, those thoughts were for naught as they did not account for the big secret that the little [Sylph] in front of them held.

"No time to gawk around," Mark's voice snapped the people around him back to reality. "The next attack is coming. Just leave the defense of this place to Amihan."

Defense. Mark stated immediately. Amihan's magic and wind control might be powerful. However, her control was still far from perfect. In order to damage another Godly being, Amihan might need an attack far from her control. And even if she could control it, a wind attack that could damage their current enemy would also end up tearing a large part of Kachidoki. They could not do that. At least, not until the people had evacuated.

Battles between Godly beings were no small matter, even way back in the Lost Era, shaping the world as described in myths and legends.

And as Mark had said, the next attack came.

This time, a different head of the Yamata-no-Orochi opened its mouth. A swirl of air began to build up in its mouth before it spewed a surge of a clockwise-spinning tornado, which shot at the docks horizontally.

But Amihan was unperturbed, different from her past antics. Ever since she began following Mark, she learned a lot from him. Especially the ways to utilize the power of wind and the rules of physics that could be applied to it.

And with several waves of Amihan's hand, she conjured a similar attack, but it spun in the opposite direction. The two attacks collided in the middle of the river, turning into nothingness as they countered each other.

The head of the Yamata-no-Orochi that spewed that wind attack was surprised. But the surprise did not last long as another of its heads edged forward and opened its mouth.

A roar came from that head's mouth, and large pieces of the ruins around it levitated. And with a flash of a glow on that head's eyes, the debris shot towards the docks like metal balls from a cannon.

But Amihan countered by creating a wall of stagnant air. The debris crashed unto the wall with great force and deafening sound. However, even if the debris shattered and crumbled, Amihan's wall stood strong.

In fact, Amihan's wall did not go unscathed by the impact of the debris. It was a wall of air temporarily built with Amihan's magic. It was far from an indestructible wall. However, air and wind were everywhere. Supplementing the damaged parts of the wind wall and instantly repairing it would be of no issue.

On the other hand, Mark and the rest had already left the docks. They ran and flew over the frozen river, although they would look at Amihan's magnificent performance as the attacks went on.

Except for Mark, the rest was extremely surprised that Amihan was able to hold her ground against her gigantic enemy. Nonetheless, they were delighted, especially the Priestess. If Amihan could protect the Reclaimed City just like this, then the Priestess, no, Hikari, would be able to fight without worries.

Mark's group was suddenly met with fireballs flying their way. They immediately dodged the barrage of flames with frowns on their faces.

The source of the attacks was clearly Gar'Vlam, who had a subtle smile on his face. He stood at the other side of the river without any notion of charging forward. Gar'Vlam knew how to play his cards right. There was no need for Gar'Vlam or his underlings to meet Mark and the others in the middle. Whether the opposing party liked it or not, they would need to charge forward in order to fight the threat. In that case, Gar'Vlam could just fire attacks while the opponents reached them or if he was tired of it.

Of course, Mark would not just go and receive those attacks without retaliation.

With a wave of Mark's hands, balls of black flames flew toward Gar'Vlam.

Gar'Vlam countered with his own fireballs. The attacks hit each other.

But to Gar'Vlam's surprise, his fireballs dissipated. No, his fireballs were absorbed by Mark's flames as they continued flying toward him.

Gar'Vlam was the Demon Deity of Flames. Flames were his main power and attribute. As such, he did not think much of Mark's black flames and swatted the ones to hit him with his own hand.

But it was when Gar'Vlam felt the stinging pain on his hand.

Gar'Vlam looked at his hand. He saw scorch marks on his hand caused by Mark's black-colored flames. However, these scorch marks were not the product of heat.

"Right... [Miasma]. That bastard's flames had [Miasma] mixed in it."

Gar'Vlam was not perturbed or agitated by it. He had already acknowledged Mark's peculiarity after their first encounter. It was better not to expect anything when fighting Mark, as many unfathomable things were miraculously applicable to him.

Instead, Gar'Vlam doused his hands with his own flames, removing the scorch marks left by the [Miasma]-imbued flames. He then looked at the Serpent God he resurrected.

The Serpent God was powerful. It was more powerful than him or anyone here. Even the surprising Godly [Sylph] by Mark's side should not be at the same level. 

However, using the Demon Army as a sacrifice was not really the plan. It was more of a backup for Gar'Vlam. After all, their true goal was to retrieve the catalyst for resurrecting the Serpent God hidden somewhere in the Reclaimed City. And then sacrifice the humans living in the city as a better alternative to resurrect the Serpent God.

Gar'Vlam chose a certain Clan as cooperators. It was due to the fact they had traces of the catalyst and because their greedy ambitions were strong.

Unfortunately, their human conspirators were incompetent. It was lucky that the catalyst and a sacrificial body were outside the Reclaimed City when Gar'Vlam decided to join in. However, he had no choice but to use the Demon Army as a low-quality sacrifice.

It caused some complications. For example, the Serpent God was weaker than it would have been if humans were the sacrifice used.

The other problem was that God's fragment in the catalyst was awakened prematurely. Furthermore, it was awakened by brute force. It caused the resurrected being to be closer to a beast than a sentient creature.

Nonetheless, as the one that resurrected it, the Serpent God was following Gar'Vlam's orders.

A Godly being as his pet. There was no way that Gar'Vlam would not feel elated.

And as Gar'Vlam ordered telepathically, one of the Serpent God's heads turned to his enemies.

ROAR!!

That head roared. Flames were spewed toward Mark.

Mark glanced at the surge of flames coming from his right. He then spun his body sideways and accelerated his flight. And with a poof, he turned into a surge of black mist, which moved even faster.

In that instant, Mark disappeared and appeared almost immediately. Behind him was the surge of flames that missed their target and was chasing after him.

The fire-breathing head spewed its flames continuously as it moved its head to chase after Mark.

However, Mark continued to appear and disappear in a puff of black mist. And every time he did, his speed accelerated further and further. His speed even left the Priestess and the others as Mark nearly reached the other riverbank.

At Gar'Vlam's side, Shin readied himself. Mark was approaching, and another bout was inevitable.

However, Gar'Vlam blocked Shin's path, making the latter turn at the Flame Demon Deity.

"Deal with the crow and the younger fox with your [Sirens]. This monster is out of your league. I'll personally deal with him."

Shin felt dejected, but he agreed. He already knew that Mark was taking it easy the previous rounds while Shin was doing most he could.

Gar'Vlam then turned to his two Generals. The [Blue Oni], Aobo, and the [Jorogumo], Renea.

"Oni, the Priestess is yours to fight. Kumo, deal with the Empress."

"GOOD!"

Aobo enthusiastically replied.

"Haah..." Renea sighed. "As you wish."

And as Gar'Vlam ordered, his underlings readied to fight the incoming enemies.

As for Gar'Vlam...

BOOOM!!!

Gar'Vlam and Mark made the first contact. The former with his palm and the latter with his sword.

Mark charged at Gar'Vlam with extreme speed. He reached the latter with his sword drawn and slashing downward.

However, Gar'Vlam received the attack with his palm. In front of the palm was a barrier made of flames. Were the flames turning solid, or was the barrier in flames? The answer was hard to perceive.

But one thing was for sure. Mark's high-speed attack was dealt with just like that.

The impact of the attack was felt within a wide radius. It was clear how strong it was. But Gar'Vlam managed to brush it off without any effort.

Mark's attack failed, and he was forced to retreat. He stared at Gar'Vlam, trying to figure out the next approach.

But Gar'Vlam's attention was on something else. He stared at Mark, surprised.

"You... How did you become a Pure Blood?" This was a surprise to Gar'Vlam. "You are nothing but a measly human back then!"

Those words echoed in everyone's ears, especially Shin.

Mark was human before. But now, he was a Demon. And a Noble Demon, at that. A Pure Blood and a Monarch, even among Demon races.

Gar'Vlam and Tamamo-no-Mae might be Deity-level Demons. Even the [Blue Oni] and the [Jorogumo] were near Deity levels. However, none of them were Pure Blood. They could not be compared to a Pure Blood Demon, whose potential had far outstripped them.

And much more, Mark was clearly a human in the past. A human could be turned into a Demon with various means. However, no human could turn into a Pure Blood Demon.

Furthermore, Pure Blood Demons had been scarce since the Lost Era. There was only a handful of Pure Bloods that Gar'Vlam had seen, and Mark was already one of them.

Gar'Vlam had already prepared himself to fight Mark's peculiarities, but even he did not expect this.

Seeing everyone's shock at this revelation, Mark shrugged with a smile.

"It just happened. What can I do?"

BOOM!

Mark' kicked the ground, and his wings created a sonic boom. He was not here to chat but to kill Gar'Vlam.

Gar'Vlam was furious. He had already become a Deity long ago and was finally resurrected after thousands of years. And using a new body, he had already let go of trying to find a way to become a Pure Blood. But now, a human who became a Pure Blood Demon appeared in front of him.

The Flame Demon Deity was furious and jealous. And as a Demon, those feelings were amplified.

"If you are not going to answer voluntarily, I'll force it out of you!"

Gar'Vlam finally took a step. Although he immediately vanished after his foot landed on the ground.

BOOOM!

In an instant, Mark felt an impact on his stomach and was sent flying to the center of the frozen river.