Mutagen

Day 357 - 7:38 PM - Museum Bandar Cimanuk, Lemahabang, Indramayu, Indramayu Regency, West Java, Indonesia

The friendly dinner chat with the guests faced a sudden and dangerous interruption.

Gigantic red eyes glowed from beyond the fog while the ground continued to shake. The shaking was not strong enough to make everyone fall, as it only felt like the faint shaking of the ground during a bull run in Pamplona. However, that faint shaking felt more concerning, as it also felt like it was coming not from only one or two pairs of legs but dozens.

Limabela already issued a warning to her teammates. It made Luna and Bajing spring into action as they ran to group up with the others in the building. She then turned to Mark, and the latter also gave her a glance. The similarly colored glow in their eyes vanished before she gave a knowing nod and followed her two friends.

Mark stared at Limabela's back as she left. He did not expect to meet a fellow [Clairvoyant] in a place like this. Furthermore, it seemed that the fog also hindered their [Clairvoyance]. The sudden flash of scenes depicting the dangerous premonition appeared, but the enemy was already on their doorstep. On the other hand, Mark was also surprised the [Future Sight] worked at all in this fog.

But as Mark thought of some questions in his mind, Magwayen spoke in his head.

"The fog from the [Magic Overflow] affects magical abilities that need to manifest outside the most. Abilities that manifest inside the user's body are less affected by the fog, although with reduced effectiveness."

"I see."

Mark replied with a nod after hearing the explanation.

The Moon Chasers were getting ready for battle as they went out of the building with weapons drawn. Mark looked at his group. They had already finished cleaning up the food and were ready for any confrontation.

With the robes they wore all day, which hid their armor beneath, they went to join the Moon Chasers.

The members of the Moon Chasers looked warily at Mark's group, especially Chaflar. However, it was not the time for any argument or fighting between themselves. There was a far larger enemy ahead of everyone.

"This is bad," Mark heard Luna speak to her teammates. "Why is the [Fogcrawler] here of all places?"

"[Fogcrawler]?"

Mark asked as he approached.

"It's a monster lurking in this fog," Limabela answered Mark's question. "It's first spotted during the second time the fog appeared, and it almost wiped out a hundred-people team, only leaving a few survivors to spread the tale. It appeared a few more times when the fog spread."

"What kind of monster is it?"

Mark posed another question.

"No one really knows," Limabela replied. "It always lurks in the fog, so no one was able to see its actual appearance. The only identification we had of it was its giant red eyes and the odd number of sounds it makes with its legs."

"But it always appeared in the southern areas. Why is it here in the north?"

Bajing's voice echoed as if asking fate itself.

A monster spotted several times in the south was now in this place. Was it a coincidence?

"It's reasonable that it appeared here," Mark answered Bajing's question. "It appeared several times in the south, which meant the people from the fortress started avoiding those areas. It meant that there were no humans there for it to hunt. I can only move somewhere where humans are."

Mark's answer gave insight to everyone who heard it. The [Fogcrawler] was here because there were humans here for it to hunt.

"Isn't it strange?" Luna suddenly spoke. "It's not attacking."

Mark also noticed this fact. Everyone could feel the hundreds of legs moving in the surroundings. However, the pair of giant red eyes only kept swaying inside the fog. It was as if it was curiously looking at something.

"So, that's it."

Mark voiced out.

"Did you figure out something?"

Limabela asked Mark.

"It is probably confused," Mark answered. "It's a creature that only lurks within the fog. It probably hasn't come across anything like this place which the fog could not cover."

Mark's explanations felt on point. In fact, everyone could see the giant eyes in the mist circling the area unaffected by the fog.

"Will it just go away if we don't engage with it?"

Someone from the Moon Chasers asked. That question, however, made Luna turn to Limabela. Then, Limabela unexpectedly turned to Mark before both of them gave each other a nod.

"Prepare for battle, like I said before," Limabela declared. "This fight is inevitable."

The members of the Moon Chasers felt indignant. It was understandable, as no one would want to fight such a dangerous creature. It wiped out several groups larger than the current group of Moon Chasers. Even if the strange group joined, the number was still far smaller.

In this expedition, the Moon Chasers only had fifty members. It was only half of the number of the first victims of the [Fogcrawler]. And in terms of equipment and preparedness, this group was far inferior. Yet, they had to face such a dangerous creature within its playing field.

"I got the rockets ready," The man named Edge came out of the building carrying a pair of RPGs. "We only have four rockets we're saving in case of emergencies, but it's better used here than never."

"Thanks, Edge," Luna thanked the man before turning to her members. "Everyone, get into defensive positions. We don't know if we will get through this without casualties or if any of us will survive at all. But remember. We all are in this together."

But then, Mark made a sudden request.

"Can you guys give us the preemptive attack?"

Mark asked.

"Huh?" Edge did not find Mark's request favorable. "This a life or death situation for us here. What are you trying to do?"

However, before Luna could intervene, Limabela stopped Edge.

"Let them, Edge."

Limabela spoke.

"What?"

Edge asked with agitation.

"I said, let them," Limabela repeated her words. "It doesn't matter who gives the first attack, anyway. You think our rockets can kill something that killed larger and richer groups than us easily?"

Edge was unable to reply to that question. Limabela was right, after all. There was no way that larger and richer groups did not have more rockets and explosives than they had. Yet, they all died.

Still, how come Limabela was siding with the strangers? What was the reason? Luna and Bajing were also confused. Even the people in question, Mark and his group, were unsure why Limabela was doing this.

Nonetheless, the questions about Limabela's intentions would be for later.

Dealing with the [Fogcrawler] should come first.

The [Fogcrawler] was certainly confused. It already circled around the area unaffected by the fog without trying to attack the prey inside. However, it was also clear that it was about to lose patience. Its movements were becoming increasingly chaotic as it tried to make another circle around the area.

Mark watched those pair of red eyes closely. The [Fogcrawler] would attack any moment now.

 "Mei'er," Mark patted Mei's shoulder. "Shoot. Full charge."

Mei looked at Mark with initial askance before nodding. She then left Mark's side and leaped onto the roof of the building.

Everyone watched Mei's agile movements. It was when they saw her begin aiming with her weapon.

The members of the Moon Chasers saw her odd-looking sniper rifle. It looked like a toy modeled from something that would come out of a Sci-fi movie. Some members, like Edge, could not help but frown. What could a toy-like gun do? Shooting with the rockets would be far more damaging.

But then, everyone's eyes widened with their mouths agape.

Mei's sniper rifle began extending out, transforming into something like a railgun. White circles of light began spinning within its dismantled barrel, with beams of light gathering at its center.

The five [Empty Mental Crystals] fed into Mei's [AT-Etherbloom] and turned to dust. The light emitted from the gun began to hurt the eyes of the audience.

However, Mei did not fire immediately. She circled around the roof, aiming at the pair of red eyes darting around within the fog.

Finally, the patience of the monster ran out.

SCREEECH!

With a loud, snappy screech, the true appearance of the [Fogcrawler] appeared in front of everyone.

From the wall of thick fog, the head of a gigantic centipede poked out, charging into the group of prey it spotted in the middle of the fogless area. As an insect, it also felt attracted to the bright light in front of it despite being a creature of the fog.

The [Fogcrawler] charged without any hint of stopping. Its giant body could easily trample over everyone here.

And then, the light bloomed.

Mei pulled the trigger. The full charge of the [AT-Etherbloom] welcomed the incoming giant.

The giant centipede now faced the same amount of power that pierced through a Deity's manifestation.

It was only then that the [Fogcrawler] realized the danger. It tried to avert its head away from the trajectory of the beam of light. However, the momentum of its impatient charge made it fail to do so.

THOOOOOOOM!

The beam of light tore the giant centipede's neck, separating its head away from its body. The beam did not stop as it pierced through the fog, leaving a trail of empty space after it ended.

With a loud crash, the [Fogcrawler]'s head fell to the side of the building. Its body also crashed in a separate direction, dragged by the weight of its own.

The members of the Moon Chasers stared in utter shock as the unbelievable scene unfolded before their eyes.

"Don't just stare," Mark's voice entered everyone's ears. "It's not over yet. You guys better put your all to dodging."

And as Mark had just said, the unbelievable scene was not the end of the battle.

The headless body of the [Fogcrawler] began running around.

It ran and rolled, carrying the will it had before it was beheaded.

The [Fogcrawler] continued to hunt its prey despite its dying state.

Furthermore, while it became devoid of its sense of sight, it still had its sense of touch and smell. It was still able to track its prey.

And just like Mark had said, everyone must put their all into dodging the headless body of the giant centipede.

Unfortunately, the dodging part was mostly for the members of the Moon Chasers. It was because the members of Evernight had already jumped onto Chaflar's back and flew as high as it could within the fogless area.

CRASH!

The building at the center of the area crumbled as the giant centipede crashed into it.

When they saw the demolished building, the members of the Moon Chasers had their hearts thumping loudly. The building was in the middle of the fogless area, which must be the reason there was no fog there. What if the fog enveloped the area after it collapsed?

However, the worst did not happen. Despite the building's collapse, the area remained clear of the fog.

Nonetheless, the fog was the least of the problems at this moment. For the Moon Chasers, the problem was the giant headless centipede still chasing after them.

BOOOM!

Edge fired a rocket. The rocket hit the exposed innards of the centipede, causing it to pause from the damage.

"ON MORE!"

Edge yelled as he was about to fire another shot.

However, Mark's voice entered his ear.

"There's no need for that."

Mark said as another beam of light shot from the sky, moving across the stretched-out body of the [Fogcrawler].

The beam of light almost split the body in half vertically. However, the beam was not able to as it was just barely a half-charged shot using two crystals. Furthermore, the goal of the beam was not to pierce but to destroy the heart of the centipede, which was a tubular organ stretched out across the centipede's body.

With its heart majorly destroyed, the headless body of the [Fogcrawler] finally stopped moving.

The members of the Moon Chasers stared at the strange group as they landed from the sky.

But before anyone else could voice a single word, Limabela's voice entered everyone's ear.

"Amazing! As expected of the people who came here to help us!"

Limabela exclaimed to the confusion of the other members of her group.

On the other hand, Mark stared at the strangely friendly woman. He was also a little surprised, but more than that, he realized the meaning of her words.

Mark and his group came here to help Thirteenth's other candidate. Then, Limabela said that his group came here to help them.

It only meant something.

Thirteenth's other candidate was among these people.

Mark's eyes fell on a certain individual. The candidate was supposed to be a leader just like Mark and the Priestess, Ise Hikari. Then, the candidate Mark was looking for was no other than the purple-haired woman, Luna.