Mutagen

<strong>Day 48 – 5:40 AM – Mabuhay Lounge, NAIA Terminal 2, Pasay City, Metro Manila</strong>

It was early in the morning and the sky had already started to brighten. The thick black clouds yesterday already thinned out although there was still some small clump of black clouds above the control tower which was the center of the entire event that happened yesterday.

After the remaining members of his current group arrived, Mark led them to search for a good place to rest. Unfortunately, Mark neglected the fact that there would be no private or VIP lounges in the Terminal 2. All they found suitable to rest at was the domestic lounge of Mabuhay Lounge.

There should be other lounges that looked like hotels in other terminals but Mark decided not to leave Terminal 2 which was the closest to the Infected Nest.

With the more than whole month of neglect and the infected roaming the place, it was dirty and smelled bad. After they cleared up the remaining infected inside and secured the place, they cleaned up a small area of the lounge near where the windows were located. Since they found the place near sunset and because of the black clouds outside, the place was rather dark. Alaula became very handy as they cleaned the area where they would rest.

Amidst their cleaning, Mark felt that the miasma he left in that shadow man's body had activated. Mark was sure that that man received his intent within the miasma before he was consumed by it. That person only got his just desserts. It was quite disappointing though that he was not able to take that guy's robe.

When they left the control tower, Mark also took the robes left on the ground and managed to inspect the robes after cleaning their resting area. To his amazement, the robes were not normal at all and did not seem to be made of just normal cloth. It was very sturdy and even stabbing the cloth with a normal knife he got from the catering area of the lounge did not damage it in the slightest.

Shadow People, Spectral People, a Werewolf and a Tiktik that was under the leadership of a devil. Now, this unusual robe, Mark could not help but think that the organization that they belonged to was deeply rooted not only on the surface of the Earth but also on its hidden side that could not be touched by normal people.

The whole night was rather an uneventful one. Karlene and Edzel immediately fell asleep after they ate dinner. The two lay down on different sofas not even minding the bad smell that seeped into foam of the sofas. That was how tired the two was. Mark did not mind them and decided to be on the lookout. Mei and Miracle along with the other [Blood Children] slept around him after they lined up several sofas on different directions forming a large bed.

Mark sat on one end of the sofa while Mei used his lap as pillow. She really seemed to be happy about it that she was smiling while she slept. There was also the peaceful expression on her face that was pleasing to look at.

Amihan and Aephelia were sleeping on the table with folded blanket as bed. The faces of the two looked sort of identical with only a few differences. According to Amihan, it was the natural trait of Sylphs to have slightly identical faces. She even said that she looked exactly like her mother. However, even Amihan did not know what was the reason behind it.

Miracle and the [Blood Children] wanted to accompany him for the whole night but he made them all sleep, although they did not really need it by context. Furthermore, rather than being asleep, it was more of shutting down their senses and body functions to conserve energy.

Mark already had a good understanding about the [Blood Children]'s bodies. It came from both his observations and the research done by Alana's Uncle, Professor Suzuki, the head scientist in the Eastern Military Settlement.

The bodies of the [Blood Children] were really similar to human blood by structure. The thing that differed however was the cells that made up their bodies. It could be said that the majority of their bodies were composed cells that could multiply and combine at will with the command of the cells that served as their nervous system. Furthermore, their bodies were continuously functions without ceasing unless they perished.

In a sense, their bodies were shapeless human heart that would not rest. Due to that, it would consume energy which they could replenish by consuming blood of other creatures. By shutting down their body functions however which led to a pseudo-sleep state, they were able to lessen the energy consumption of their bodies.

"Yawn…"

Mark stretched his body and decided to move his body around. He gently lifted Mei's head from his lap and placed it down on a pillow covered with folded blanket to lessen the smell. He then sneaked out trying not to wake up everyone.

He then picked up the [Mental Crystals] that were created overnight and fell on the sofa beside him and stored them inside the [PsyCrystal]. Mark felt that it would be more convenient if the crystals could be created and stored at the same time but it seemed to not work at all. Every time a new crystal was created, whether it was [Mental Crystal] or [Physical Crystal], it would pop and he needed to store it manually.

Using the window nearby which was already broken and was currently covered with a blanket, he slipped out of the lounge and made his way to the roof of the terminal.

Chaflar seemed to notice its master and raised its head. The dragon was left on the roof together with the infected eagle that was not moving like a statue.

Mark signaled the dragon to continue sleeping as he only came out to check the situation in the airfield.

When Mark saw the current situation, he scratched his head.

"It seems I'm not the only one waiting for the pod to hatch."

He murmured.

On the airfield, countless infected were wandering. It seemed that all the infected that went out yesterday after being lured by the military already returned. Among them were the skinless infected that would not die no matter what. Their bodies were prominent among the horde since they were the only ones with a pinkish flesh color.

The strange thing however was not only the Alpha was around the pod, there were several strange looking infected that he never saw before. An eye catching one was a more than two meter infected that seemed to have metallic parts on its body. Its dark silver colored body was really noticeable even from afar.

Mark sat down at the edge of the roof watching the scene below.

Soon, the sun started to rise and Mark could feel the temperature of the air started to become warmer.

Another hour passed…

GRRRWWW!!!!

GRRRAAAAAA!!!

Suddenly, the infected started to become agitated. All of them started growling. Hearing millions of infected growling at the same time could make anyone shiver.

POP! POP! POP!

Mark started to hear popping and bursting sounds. The sounds came from the smaller pods that started to hatch. One by one, different kinds of mutated infected came out from the pods. All of them seemed to be at level 2 mutation or even higher.

Then, a strange sight unfolded.

The infected near the already hatched pods started to swarm over the remains of the pods. And then…

They started eating the remains.

"Hmmm?"

Mark was confused at the sudden sight but he decided to leave for a bit. The roars of the infected woke up everyone inside the lounge and he needed to get them out first to see the situation.

As they got back to the roof top, Mark told them what was happening. Due to the scare they had after hearing the roars, none of them were half-asleep and were paying through attention to what Mark was telling them.

When they arrived at the rooftop…

"Your Majesty, it seems that the large pod is about to hatch."

"We're on time for the main event then."

Mark said with great interest.

It did not take long and the about four meter or higher pod started to shake. The boils on the surface of the pod started to burst scattering green liquid unto the surroundings.

That was the time when…

The [Blood Children] started shivering. Even Miracle was not an exception. They were shivering from fear.

Not only the children but all of them were overwhelmed by a sudden pressure. It was a heavy pressure telling them of dangerous thing that was about to come out.

On the other hand, the strong looking infected outside the pod, even the alpha, started to behave wildly.

In everyone's surprise, they started to attack the pod that was about to hatch.

"What in the world are they doing?"

Mark also found it odd.

It was then when…

BURST!

Several large hands burst out of the pod and grabbed the heads of the smaller mutated infected around the pod. The heads of the infected were crushed which made a number of bodies fall down around the pod.

ROOOOARR!

Seeing his subordinates being killed effortlessly, the Alpha roared loudly. It grabbed a small luggage vehicle nearby and threw it to the pod mercilessly. A part of the pod was crushed open and a large hole was created. However, it could be seen that the vehicle did not manage to kill what was inside. The vehicle thrown was grabbed by numerous hands and was immediately thrown back out.

BURST!

Finally, the pod burst open and a large shadow jumped out in the open.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"What in the world…"

Karlene voiced out speechlessly.

BAM! BAM!

The shadow charged forward the Alpha.

"Well, I'm not interested in that anymore…"

Mark scratched his head.

The thing that came out of the pod was a three-meter half-humanoid

It was half-humanoid because only its upper body was shaped like a human and it was obvious that it was a female. Its lower body, however…

There were a large number of tentacles that looked like arms without bones and at the end of each tentacle was a large hand that was more than large enough to grab a human's torso. The creature looked like a Meroctopus with hand tentacles instead of octopus tentacles.

But something made Mark and Aephelia unsettled.

Each of the palms of the hands at the end of the tentacles had…

…Eyes.

Furthermore, the face of the creature itself had about a dozen eyes.

"Your Majesty… Isn't that…"

"I know."

Mark frowned.

With the difference of the humanoid body, the appearance of the tentacles with eyes was highly identical to a creature Mark did not want to encounter at all.

[Eye God], that was the name they gave it. The mountain sized creature that caused the destruction of Eriellis.

This monster they were watching gave the same vibe as that creature.

"We need to kill it."

Mark said with all seriousness.

"Gege…"

"Mark…"

"Boss, are you sure about this?"

The three people with Mark voiced their hesitation. That creature was surely not something they could take down even if there was a dozen of them.

"I'm going alone, don't worry. I can also take advantage that its attention is on the Alpha."

"Gege, before that…"

Mei suddenly interrupted Mark.

"What is it?"

Mark turned to her and noticed that her eyes were dilated. She was using her ability while staring at the pod that the creature had just left.

"Gege, there's a large stone inside the pod."

Everyone turned toward the pod. Of course, Karlene and Edzel were not able to see it. Mark on the other hand strained his eyes for a bit and managed to catch a glimpse of it.

Without saying anything to them, Mark turned into a puff of black mist. The mist then could be seen making its beeline towards the pod that was now being besieged by the infected.