Mutagen

<strong>Day 148 - 12:19 PM - Factory Area, Rebels Base, San Pablo Poblacion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes</strong>

The arrival of their faction leader boosted the remaining rebels' morale. Although they were still keeping a safe distance, they already stopped on their tracks. Aiming their guns at Mark, they were ready to fire at once the order dropped.

Furthermore, as time passed, more and more of the rebels arrived to subdue the single intruder present before them.

At this point, with Mark at the center, it almost looked like a scene from an old Chinese war movie surrounding the enemy army's general.

However, as the situation around him worsened, the more Mark felt satisfied.

After all, it was all according to plan.

To eliminate the majority of these rebels, Mark would not take too much time. He had an arsenal of abilities that he could use to kill them all, but he was stalling for time instead.

Mark ignored the question of Emellynn, and his eyes fell on a person standing at a scaffolding not far behind the rebel leader.

According to the descriptions, that man should Felix, the right-hand man of Emellynn.

However, Mark was sure that he felt that this guy was with the man that Vanessa spoke to after he delivered the package last night.

It was strange considering that Felix was here when he was also present at the Military Settlement the previous evening.

The distance between the Catanduanes Military Settlement and this base was not small. It was more than thirty kilometers away. The way would be dangerous, and there were mountains between the two places. It would be impossible to traverse that distance in a single night. It was unless they could fly.

However, Mark was sure. Felix was not a Mutator to be capable of that. Maybe, they had other means of doing so.

Suddenly, Felix smiled. It seemed that he could tell that Mark was staring at him despite the mask Mark was wearing.

Mark could only frown, unable to shake the eerie feeling towards this "human." Furthermore, did their group plant their members on every faction on this island? Vanessa was beside General Padilla, and this Felix was here. It was not hard to assume that they also did the same with other factions and organizations.

"Not paying attention, are we?" Emellynn spoke with a cold voice. "If you don't want to answer, then DIE!"

With a loud shout and a deafening crackle, Emellynn charged towards Mark.

With the chirping of a thousand birds, surging streaks of electricity covered Emellynn's arms, forming a long blade as she swiped at Mark.

CRASH!

The sound of crashing glass echoed as Mark crossed his arms, blocking both blades from reaching both sides of his neck. The impact was not anyone could shrug off as the cemented ground below Mark's feet cracked horribly.

After seeing her lightning blades shatter, Emellynn's eyes dilated. She immediately jumped backward with a deep frown on her golden eyebrows. Although she heard about what happened last night from Felix, she never thought it would be like this. The enemy did not even flinch from her attack!

Mark, on the other hand, stood on position once more. He was shaking his hand due to numbness. Sure enough, an almost [Level 4] Mutator was seriously on another level. His arms' bones could have shattered if he received this very same attack a few days ago. Of course, since it was Mark, it would not be a problem. His arms would start healing immediately. However, it would still feel horribly painful.

Fortunately, he already absorbed those crystals.

Still, it was quite surprising. For some reason, Emellynn's mutation gave the same vibe as Karlene's. It was very unique. And if following science, far more impossible compared to other Mutator Abilities.

Karlene's ability were claws that seem to slice through anything on a molecular level. When she transformed, her hair would turn glowing purple, flowing like it was unaffected by gravity.

Emellynn, on the other hand, seemed to be able to solidify lightning. And her transformation also looked a bit similar, with the color of her hair as an exception.

Mark raised his head, looking at the leader of this faction of the rebels. Now, he assessed that it would be hard for her to do anything to him. As such...

"My turn?"

Mark said with a playful tone.

Emellynn clearly heard that and took a defensive stance.

And then, Mark vanished from Emellynn's sight.

Emellynn immediately raised her guard, waiting for the incoming attack.

But then...

"AHHHH!!!"

With a loud crackle and splatter of blood, Mark was already in the middle of the rebels, killing without mercy.

"SH*T! YOU SON OF A B*TCH! I'M YOUR OPPONENT!"

Emellynn roared, chasing after Mark.

The rebel leader reached Mark's position and released another attack using her blades of solidified lightning.

This time, however, Mark did not stop to catch her attack.

Mark kicked the ground, moving faster than most people could follow. The lightning blades did not hit anything.

Emellynn landed on her feet, immediately looking for the enemy. It was not hard to find Mark, though, as everyone only needed to follow where the cries of death were coming from.

The frustrating cat and mouse chase began, with the supposed mouse slaughtering the subordinates of the cat.

None of them noticed that Mark was deliberately moving the battle away from the warehouse.

Renz watched the spectacle with hate and envy. Both Mark and Emellynn were showing abilities impossible in the realm of humanity. He, on the other hand, only had these fur-covered arms and feet. It did enhance his abilities as a human, but he was too far to be called inhuman.

"TSK!" Renz clicked his tongue and signaled for his loyal men to gather. "Prepare the rockets."

"Boss, are we doing it now? "

Renz's right-hand man called Caleb asked. He was that Mutator with detection ability. It was a reasonable question. Using rockets inside the base was a risky action, after all. Not to mention that the intruder was currently fighting against their faction leader. They were in the middle of the rebel army.

"It can't be helped." Renz reasoned. "It might be risky but it's also a good opportunity."

After hearing those words, Renz's men began to move. First, they retreated away from the center of the battle as stealthily as possible.

While Renz's group retreated, one of his men started to whistle. However, his whistle did not seem to be heard by everyone at all. Instead, it was another division of the rebels on standby that heard it clearly.

It was the group that Renz built as his own loyal army. When the base was facing disasters like this, this group would be on standby at the pretense of being a reinforcement group. They were stationed at the armory to pick up the needed weapons and equipment if something unexpected happened.

Of course, it was all the arrangement of Renz for a specific moment.

The "Reinforcement Group" heard the whistle and began to move. The whistle was a code, telling them what equipment to take and what actions to make. Now, they looked a bit nervous but also determined. Now was the time they were waiting for.

Back at the factory area, the rebels started running away once more. The rise of morale they received did not take long and began to crumble. It was because even though they kept firing their guns and their leader continued attacking, the intruder was still alive, killing everyone in his path.

Soon, by everyone's surprise, the reinforcement group started to surround the factory area. They positioned themselves on higher grounds, wielding those large rocket launchers. Some were even riding on vehicles making their presence known.

It was hard not to notice it, and most of the rebels became confused instead of feeling relieved.

Even Emellynn could not help but stop on her tracks. Deploying rockets this time was not unreasonable. However, some of the men equipped with the rockets were aiming specifically at her and not the enemy.

Mark, on the other hand, also stopped. He was interested in the drama that was about to happen.

There, they noticed Renz climbing up one of an open military jeep together with his entourage.

"RENZ! YOU BASTARD! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

Emellynn roared.

"Emellynn... Are you dumb or what? The Government calls us rebels. So what do you think are we doing?"

Renz arrogantly replied.

"Renz! You!"

Of course, Emellynn was furious. If glares could kill, the person she was staring at had already died hundreds of times.

"Me what?" Renz returned the glare in kind. "Stop glaring to b*tch! The only thing you have is that monstrous strength. Without me, you can't even manage the faction. And yet, because everyone is afraid of you, you took the position of the leader."

Renz then exaggeratedly pointed at his chest.

"For years, I've been the brains of this faction. When the faction leader died because of his infected wife, I should have been the one following in line. Yet, you f*cking took it away!"

Renz then pointed at Emellynn.

"You started enforcing rules! LAWS THAT WE SHOULD FOLLOW OR ELSE, YOU WILL END UP KILLING US!"

"YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT? WE ARE FIGHTING THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE WE ARE SICK OF THEIR LAWS! THEIR LAWS THAT DID NOT EVEN TAKE THE POPULACE INTO ACCOUNT, WITH THOSE CROCODILES FATTENING UP THEIR ALREADY OVERFLOWING WALLETS!"

At this point, Renz sat down on the backrest of the seat beside the driver's seat.

"The world already crumbled. Even the Government did not have any hold on their laws now. And yet, there's you. A faction leader of the rebels enforcing the very same rules. Are you the Government now? Then, we must destroy you, right?"

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Emellynn replied. "I can't believe that you actually had the guts to rebel."

"YEAH! I am afraid of you! HAHAHA!" Renz laughed maniacally. "You are strong! All of us are afraid. That is why we can't understand. Why are you standing up for the weak? It's the end of the world. The strong eat the weak. It's the survival of the fittest. But the rules you impose favored the weak instead! How dumb. If I had your power, I could have ruled this island now! In the end, you are just some naive woman!"

Renz then raised his hand. His loyal men put their fingers on the trigger of their rocket launchers.

"B-BOSS RENZ! W-WE ARE STILL HERE!!!"

One of the rebels at the center of the factory yelled out in fear.

Although many of them started to run away, a lot of them were still left near the area where Mark and Emellynn stood. Even if the target of rockets were Mark and Emellynn, many rebels would still be caught in the explosion.

"Become noble sacrifices." Renz sneered. "Don't worry, we will take care of your families... if there's any left."

Renz's eyes turned away from the despairing rebels back to Emellynn and Mark.

"Goodbye, Emellynn. And to you too, you monster."

There, Renz dropped his arm forwards, signaling the execution.

With hundreds of loud sounds, hundreds of rockets flew from different directions.

Horror and despair. The rebels at the center of the factory area desperately ran away. However, rocket launchers were not perfectly accurate weapons. Some of the rockets could deviate from the targets due to various reasons.

With loud sounds, flowers of explosions bloomed. Many feeling rebels died immediately with more severely injured, losing their limbs or other parts of their bodies.

As for Emellynn and Mark, their location was bombarded by the majority of the rockets. More than a hundred rockets might appear to be overkill. But Renz thought otherwise.

The two were monsters. If not for the fact that the numbers of rocket launchers they had were limited, he could have deployed more.

But seeing the explosion and feeling the shockwave on his face, Renz was confident that it should be enough.

"HAHAHAH!!! F*CKING FINALLY!!!"

Renz laughed hysterically.

But then...

A playful voice sounded.

"How stupid."

Renz looked at the source of the voice. It was no other than Felix that was seemingly enjoying the show.

"You lowly dog. Your master is gone now. Do you think, you can still be smug about it?"

Renz ridiculed Felix. However, the usurper was only replied with a sneer as the latter pointed at the place where the rockets exploded.

That was when they realized, the smoke appeared to be dissipating faster than they expected.

And there, they saw someone step out of the smoke.

It was Emellynn, with crystalized ice hair, and armor made of ice.