Mutagen

<strong>Day 204 - 4:30 PM - Taal Volcano, Municipality of Talisay, Province of Batangas</strong>

"Whew! It's too hot here."

Ilia complained while fanning the front collar of her loose clothes, not minding that in every pull, the deep valley between her ample mounds was being exposed.

"Just endure a bit," Mark said with a shrug. "I only asked for Chimetrice, and you insisted on coming yourself."

"You wanted to ask about a sealed Ancient Demon, right?" Ilia replied. "In these cases, it's better that you ask me instead of Master."

"I agree." Chimetrice chimed in. "Like how Ilia released my seal, she's more knowledgeable in these kinds of stuff."

Right now, Mark, Chimetrice, and Ilia stood near the base of the remains of Taal Volcano. In front of them were the nearly broken remains of the [Lava Infected].

Knowing that something was strange, Mark told the two what was happening after returning. And such, the three of them came back to check what was happening. After all, anything regarding a Deity-level Demon could never be considered as just some trivial thing. Not to mention that it was very likely that it was someone that lived through Earth's lost history, the era of gods.

It was the reason Mark called these two. Suspecting that Gar'Vlam and the other leaders of [Auraboros] were individuals of the same era, they might have found out something. It was rather weird that a random [Mutated Infected] bore the aura of a Deity-level Demon of the past.

Ending the conversation about temperature and expertise, Ilia and Chimetrice took a close look at the remains of the [Lava Infected]. Even the two of them seemed pretty surprised at how badly damaged the body of the [Lava Infected] was. All they did, after all, was pour large amounts of water on it. Yet, it was damaged as if it was tossed hundreds of explosives. This sure was the advantage of having knowledge. Both Chimetrice and Ilia began to consider learning more things from human knowledge from now on.

Those thoughts aside, the two carefully observed the corpse. And although it was very faint, they both agreed that it had a powerful aura of a Demon.

However, the aura was beginning to disperse, likely because Mark had already gathered its essence into a crystal.

After confirming that what Mark said was true, Ilia began observing the surroundings. It was rather unusual for the unserious [Elder Succubus] to show such concentration.

"Hmm... Maybe, that?"

Ilia murmured while Mark and Chimetrice watched in silence.

"You realized something?"

Mark asked.

"I can't really say for sure, but I have a suspicion," Ilia stated. "You said that the [Flame Demon] with the same aura this body had was summoned using a ritual by sacrificing people, right?"

"That's what we know so far," Mark replied. "I already told you two earlier."

After Mark fought the forces of [Auraboros] and Gar'Vlam in Bay City, the remains of the sacrificed people were found. They were buried among the rubble of the warehouse the ritual occurred, charred to a crisp, and none of the bodies could be recognized.

That was a dark time for the survivors of Bay City. Although General Perez did not show it to Mark, he was really dismayed that the [Auraboros] were doing horrendous stuff under their noses.

What the military knew about the ritual and other things was fairly limited. After all, no member of [Auraboros] was caught since none of them were humans, to begin with. The only humans within the ranks of the [Auraboros] at that encounter were Spera and Shin, who rescued Gar'Vlam. However, as Spera was nothing but a last-minute transporter, she knew almost nothing about that situation.

As for Mark, he knew more than the military. He managed to capture the [Cursed Sword] Flam, who was now named Ignis under Mark's ownership. Although Ignis was not privy about the specific stuff like the structure of the ritual, he knew the general situation.

It was from Ignis that Mark knew more than the military. The members of [Auraboros] summoned Gar'Vlam, who was sealed somewhere, using the sacrificial ritual. Since they did not manage to find the exact location of where Gar'Vlam was sealed, they used a revised ritual to summon him instead of breaking the actual seal.

"From the things you said, I believe we already arrived at the same conclusion."

Ilia said.

Mark also had his own suspicion, and that was...

"Gar'Vlam might have been sealed in this place."

Mark said, looking at the dead [Lava Infected].

And to Mark's words, Ilia nodded.

"However, we can only assume," Ilia spoke after the agreeing nod towards Mark. "Aside from the lingering aura on this lava monster, there's no other evidence left."

"Still, [Auraboros] failed to find the exact place when it is this obvious?"

Mark wondered while looking around.

"Well, there are different kinds of seals used to imprison powerful beings," Ilia said, tapping her chin. "In this case, the seal might have been hidden carefully, not to mention... This place is a natural sealing array itself."

Natural things were the hardest to see. It was a good phrase that could apply to many things. In this case, a [Natural Array]. It was a kind of magical array that was hard to detect as if perfectly blended with nature. If the cover of Gar'Vlam's seal was this [Natural Array], it would be no wonder that the [Auraboros] was unable to find it.

A [Natural Array] could only be easily seen by powerful beings, like Deities. However, during the modern times, these powerful beings could not just go around without the [Eyes] detecting them. Unfortunately, the weaker people of [Auraboros] had no way of finding it.

Mark looked around.

An Island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island. This phrase was one of the known descriptions of the Taal Volcano and its surroundings. If one was to think about it, it was as if it was several layers of terrain on top of one another. However, no one would ever think that there was something hidden beneath this volcano.

"Even I had no ability to see a [Natural Array]. Even Master could not." Ilia shrugged while glancing at Chimetrice. "We can only assume that it was the case, though from what it looks like, the array is already destroyed."

The terrain around Taal Lake had been drastically changed. With it now being a lava lake, it was a very concrete sign that its [Natural Array] had already been destroyed.

And due to the fact that it was destroyed, this [Lava Infected] might have stumbled what remained of Gar'Vlam while he was sealed in this place.

"Though what confused me is that I managed to get a crystal out of it."

Mark said as it was the most confusing part. After all, to create a [Mental Crystal] or a [Physical Crystal], there were rules for it to work.

For a [Mental Crystal] to be created, there should be a strong source of magical energy. It could be the spirit of a magical being, a body of a powerful magical creature, or a high-density concentration of energy.

And none of these rules was fulfilled when Mark managed to create the [Mental Crystal] that contained Gar'Vlam's aura.

It would not be surprising if Mark got a [Physical Crystal] instead, considering that the source was a [Mutated Infected]. However, just as mentioned, he got a [Mental Crystal].

"I have another assumption, but like before, I have no evidence."

Ilia said in response to Mark's confusion.

"Just say it."

Mark replied.

"That Gar'Vlam abandoned his body, right?" Ilia asked. "You even kept his body."

Mark nodded in response. He did have the remains of Gar'Vlam and was still kept back in the base. Being a body of a Deity-level Demon, it would not decompose. In the first place, it was not a mortal body but something made of energy.

A [Flame Demon] was an elemental being similar to [Sylphs], like Amihan.

However, Mark had no use for the body of Gar'Vlam so far. The [PsyCrystal] would not even react to it either. That was why it was just sealed within a [Blood Metal] coffin inside Mark's workshop.

"That body might be a newly created one. Might even be created during the ritual using the energy from the sacrifices. There are Demons that can survive even without a physical body, after all." Ilia continued. "As I said before, there are various ways to seal powerful and unkillable beings. One effective way is to separately seal their spirit and their original body. It is to ensure that even if the spirit of the sealed being was released, they won't be able to use their full strength immediately. That might be the case here."

"And you are saying that this guy luckily stumbled upon Gar'Vlam's original body after the seal broke and ate it?"

Mark asked with a tilt of his head.

"Maybe? Who knows?" Ilia replied, knocking on the dead [Lava Infected]'s solidified exterior. "But you have the evidence in this one. The crystal. No matter how it happened, we can be sure that that [Flame Demon's] body was eaten by this guy."

"And you are lucky to extract that body's essence before it disappeared entirely."

Ilia added.

That was right. It was just a lucky coincidence. Who would have known that their lunch today would lead to them finding Gar'Vlam's possible sealing prison?

But this even led them to learn one important thing. Even if they encountered Gar'Vlam once more in the future, he would surely still be too far from recovering his full strength. This was a good piece of information.

"We're done here then?"

Chimetrice, who was listening to the conversation of the two, finally chimed in.

"Well, I guess so."

Mark replied.

There was nothing left to do here. While they were talking, the remaining aura of Gar'Vlam left inside the dead [Lava Infected's] body completely dispersed.

With the slight detour they had, Mark unexpectedly gained a nice item. It was another crystal he could utilize or give to someone. Unlike [Physical Crystals] that could contain mutations originated from [Mutagen] and unusable unless one absorbed the mutation, Mark could use any [Mental Crystal] containing magical abilities.

The question, however, was what kind of ability it had. And if Mark would actually have a use for it.

Thanks to Mark's connection to Ignis, he already had the ability to use magical flames. Black flames at that. Having a crystal that had the ability to control fire would feel really redundant for Mark now.

"I guess, I'll be giving this to someone."

Mark murmured.

And with those thoughts in mind, their slight detour ended. Unfortunately, it was already late in the day to continue their journey further. Thus, they decided to start searching for a good place to camp.

***

After finding a place to camp, their next goal was to prepare dinner and go to sleep.

As they ate, however, Mark's head was full of thoughts.

Those thoughts were mainly about the crystals, specifically [Mental Crystals], he currently had at his disposal.

Aside from the ones he was using most of the time, he still had the crystal from the [Earth Demon] they killed during their clash with the [Tamawos] that he had yet to try out. Now, he had another crystal that he should at least learn how to use.

"Should I give this crystal to Miracle?"

Mark thought at first. Miracle was the only one in his family that did not have a magical ability. But in the end, Mark shook his head. Miracle was too young to hand the responsibility of a magical ability, not to mention something related to fire.

With a shrug, Mark changed his thoughts.

And for some idiotic reason, Mark tapped Amihan, who was lying down on his head.

"Hey, Amihan," Mark said in a low voice. "Wanna use this new crystal?"

<strong>"Heh?"</strong>

Amihan sure was flabbergasted at Mark's question and could not reply. In the first place, she could not tell whether Mark was joking or not.