Mutagen

<strong>Day 237 - 12:19 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of Aklan</strong>

Mark's sudden transformation, revealing that he was a [Pure-blood Demon], sure made the [Encantado] taken aback. However, the surprise was momentary. The pain on the [Encantado's] face after Mark punched him caused him to become enraged immediately.

Without waiting for Mark to take the initiative, the [Encantado] swoop down with his spear in front. In the first place, he was clearly a seasoned warrior. A warrior knew that the person who would make the preemptive attack would have the slight advantage it gave. Even in his enraged state, the [Encantado] made the preemptive attack as if it was ingrained into his existence.

It was an attack without holding back. Anyone in front of the [Encantado's] crystal spear would feel the pressure and fear of death as it approached them at an almost impossible-to-follow speed. Only those in front would be able to see the spear as it closed into their eyes.

The [Encantado's] figure in the sky blurred. And almost in an instant...

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

<strong>RUMBLE!</strong>

Rocks, dirt, and dust scattered with a loud boom, and the ground shook with an audible rumble.

<strong>SWOOSH!</strong>

Suddenly, the cloud of dirt and dust was blown away as the crystal spear swooshed through it, shooting towards the sky.

Mark, who evaded the preemptive attack unharmed and appeared in the sky, swayed his body to the left. The crystal spear passed by in front of his chest. However, its target was not Mark's heart as one would expect. Instead, it aimed for Mark's right arm and second right wing.

Since Mark could see the crystal spear fly towards him, one way to negate the attack was to catch the spear. However, Mark decided not to, considering the strength that the spear was thrown. If he did try to catch the spear, he would end up getting pulled by it. Worse, his arm would have been severely injured. Or maybe, the worst, his arm getting torn off.

Thus, Mark could only evade. That was how strong the opponent was in just what seemed to be a simple throw of his spear.

Although he evaded the spear entirely, Mark could feel the strong wind pressure following behind it. He was blown back a little and had to stabilize his flight.

However, it was not the end.

<strong>SWOOSH!</strong>

The sharp sound of whistling air entered Mark's ears, making him turn his neck over his right shoulder and suddenly evade to his right. The spear that he evaded just now turned around and tried to skewer his left shoulder from behind.

As the crystal spear missed its target once more, it returned to its owner. Its return caused the remaining dust and dirt that clouded the area to be blown away.

The dissipation of the cloud of dust and dirt revealed a gigantic crater where Mark stood before.

It was as if a large chunk of the mountain's face was broken off. The crater was wide and deep enough to bury an apache helicopter entirely.

At the center of the crater, the [Encantado] stood with the spear in his right hand. He was staring at Mark, both enraged and excited.

"That's right. Struggle. Do not die easily."

The [Encantado] voiced out. It was clear that he did not intend to kill Mark in one go. His attacks might have power, but he was clearly avoiding targeting Mark's vitals. The [Encantado] wanted to toy with his enemy, wanting Mark to suffer before killing him.

Mark knew the [Encantado's] intentions as the enemy's emotions flowed into him. However, Mark did not show any reaction to this. Instead, he thought that it was a good thing.

The [Encantado] was clearly underestimating Mark. Because of this, it would become easier for Mark to pull a surprise attack under the enemy's nose.

At this time, while Mark was still trying to read the [Encantado's] next more, he spoke. It was not to the enemy, however.

"Don't bother trying to help. You'll just get in the way since I don't know how you fight. Go and try helping your people instead."

Those words were clearly for Silim, who was about to join the fight after recovering from her fall.

Mark's words resonated into Silim's ears while also infuriating the [Encantado] even more in the process.

Creating another tremor, the [Encantado] kicked the ground. It dented the already deep crater as he launched himself towards Mark.

Once more, the [Encantado] charged at Mark with his crystal spear.

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

Mark avoided the spear. And with a counterclockwise spin, Mark did a roundhouse kicked the [Encantado], aiming for the enemy's neck.

Unfortunately, the [Encantado] blocked the kick using the shaft of the crystal spear. I caused Mark's right foot to turn a bit numb as his right forefoot hit the metal-like spear shaft. The clash, however, separated the two more than a dozen meters apart in the air.

At this moment, Silim turned her head to the burning forest below. She was not sure if Mark would need her help or not, but her people clearly needed her. Then, as she was about to heed Mark's words and fly down the mountain, she noticed something fall in front of her. The black-dressed [Diwata] immediately caught it.

It was the [Mark of the King]. It would allow Magwayen to accompany Silim below since the avatar of the goddess could only exist around the artifact. Magwayen would not be of help to Mark. Instead, her presence would bolster the morale of the denizens of this realm.

One last time, Silim looked at Mark in gratitude. Then, she and Magwayen flew down the mountain together.

Mark had no time to watch the two. The [Encantado] was already on another attack.

<strong>SWOOSH! SWOOSH!</strong>

The crystal spear pierced and flailed. Only after images of the spear could be seen as it moved at an extremely fast speed.

It was amazing that Mark was actually avoiding each attack at a hair's breadth.

Seeing that his attacks were being evaded with minimal effort, the [Encantado] was getting increasingly furious. His rage was growing exponentially. His intention to play with Mark before killing him became washed away as frustration began to take over.

The [Encantado] unleashed dozens of attacks on Mark with his crystal spear in the span of a few seconds. That was how fast his movements were. Not to mention that each pierce, flail, and strike were strong, causing shockwaves behind it.

Nonetheless, Mark evaded each attack. His left eye glowed bright purple, while his right eye glowed bright red. Each eye left a trail of light in each move he made.

Mark had a disadvantage in terms of strength and speed against the [Encantado]. Furthermore, Mark was relying on his wings to fly and move in the air. On the other hand, the enemy was floating using his magic. The enemy had more stability in this aerial fight.

Even so, Mark could still evade the attacks. It was due to his left eye, allowing him to see seconds into the future. Mark already saw the attack even before the [Encantado] moved his spear.

Furthermore, Mark had his usual strategy. His right eye glowed brighter as he implanted more and more negative emotions into the mind of his opponent. As the opponent's mind was flooded by these emotions, their reasoning would weaken, and their ability to think become increasingly clouded.

And worse, the opponent had no way of knowing that his mind was slowly being corroded by Mark. Furthermore, he was careful not to mix in unnecessary emotions as it could alert stronger opponents such as this [Encantado] in front of him, making it even harder to realize.

The fight went on with Mark doing nothing but evading. He was analyzing the enemy in front of him. But for some reason, he found something odd. The [Encantado] clearly was familiar with using the spear, and each of his attacks, despite his enraged state, was sharp and was a killing blow. But as a magical creature, it was strange that the [Encantado] was not using any magic attacks, unlike the other magical creatures he fought before.

Mark could feel that the [Encantado] was using his magical energy. However, it was all concentrated within his flight and the attacks of his crystal spear.

It was kind of a bummer for Mark. One way that Mark could weaken an opponent was to use [Miasma] to absorb their magical attacks. He did it back them in Catanduanes against that Lord of Demons there. Yet, it would be useless if the opponent was not using magic as an attack.

Worst, the hoarder within Mark did not want to use [Miasma] directly against this [Encantado]. It would make the fight end easily for sure. However, if the [Encantado's] body got corrupted by [Miasma], Mark would not be able to get a new crystal from this guy at all.

[Miasma] would corrupt the [Encantado's] body entirely as his body was made of similar to of an elemental. It was a body made of magical energy. And since the creation of a crystal by the [PsyCrystal] needed magical energy, it would become impossible to get one from this powerful being.

One may call it greedy, and well, it was true. But Mark also did not want to be wasteful, especially now that any resource could mean life and death to anyone.

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

<strong>BAM!</strong>

As Mark dodged another stab of the crystal spear and it passed over his shoulder, the tip of the spear exploded with magical energy. Mark would not be killed by this, but he was immediately sent falling towards the burning forest below.

Mark had his cards up his sleeves, but the [Encantado] was the same. It seemed that the crystal spear was not only controllable by the [Encantado] but could also channel his magical energy at will.

Getting his first hit, the [Encantado] smiled manically. His eyes followed the trajectory that Mark was thrown to.

There, Mark's fall caused quite an amount of damage to the surroundings. It was not just some explosion after all. It was an explosion created by a Diety-like being.

Mark's fall caused damage not only to the already burning forest. There were magical creatures and [Mutated Infected] that were pushed back by the shockwave caused by Mark's fall.

But then, the [Encantado] frowned. Mark vanished from his sight and he could not detect his magical energy.

No, in the first place, the [Encantado] could not detect any magical energy from Mark since the start. The only thing he felt was the aura that distinguished him and most of his group as Demons.

The [Encantado] flew over the burning forest, frantically searching for his opponent. However, the only things he saw were the [Mutated Infected] and the magical races locked up in a fight for survival. Some even tried to attack him, only to get exploded to pieces after he shot them with his crystal spear.

In the middle of the flames, Mark sat down on the ground. His clothes were tattered, and he was almost naked. His body was also riddled with wounds and burns. The explosion that sent him falling could not be joked at. If he was any weaker, he could have died.

Sitting down on the ground, Mark was thinking of a way to fight the enemy with minimal effort. He did not want to use up the energy of his crystals since the fight with Sinogo was drawing near. As Sinogo had Kaptan's godly energy, it was better to be prepared for the worse and unexpected circumstances.

Mark looked up at the sky. His body was healing rapidly to the point that Mark was also surprised. By the looks of it, his [Regeneration] became stronger while he was not aware. At the same time, the golden glow of the markings on his body also seemed to be helping him heal faster.

From where Mark sat, he could see the rampaging [Encantado]. Both the magical races and the [Mutated Infected] deemed him as an enemy. Both forces were attacking him, only to get brutally murdered.

Seeing that it would not be a good thing for this to continue, Mark stood up.

<strong>"Crimson,"</strong> Mark called out as the black-colored [Bloodchild] appeared out of thin air. <strong>"Armorize."</strong>

The command made Crimson change his shape, stretching and covering Mark's recovering body before turning into a sinister armor.

Mark stared at the rampaging [Encantado]. Raising both his hands to the side, black flames enveloped his arms.

With Mark at the center, a vortex of black flames was created. Furthermore, the flames that covered the forest around Mark began to turn black, spreading at a rapid rate.

<strong>"Let's get a bit serious."</strong>

Mark said, finally deciding to put effort into defeating the enemy.