Mutagen

<strong>Day 237 - 12:32 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of Aklan, Island of Panay</strong>

<strong>RUMBLE!!!</strong>

With the booming sound of explosion and rumbling sound of the ground, the entire Secret Realm of Mount Madia-as shook violently.

As someone with the strength of a Deity, the amount of energy that the [Encantado] unleashed as he self-destructed was massive.

Mark immediately flew towards the frontline, specifically in front of his group, and unleashed his [Miasma]. The black wall of corrupted energy stood in front of everyone, protecting everyone from the brunt of the suicidal attack.

Silim and the other residents of this realm also did their best to fend against the surging energy.

The [Encantado] might not have relied on magical attacks due to his nature as a spear-wielding warrior. However, the energy he released upon death was not any less than what Silim had in her peak condition.

And this power...

It was more than enough to topple a considerably large mountain flat.

Thus, even with the actions, everyone did to try and fend against the [Encantado's] rampaging energy explosion, everyone started getting blown away because of the shockwave spreading from the explosion.

Mark held his hand forward as he stood in front of his group. He began unleashing all the energy from the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal]. Right now, only this and his [Miasma] could be used to defend.

The wall of [Miasma] could defend them from getting hit by the exploding magical energy directly. However, blocking the shockwave was not something it could do. And that was what Mark used the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal] for. He created a barrier of spiraling wind, defending them from the shockwave and the debris it blew their way.

Unfortunately, there was no way that Mark would be able to defend everyone. His priority was his family and group members. The others had to defend themselves.

The wind blew strongly, accompanied by the rumbling of the entire mountain.

Everyone flying in the sky was blown away, crashing on the face of the mountain, toppling trees, and destroying the terrain.

The terrain cracked, rocks rolled down from the peak, and a large amount of dirt fell down in a massive landslide.

Destruction ensued all over the mountain. Deaths were numerous, even to those that did not participate at all.

On the opposite side of the mountain, the village where the half-breeds and humans lived, most houses were built of cliff faces and trees. The entire mountain shaking caused the houses to collapse and the cliffs to crumble, killing a number of people.

Large trees fell, unable to endure the intensity of the earthquake.

As they said, the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.

With the intensity of the explosion of the [Encantado's] energy, it vanished after a short time.

Even so, no one could deny the damage it did in the short time it bloomed brightly.

The earth's rumbling ceased and the wind calmed down.

Everyone hugging the ground stood up one after another.

Mark's group was the same. Although Mark cast several layers of protection, they could only sit down and clutch the ground to keep them from falling over.

Finally, Mark took down and wall of [Miasma] and the barrier of wind around his group.

And there, the scene in front of them was horrifying.

An immeasurable crater was left in front of everyone. The crater formed an almost perfect circle as it was created by the explosion of energy alone.

Just how large was the crater?

One could probably fit more than half of Mt. Madia-as inside it. That was how horrifying large the crater was. Furthermore, it was only at that size because Mark's wall of [Miasma] stopped the energy from moving in their direction. If Mark's [Miasma] did not absorb the energy that went their way, it would not be surprising of the crater was as large as the entire mountain itself.

That was how powerful Deities were. At their will, and even at their death, they could cause such an amount of destruction that no regular person could survive.

Mark walked forward, standing at the edge of the crater where the wall of [Miasma] was before. From here, what lay in front of him was nothing but a deep pit of death.

It was good that the [Miasma] absorbed the energy coming their way. Or else, the wall would only be able to protect the surface and still destroyed everything below them. If that happened, despite the wall of [Miasma] and barrier or wind, many would still end up falling to their deaths.

As Mark absorbed the [Miasma] back into his body, Mark could not help but feel stronger than before. This result was something he did not expect, but a well-welcomed one.

Still, it was not what Mark wanted initially.

Mark stared at the deep crater and sighed. The damn [Encantado] self-destructed. Because of this, it was impossible for Mark to get any crystal from that guy now.

Maybe, Mark could have used the [PsyCrystal] to absorb some of the energy unleashed by the [Encantado's] self-destruction. However, everything happened so fast that there was no time to think about things other than the safety of his family and group members.

And even if Mark managed to absorb energy into the [PsyCrystal], without the guy's body, he would only get an [Empty Mental Crystal], or at best, an element attributed crystal.

Mark went all the trouble not to use [Miasma] on the guy but still ended up with nothing...

"Gege, you okay?"

Mei asked Mark, approaching him with the little girls.

"I'm okay," Mark replied and looked at his family. "How is everyone?"

"Gale fell because of the tremors and got her knee bruised, but everything else is fine."

Mark bent down and looked at Abbygale standing beside Mei. The little cat girl's right knee had a little bit of skin scraped.

"Does it hurt?"

Mark asked.

"No."

Abbygale replied with a shake of her head.

"Gale is a strong girl, after all."

Mark smiled and patted her head, which caused Miracle to grab the hem of Mark's torn pants to get attention. With a bitter shrug, Mark also patted the younger sister's head.

Well, both Abbygale and Miracle were closest to Mark. It was not surprising to have some rivalry between the two for Mark's attention. But seriously, Mark would have to give them some lectures regarding this afterward.

At this time, Silim approached Mark's group with Magwayen floating beside her.

Mark could not help but notice something odd. Silim seemed to be even more cautious towards him.

"Asking for your help did pay off."

Magwayen was the first to speak, while Silim just stared at Mark silently.

"I'm just returning the favor," Mark replied. "Anyways, it's not over yet."

As Mark said, the battle had not ended.

Caused by the shockwave, the fire spread further. Some of the uprooted trees were already burning in the first place. Some burning matter was carried away by the wind and fell on areas where the fire had yet to reach and ignited.

Not to mention the [Infected]. The explosion swallowed a good chunk of the horde, probably the majority of them. However, there was still a large number that remained. Some of them even got flung far away from the battlefield and would definitely cause problems soon.

At this time, a black hole appeared in the sky, causing some outburst from the surviving magical creatures.

And there, the large cube-shaped floating vessel entered the Secret Realm.

"It's our ride."

Mark told Silim, as she was already on guard.

Those words from Mark made Silim look at Magwayen, only to receive an acknowledging nod. This made Silim lower her guard down a bit. She was still cautious of Mark, however.

No, it was not just Silim. In fact, all the magical creatures nearby that survived were looking at Mark with heightened alert. Mark already noticed the fact. He just decided not to ask any questions for now.

The [Mini Cube] floated down after finding Mark and the rest of the group. After it landed, the three that returned, Spera, Chimetrice, and Ilia, jumped out.

"What the hell happened here?"

Illia asked, looking at the horrifyingly large crater.

"What caused you guys to arrive late?"

Mark asked the three. After all, the battle was already halfway or more over already. Yet, the three just arrived.

"We're not missing for that long, you know?" Spera replied. "Besides, we had to clear a bit of [Infected] lurking around the [Mini Cube] since there was quite a number gathered when we arrived there."

It was not a surprising thing. In the first place, the [Mini Cube] was a vessel that run on high amounts of magical energy. This would draw the nearby [Infected] unto the vessel when left alone. By what it looked like, there must be quite a number that gathered since they had to take care of the [Infected] first before living.

"And then, I can't open a portal back in until now. There's some distortion preventing me from connecting the two places."

Spera added.

The excuse Spera made was plausible. Mark and the [Encantado] were in a heated battle until just now. Since they were strong beings, their use of their magical energies might have some strong effects on the surroundings, preventing Spera from being able to connect a portal. It also happened before to Spera, when Mark fought Gar'Vlam in Bay City.

"Is there anything left for us to do?"

Chimetrice asked, knowing that some kind of battle had already ended after looking at the aftermath.

"The [Infected] got scattered all over the mountain. We have to kill them all."

Mark grumbled a bit, knowing how much of work it would be, searching for the [Infected] humans and magical creatures that got blown away because of the explosion.

"But first, we should deal with the fire."

Mark said, looking at the flames that continued to rage and swallow the remaining forest.

"Do you have an idea?"

Silim finally broke her silence and asked. Right now, the fire was the most troublesome for them. If left alone, the whole mountain would turn into a burnt barrel land in no time.

"I have one." Mark nodded. "That's if you don't mind getting wet. Probably, gather the [Buralakaws] away from the flames too."

"Getting wet is not an issue," Silim said. "I will communicate with my people and tell the [Buralakaws] to hide. What will you do?"

"I'll make it rain a bit."

Mark replied, making Silim a bit surprised.

Making rain was not as easy as it was said. Controlling weather was not something that anyone could pull off without a unique power, after all. And it was Mark who said it, after already showing several monstrous abilities in his arsenal.

Even so, Silim did not question it. Instead, she began communicating with her people using her mind.

Surely, many magical creatures died and more were injured. But after receiving their Deity's message, they immediately went to work.

A few minutes passed, Chimetrice had already gone off to eliminate the [Infected]. As for the rest, they stayed in one place to rest. The battle earlier might be short, but it literally felt like it took a good chunk of their lifespan. After all, they were all just in the face of death after that [Encantado] exploded and Mark was the only one who separated them from that fate.

The flames still raged and began spreading even more. But this time, everyone seemed calmer.

Soon, Silim gave her go. All [Buralakaws] had already evacuated. As beings of fire, these little girls with fiery hair were not too friendly with water. Rain was one of their adversaries.

And here, Mark took out the crystal with a deep-blue glowing orb inside it.

Mark raised his right hand towards the sky, causing the crystal floating in front of his palm to glow brightly.

The energy was released from the crystal, causing great surprise to Silim and Magwayen.

"The power of the Eastern Sea King."

Silim voiced out, recognizing the power flowing out of the crystal.

The Eastern Sea King. The title of the king of [Mer] people in the eastern seas of the Philippines.

This revelation made Silim view Mark in an even more cautious manner. After all, not only did Mark had shown the ability to control [Miasma], the most feared power by the magical creatures, but also showed that he had a crystal that contained the power of the Eastern Sea King.

Why was Mark in possession of such powers?

Right now, although Mark showed no ill will towards them, they could not help but see him as a threat. And Silim felt ashamed of it, considering they were receiving help from him at this moment.

These emotions sprouted as the dark clouds in the sky converged and rain began to fall unto the mountain's burning and devastated landscape.