Mutagen

<strong>Day 240 - 9:15 AM - Barangay Salvacion, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros Occidental</strong>

A beam of light that tore through the morning sky. It was far brighter than the morning sun, causing almost everything in sight to darken. It was too bright that it erased the shadows of the mountains for a few seconds.

Mark and the others covered their eyes due to the bright light.

And as sudden as it appeared, the beam of light vanished.

"Cover the food."

Mark said as he took the initiative to cover the pot they cooked their food in.

Everyone else followed Mark's instructions. It was not hard to see why.

From the peak of Mount Canlaon, a cloud of dust and smoke began to spread. It was very likely that the beam of light hit the mountain's peak to cause some damage.

"What should we do next?"

Chimetrice asked Mark. He and Ilia were not familiar with this beam of light. However, they understood who caused it by Mark's initial words.

"Let's prepare to leave immediately. This place isn't that safe since we are not too far from the mountain. We can continue eating inside the [Mini Cube]."

Everyone agreed with Mark's instructions. It was not like they were at the foot of the mountain. But since they could feel the terrifying energy from their location, it was not safe to stay there.

Still, it was annoying to be disturbed in the middle of their breakfast.

Everyone hurried to prepare, folding their tents and storing their belongings. They then made their way into the [Mini Cube] with their food still in hand.

"Chimetrice, Ilia. Fly around the northern area of the mountain. We will observe the situation first. We can't let ourselves get dragged into whatever is happening on the other side right now."

The two nodded as they piloted the floating vessel towards the sky.

As Mark ordered, the [Mini Cube] beelined towards the northern area of Mount Canlaon. The floating vessel flew as high as possible to a height they could see the situation on the ground without getting spotted easily.

"This..."

Spera voiced out as they saw what was going on.

If they were still around the west side of Mount Canlaon, it was impossible to notice it. War was already raging on the other side of the mountain. To be exact, in the plains between the eastern coast and the foot of Mount Canlaon.

The place seemed to be a natural grassland both in Earth and the Spirit Dimensions. Thus, it remained a flatland even after the Fusion of Dimensions. Still, there were small forests here and there, but the majority of the land was filled with grass.

It was a perfect place for two armies to oppose each other.

This time, it was the army of magical creatures against the army of [Aquatic Infected].

There was no doubt that the army of magical creatures was the denizens of Mount Canlaon.

And the army of the [Infected]...

"There he is..."

Mark said, looking at the towering creature at the rear of the [Infected] army.

It was the familiar and menacing golden crocodile, as large as a United States Aircraft Carrier. The gigantic monster that ate its victims using its tidal waves was now crawling on land with its tens of thousands of minions.

The war was raging. Magical abilities from the magical creatures flew here and there while the waves of the [Infeted] appeared unending. There was no doubt that the army of magical creatures was far outnumbered. Even so, they bravely faced the mutated creatures from the sea.

"To think that this is happening here while we are chilling on the other side of the mountain. I wonder when the battle started."

Ilia spoke, surprised at this scene.

"Well, we are pretty far away from the mountain," Mark remarked, looking at the offline map on his phone. "I don't think we will be able to see anything over the more than three-kilometer mountain when we were around twenty kilometers away from it."

Mark's words were correct. The center of the war was also happening around ten kilometers away from the foot of Mount Canlaon. There was no way they would notice what was going on on the other side of the mountain when they were around thirty kilometers away and with a three-kilometer wall blocking their view.

"Is that really Sinogo?"

Feng Zhiruo asked. As a cultivator, she had a rather sensitive sense of danger. She could feel the pressure from the giant golden crocodile despite the distance.

Well, it was not only her. Everyone in the group was feeling the pressure too. They had some stinging sensation on their skin. Their bodies also felt heavier than normal. It was just worse for Feng Zhiruo, who did not receive the blessing from the [Trial of Regrets].

"That's the enemy?"

Spera had the same reaction as Feng Zhiruo after seeing Sinogo.

Mark, his family, and Amihan aside, it was the very first time the current members of the group to see Sinogo. Their reactions were reasonable. It was only Chimetrice and Ilia who remained calm. They had seen far worse during the era of the gods. Of course, it did not mean that they were unaffected by the godly pressure that Sinogo exuded.

This godly pressure, Mark and the others could feel from afar...

Then... how were the magical creatures faring against this pressure?

Eating his breakfast, Mark watched the situation on the front lines.

"Looks like they have some protection on them," Mark commented after seeing that the magical creatures seemed to have a glowing aura around them. "Even so, they are not faring well."

The situation was a grave one for the magical creatures. It was not surprising. Not only the protection they had could not resist Sinogo's godly presence entirely, but every death in their ranks was another addition to the enemies' numbers.

Furthermore, the threat was not only Sinogo. Aside from Sinogo, which was as large as an aircraft carrier, there were around ten [Behemoth Class Infected] rampaging on the battlefield, all equipped with their uncanny abilities. There were also countless [Mutated Infected], giving the army of magical creatures more to worry about.

"They are being pushed back."

Iola said, describing the situation below. The mature-minded Iola was assessing the situation seriously.

On the other hand...

"It's like a movie!"

The calm Abbygale childishly exclaimed, which no one in the group could refute. This kind of scene involving thousands of magical and sci-fi creatures was definitely something that one could only see in a movie in the past.

<strong>SHOOOM!!!</strong>

All of a sudden, another beam of light was fired.

This time, the shot was fired towards the sky.

Every time that Sinogo fired a beam of light, the surroundings trembled. Those attacks caused the godly pressure to multiply, weakening the magical creatures further.

"Why is he firing his attacks like that?"

Mark murmured, confused as to why Sinogo was firing beams. Not to mention that it was at the rear of its [Infected] army. There was seemingly no reason for it to fire deadly attacks like that.

"Gege... Someone is fighting Sinogo. There's two of them."

Mei reported, with her eyes zoomed in in Sinogo's direction.

"Your eyes really are something," Ilia remarked at the side. "I don't think even Master can see that far. Can you, Master?"

And to Ilia's question, Chimetrice shook his head.

"Even I can't see that far. At this distance, we can only see that golden crocodile due to its size and because we are looking from the sky. Even the creatures further away are nearly dots to us."

That was right. In the current position of the [Mini Cube], they were more than ten kilometers away from Sinogo. Event he [Infected] around Sinogo could not be seen clearly and only looked like dots.

"Can't we come closer?"

Spera suggested.

"I wish we can," Mark shrugged. "But that guy shot me with a beam from over three kilometers away while I'm optically camouflaged. Imagine what will happen if we got too close without a plan."

Spera groaned after her suggestion was shot down. Well, she was not there to witness what happened to Mark back then. If she was, she would not make such a dumb suggestion.

"Mei'er, what do you see?"

Mark asked Mei, who was watching the situation around Sinogo.

"There were two women. It looks like they were [Diwatas]. They are wearing white dresses with a design similar to Silim's dress."

Mei replied.

"I see..." Mark nodded in understanding. "They're definitely [Diwatas]. Only their kind would be able to resist Sinogo's presence in close proximity."

"But Gege," Mei frowned. "They don't seem to be attacking a lot. They are just flying around Sinogo."

"So, they are only distracting it," Ilia chimed in. "They are smart."

Both Chimetrice and Mark agreed with Ilia's words.

"It's good that they are distracting Sinogo," Mark added. "If they don't, their army won't last long."

Those words from Mark made Spera, Amihan, and Feng Zhiruo about what was going on.

If Sinogo was left alone to do what he wanted in this battle, his beams alone could kill hundreds of people, if not thousands. With the two [Diwatas] diverting Sinogo's attention, the giant crocodile would not be able to obliterate the magical army in a short time.

"Though... that's what I think..." Mark added in an odd tone as if retracting his previous statement. "I don't think Sinogo used that attack against their army. There's no sign that it was used at all."

Now that Mark mentioned it, there was no way that those beams of light would not leave any trace after being used. However, there was no sign of it around the battlefield at all.

"It seems that the beam we saw earlier is the first one."

Mark continued.

"And it's not aimed at the army, is it?"

Spera said to the side.

"Right. There is no way that it's aimed at the army. That attack was aimed at an angle that only hit the mountain's peak."

Mark explained.

"Gege. There are also people floating in front of the mountain," Mei said as she followed the conversation and searched for clues. "There's another [Diwata]. She is surrounded by many flying creatures. Seems like [Sylphs] and [Buralakaws]. There are also some kinds I never saw before."

"What are they doing?"

Mark asked Mei.

"The [Diwata] is only floating there with her hands stretched in front of her. The others seem to be circling around her."

Mei described what she was seeing.

"They are probably doing some sort of [Choir Magic]."

Ilia chimed at the side.

"[Choir Magic]?"

Mei asked.

"It's some sort of magical chanting involving two or more individuals," Spera began explaining. "The people doing [Choir Magic] are weaving their magical energy like composing a song to induce a strong magical phenomenon. I've seen something similar back when I was still in [Auraboros]."

"Then... They might be Sinogo's target earlier."

Mark mentioned the very likely possibility.

At this time, Mark and the others felt the sudden rise in magical fluctuations in the surroundings.

"Looks like they are ready to fire."

Mark said, watching the scene before them.

There was no need for Mei to report what she saw this time. Everyone inside could now see a ball of light that began to form in front of Mount Canlaon. While as if ordered by something, the army of magical creatures began to retreat.

And, of course, Sinogo noticed it. The gigantic crocodile ignored the two [Diwatas] trying to distract it and faced the mountain.

The [Diwata] and her entourage fired a beam of raw, destructive magical energy. On the other hand, Sinogo fired a beam of light of his own.

All of a sudden, there was nothing but blinding light swallowing the surroundings. The air was trembling, and everyone felt the heavy sensation on their bodies.

<strong>"Hold on tight!"</strong>

Ilia exclaimed as she and Chimetrice did their best to maintain the [Mini Cube] in place. Even so, it was clear that the floating vessel was being pushed away from its initial location.

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

The air continued to tremble as the sound of explosions entered everyone's ears.

And then... aside from dust and smoke, there was nothing but silence.

It was until...

<strong>ROOOARRR!!!</strong>

A loud roar accompanied by a strong gust of wind blew away all the dust and smoke. It revealed the crater where the center of the battlefield just now was located. The crater was too large that it was likely the size of two to four cities combined.

Many [Infected] were clearly eliminated in one go, but that was not the goal of the [Diwatas] that made that attack.

After all... Sinogo and the majority of his army were still there unscathed. And instead, it was the [Diwata] and her entourage that looked like they were about to collapse from exhaustion.

"That guy grew far stronger than before,"

Mark said with a serious expression.

Whatever the reason Sinogo was attacking Mount Canlaon, he should not succeed.

"We'll have to step into the scene."

Mark, making the others feel rather nervous.