Mutagen

<strong>Day 240 - 10:33 AM - Mount Canlaon, Municipality of Codcod, Province of Negros Occidental</strong>

The cold tone that Mark used when calling the name of the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld... Mei and Amihan immediately knew that something was going on.

"Now, now... You don't have to be that angry."

Magwayen let out a smile in a teasing way. It was as if this was nothing of importance to her at all.

Mark stared at Magwayen. It was Magwayen who told them that the fight was not over yet.

But before Magwayen could continue, a hole in space opened in front of them. There, several people passed through the portal. Aside from Illia, Chimetrice, and the two sisters, everyone else in Mark's group arrived to check on Mark.

And once they saw Mark's state, they could not help but frown.

The only one unappalled by the scene was Miracle. Being just a few months old, despite her current three-year-old appearance, she could not understand the situation at all. She only knew that Mark was in pain, transmitted through the connection between the two.

As such, Miracle tried to jump onto Mark and hug him. If she succeeded, Mark's body, which was basically on the verge of breaking, would turn for the worse.

But before the little girl could do so...

"Wah!"

A tug on her collar paused Miracle on her steps.

"Papa will get hurt more if you do that."

Iola reprimanded her youngest sister. She already grasped the behaviors of her sisters and could react accordingly.

Miracle pouted her lips and blew her cheeks. Nonetheless, she did not struggle out of Iola's grasp.

Spera approached Mark and squatted down.

"I can't believe you got one-shotted like that."

Spera jeered.

"Why don't you try facing that then? I'll cheer on you."

Mark grumbled in annoyance.

"As if I will- ack!"

Spera tried to argue, but her head was hit by someone.

"Don't bother Master," Aephelia scolded Spera. "The mistress will get angry at you if you continue further."

Spera could only turn to Mei and see her wet eyelashes due to the tears she had just now. But most of all, she had a cold expression this time.

"Sorry..."

Spera had no choice but to stop and apologize.

"Why did you bring everyone? We are not finished here."

Mark asked Spera.

"Everyone is worried about you, alright?" Spera snarkily replied. "I had to pick them all up. Jaeya, Zhiruo, and Aephelia had stayed behind since they could not move as fast, but they were all worried about you."

At this time, Abbygale approached Mark.

"Papa, are you okay?"

Abbygale asked. The calm girl could not hide her worry at Mark's current state.

"I'm fine," Mark let out an assuring smile to his daughter before turning back to Magwayen. "Though it would be better if the suspicious Goddess here would answer my question already."

Everyone turned to Magwayen. They just realized that something was happening when they arrived.

"Now, I feel like I'm going to get eaten," Magwayen joked and faced Mark. "About your question, I don't really have any meaning or plans in this situation."

"But you knew this would happen..."

Mark interjected.

"I can't say I did not, but I can't say I did, either."

Magwayen replied in riddles.

"Can you go straight to the point?"

Mark demanded in annoyance.

"Other mortals would grovel in front of a God, yet, you are brave enough to try and yell at me," Magwayen sure found this situation interesting. "Well then, I'll answer. It is not like I knew that this would happen exactly. It was just within the possibilities that could occur."

Magwayen then briefly explained what was happening.

And the reason why Sinogo turned back into what seemed to be his original body was clearly Mark, to everyone's surprise.

If anyone else except Mark, Or if he used another way to kill Sinogo, this situation would have been avoided.

And the reason?

It was Mark's [Miasma].

Sinogo was never a crocodile in the first place. He was a giant and one of the three messengers of the Supreme Sky God, Kaptan. During the events of his faithlessness, he managed to transform using the golden shell he stole, but it was temporary. In the end, it was Kaptan who turned Sinogo into a crocodile before sealing him under the waters of Tañon Strait.

However, Kaptan was the God of Sky. Although he could change his appearance, he never had the ability to transform something into something else, especially for a very long time. He was neither a God of Creation nor a God of Tricks to pull this off.

Nonetheless, there was another way for a God to transform a creature into a different one.

A Curse.

Sinogo was cursed by Kaptan into the form of a Crocodile indefinitely. Since the curse was engraved inside Sinogo, it should never be broken.

Unless... The curse was corrupted and weakened.

Mark, who shot a pillar of [Miasmic Lightning] unto Sinogo, weakened and broke the curse, giving Sinogo the opportunity to return to his original form.

Everyone listened to the explanation while they helped Mark heal. His wounds were clearly healing at a rapid rate, but it was still slow due to his broken bones and torn muscles. The broken bones were hindering the healing due to being dislocated and protruding out of his skin.

Seriously, it was amazing that he was still alive. Anyone else in his current state would already die of either shock or blood loss. His organs might have been damaged too.

Even if he had rapid regeneration, it would not be enough to keep him alive.

But Mark... He was still alive. It did not make any sense.

Mark closed his eyes with a frown. The pain was getting into his nerves, but the headache that Magwayen brought was far more annoying for him.

This was not the first time. Magwayen was someone who just let them walk into the [Trial of Regrets] without even saying a single word about it.

It was hard to determine, but Magwayen might not be lying about having no plans at all. As she said, the curse was weakened with Mark's attack with miasmic properties, and Sinogo could have died already if a different attack was used on him.

Still, it would have been better if Magwayen gave them a warning beforehand.

But before anyone could give that question, Magwayen explained.

"I cannot feed you everything. I am a Goddess from another world. If I interfere too much, it will backfire on me."

At this time...

"At least, it seems that you know your place."

A hostile voice was heard, speaking to Magwayen. The voice sounded familiar to the group, however.

And out of nowhere, a door appeared and opened. There, two familiar figures emerged. The [Eye of Excitement], Fourth, and the [Eye of Interest], Nineteenth.

The hostile voice clearly came from Nineteenth since Fourth was now back to her form of a little girl.

Instead of replying to the hostile remark, Magwayen faced Mark.

"See?"

That was right. The [Eyes] were hostile to foreign Gods of the past. And as a Goddess outside of Earth, Magwayen's actions were something that would change Earth if it went out of control.

"Wah... You really got beat up."

Fourth ignored Magwayen and Nineteenth and went straight to her candidate.

"For the two of you to appear here... This turned into a big deal, isn't it?"

Mark spoke to Fourth.

"It had always been a big deal ever since that guy broke his seal." Fourth replied, looking at the battlefield. "You know, all of us [Eyes] were watching the moment he emerged from the waters of the strait. We also saw what you did and how you ended up like this."

"Still, how can you get beaten up in one hit? The others were jeering at me because of that."

Fourth grumbled.

Mark could only give Fourth a dead stare. It seemed that they were having fun watching this kind of battle.

But if they were still calm about this... Mark noticed something...

"Is Sinogo fated to return to his original body?"

Mark asked straight to the point.

However, both the [Eyes] could not reply to Mark. After all, the answer would be related to the records that they could not just go and divulge.

But even so, that silence gave Mark the confirmation. Even without this event, Sinogo would return to his humanoid form sooner or later. It was just his actions that made it happen sooner than it was supposed to.

"I suggest for you to retreat," Nineteenth spoke to Mark. "You are not strong enough to fight Sinogo."

"What will happen if we did?"

Mark asked Nineteenth.

This time, the [Eye of Interest] did not fall silent.

"The middle and southern areas of this country would be destroyed in a month. Afterward, the remaining land would be gone by another two."

"It means even our place will get destroyed."

Mark said to everyone's dismay.

And to Mark's words, the two [Eyes] fell silent once more.

After they retreated in this battle, their country would be as good as gone. The only way to survive was to leave for another country.

Mark took a deep breath.

"Well, that won't do."

"Do you want to die here?"

Nineteenth asked Mark in all seriousness.

"Of course, I don't." Mark sneered. "But if we flee to another place, we have to start all over again. Well, do you know? I hate repeating playthroughs mid-game. It makes me feel that everything I did before was wasted."

"This is not a game."

Nineteenth argued. It was unusual for an [Eye] to be this resolute in trying to convince a mortal.

However...

"Yeah. This is not a game," Slowly, Mark lifted his back with Mei's help. "And that's one more reason for me to stay and fight."

"And more than everything..." Mark added. "I already know the feeling of losing everything."

"I don't want to experience that."

Mark said with his eyes closed.

That last sentence reverberated inside the minds of Iola and Aephelia. The ones that remembered their loss on the planet, Eriellis.

"Besides..." Mark smiled. "I haven't tried everything yet."

And then... Mark's body began to glow.

Mark already finished realigning his bones, and his body had already begun healing. Add to that, Mark downed a vial of [Regeneration Medicine] that he had. This was the fastest healing Mark had experienced.

But what was the glow for? Everyone was surprised by it. Both the [Eyes] and Magwayen were no exceptions.

Furthermore, the light around his body was cozy and warm.

That feeling made the ones that experienced this light before remember. It was Mark's other ability. The one that gave them comfort and calmness. It was the [Magical Healing Hands] that Mark inherited from his ancestor.

The [Magical Healing Hands] were only supposed to show their healing properties towards Spirits and Elementals. But how was it able to accelerate the healing of Mark's body?

On here that everyone noticed. Mark was murmuring unintelligible words, and he was actually holding the [Butterfly of Knowledge] in his right hand. He was already in a trance, healing his body at a rapid pace that it looked miraculous.

That was right. Mark had not tried everything yet.

But even so... Fourth and Nineteenth thought that it would not be enough just to heal his body.

That was then... as if mocking the two, Mark's body had shown changes.

Mark had markings on his body ever since he absorbed the [Deity of Bloodshed] and gained the ability to control [Miasma]. When his bloodline as a [Blood Demon] awakened, these markings also changed and grew.

After Mark received the blessing after the [Trial of Regrets], these markings turned golden during his transformation.

But now... the golden color of the markings was fading. It faded in a way as if it was being swallowed by the dark color.

Mark snapped from his trance. His body was still enveloped with the cozy glow. It was like a shell, making everyone step back.

And there... He uttered...

"Finally..."

<strong>BOOM!</strong>

The light exploded, making everyone step back and cover their eyes.

As the light vanished, Mark's figure emerged. He was fully healed.

But most of all, the golden markings on his body were no more and turned back to black. Mark spread out his three pairs of wings. Far from looking like a bat's, it changed. It looked more like a dragon's now, with the metallic sheen it had.

The most surprising thing, however... the black markings on his body now spread unto his wings.

Mark felt refreshed. His fatigue and tiredness were all gone.

Most of all, his body evolved further. Getting beaten up completely was a blessing in disguise.