Mutagen



Day 341 - 12:10 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Docks, Kachidoki, Reclaimed City, Ruins of Tokyo

Keiji was in total shock after finally seeing who was under the cloak of the enemy he was fighting. He had never felt such a numbing shock in his entire life.

There was no mistaking it. The enemy before Keiji was his supposedly dead sister, using their clan's combat arts and swordsmanship.

But how was it possible? Keiji was sure there was no way for Ren, who was stabbed through her heart by Mako, to survive. There might be some chance for Keiko, who was left alive after getting her legs crippled. But there was definitely no chance for Ren, who was left bathing in her own blood.

"Impossible."

Keiji uttered as those thoughts passed through his mind.

Of course, Ren heard what he had just said and stared straight at him.

"You see how the world is now. Nothing is impossible."

Ren said as she charged and unleashed another barrage of attacks on Keiji.

Keiji, rattled by the unexpected truth, was unable to properly defend against Ren's attacks. While he desperately defended and counterattacked, more wounds appeared on his body, and nicks and scratches decorated his armor.

Ren was the genius of the current generation of the Mitsui Clan. Keiji had no way of overpowering Ren in a face-to-face battle despite being older and having more fighting experience.

Some people believed that experience could beat a genius, but it would not be the case for Keiji. After being discouraged because of Ren's display of talent, he focused more on being the heir of the Mitsui Clan's conglomerate. He had more experience. However, it was severely lacking to overcome his genius younger sister.

Keiji had the chance to overcome his sister. However, he lacked effort and commitment. And now, it came biting him.

While the siblings fought to their deaths, the other battles occurred simultaneously.

Tsubasa continued her battle against the [Yuki-Onna]. However, the two were on the same level of strength. None of the two could overpower the other as they exchanged attacks without stopping. Well... The two were actually hindered by other things as they fought.

Without a doubt, the blizzard was being maintained by the [Yuki-Onna]. She was keeping the blizzard going while battling against Tsubasa. On the other hand, Tsubasa's enemy was not only the [Yuki-Onna] but also the other Demons trying to attack her at every chance they could get.

With the Tsubasa and the [Yuki-Onna] having their own hindrances, they could not have the right chance to overpower the other and defeat their opponent.

At the side, the [Teketeke] was still on its rampage. The Onmyojis fighting the rampaging, half-bodied evil spirit was having a hard time. There was no need to ask about defeating their enemy. They were already struggling to try to defend against her and the attacks of other Demons.

During the start of the battle, the Onmyojis were clearly the ones with the advantage despite their smaller number. But after the powerful Demons appeared, the tide of the battle began tilting against the Reclaimed City's side.

When Keiji and his group revealed their true colors and joined the Demons, the Onmyojis thought that they would begin losing the defensive battle.

Fortunately, the cloaked figures came out, balancing the tide of the battle.

BOOOM!

Another explosion occurred to the north. The battle within the area of Tsukuda was also intensifying.

At another area, Keiko removed the hood of his cloak, showing her face to the one she was fighting, Ishii.

"No f*cking way!"

Ishii became agitated. After all, he was the one who smashed the legs of the woman before him.

"You know what time it is now?" Keiko smirked. "It's payback time."

Then Keiko, with her new gauntlets, charged at Ishii with a punch. She attacked with strength and speed, far from what she had in the past.

In an instant, Keiko covered the distance between her and Ishii in a single jump.

Ishii was taken aback by her sudden explosive speed. However, as Keiji's handyman, he had his own strength. Instead of panicking, he swung his customized bat toward Keiko like a professional baseball player. The swing he unleashed would definitely clash with Keiko's incoming punch.

BAM!

Keiko's gauntlet and Ishii's bat clashed with an explosive impact.

But Ishii's expression changed as he felt the bones on his hands on the verge of breaking, leaving him without any other choice. He let go of his weapon in that instant.

CLANG!

The bat created a loud sound as it struck the ground a few steps away from Ishii's feet. When he turned to his weapon while enduring the pain in his hands, he saw the bat severely bent and distorted, stuck halfway through the frozen river's surface.

On the other hand, the impact forced Keiko several steps backward. However, she was all fine. Her new gauntlets absorbed all the impact to her hand and arms, leaving her without any injury, unlike Ishii.

"Sh*t."

Ishii voiced out as she saw the outcome of his clash with Keiko. He knew he was screwed.

Nonetheless, Ishii was still a Ninja trained by the Mitsui Clan. With or without a weapon, he would not go down without a fight.

But between all the ongoing fights, a group of three was left confused.

"Are we being ignored?"

Yoko voiced out, noticing that no one came to block their path at all.

The cloaked figures appeared and fought Keiji's men and the Demons, but not a single figure came to fight them. It made no sense. It was not wrong to say that their group was the most threatening people to the safety of the Reclaimed City. Yet, no one came to stop them.

"If they had no plan to stop us, let's just get over with it."

Shin said to which Tsukiko silently nodded. Yoko also agreed as this was the best thing, albeit the situation was a little disappointing.

Since the three were not in too much hurry, they took their time as they walked across the battlefield. They ignored the flow of the Demons from behind them attacking the defenders of the Reclaimed City. On the other hand, the Onmyojis also ignored them as if they did not have any more hands to spare to stop the incoming threat.

In about two minutes, Shin's trio arrived at the docks with the barrier standing just a few meters before them. They could see Demons that slipped through the defense of the Onmyojis and the cloaked people but were unable to pass through the barrier.

The barriers flickered as they received the attacks of the Demons. However, the barriers stood still, far from breaking.

A few Onmyojis with a group of around fifty cloaked humans could not block the Demons alone. Then, the only problem was this barrier.

Shin looked around. The Demons were attacking the barrier, both from the river and from the sky. And while the Demons were blocked by it, the Priests and Maidens behind the barrier were taking the opportunity to attack behind the barrier's safety.

Even so, the Demons were still swarming outside. They might not be able to pass through the barrier, but there were too many of them to be pushed further.

Shin stared at the barrier blocking the Demons from the docks. It was the easiest place to enter the Reclaimed City compared to the other areas with coastal walls.

Then, this place should be the one.

Shin thought of that as he stretched out his right arm towards the docks. And there, a massive amount of energy clashed with the barrier as the space around it was torn apart.

And in an instant...

CRASH!

Three segments of the barrier that blocked the docks of Kachidoki shattered.

The Priests and Shrine Maidens maintaining those segments fell to their knees. Their mouths spewed out blood as the backlash from the destroyed barrier overwhelmed them.

There was a moment of silence between the two sides fighting.

Then, the silence was immediately replaced by ferocious roars and raged shouts from the Demons as they began swarming toward the direction of the broken barriers.

The Onmyojis tried to retreat to block the swarming Demons. However, they were unable to. The Demons rushed like a raging tide. It could sweep away the Onmyojis, and they would be attacked behind their backs.

Over the frozen river and the blizzard-covered sky, the Demons charged towards the opening to the Reclaimed City.

Nothing could stop them now. That was what they had thought.

But as the first Demon, a [Jorogumo], a female humanoid with eight limbs commanding an army of Demonic Spiders, stepped into the docks...

SHOOOOM!

A gigantic beam of light swallowed the [Jorogumo], her spiders, and all the Demons rushing through the destroyed barrier. Many tried to stop, but the other Demons behind them pushed them into the beam. And as if destroying the Demons on the ground was not enough, the beam moved up, tearing away a line between the army of Demons before swallowing the flying Demons in the sky.

The beam killed hundreds of Demons and tore through the clouds in the sky before vanishing. It even caused the blizzard to lessen in ferocity.

Silence permeated across the battlefield. The swarming Demons finally stopped on their feet, and those in front even tried to retreat.

The only thing left in the trajectory of the beam was Shin and his two nervous companions standing behind a large tear in space that prevented them from disintegrating like the others.

ROOOAARR!!!

A loud roar broke the silence. A gigantic shadow flew in the sky through the gap in the barrier. However, it did not fly in but out of the Reclaimed City. A black, winged lizard. It was a Western Dragon with an ominous appearance.

SCREECH!

A painful screech was heard as the Dragon spewed flames on a nearby Demon in the sky, causing it to plummet in a ball of flames.

GRRR!

Following the Dragon, a three-meter Golden Wolf rushed out of the docks, immediately trashing the Demons in its path.

Then, humanoid silhouettes followed the two beasts as they stepped out into the docks. Surprisingly, the witnesses saw only a single adult in the group, and the rest were clearly children.

The sight of human children ignited the instincts of many of the Demons. A lot of them feed on human flesh, especially children. Many of the Demons began drooling at the sight of those children coming out of the Reclaimed City.

Unfortunately for them, fear overwhelmed them more. Many of them might be dumb, but they still understood that there was an unknown danger before them.

But the ones most affected among the Demons were Shin and his two companions behind him. Their eyes focused on the man standing in front of the children.

That familiar face. There was no way they would forget him.

And in response to their stares, the below-average-looking man in sci-fi-looking armor shrugged and opened his mouth.

"Long time no see, you three."

Mark greeted Shin and the two [Sirens].

Usually, Mark wore a mask or a helmet when entering battles like this. This time was an exception. He wanted to see the reaction of the three when they saw his familiar face. Considering the outcome of their previous encounter, there was no way they would easily forget him.

And Mark was right.

Shin's emotions boiled at the sight of Mark. The dangerous enemy they fought in Bay City and the one that made them suffer the most in their lives as members of the Auraboros.

They only came to Bay City to rescue someone. The businessman named Dopp. But they encountered Mark there. They did not only suffer injuries. They failed their mission, gained nothing from all the effort, lost their means of travel, and worse, they had to travel hundreds of kilometers in the middle of the outbreak just to return to the base of Auraboros.

It took them months of hardships before they were able to return.

And all of it was because of the person currently standing before them.

Shin did not care how or why he was here. His surroundings trembled as his appearance transformed into his Demonic form.

There was only one thing Shin had in his mind at this moment.

Revenge.

Shin wanted revenge.