Mutagen

Day 129 - 12:39 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran's Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

Not long after Mark and Chimetrice stopped their battle and sat down to talk, several people arrived outside the barrier.

Although some of them looked human on the surface, none of them were humans.

These people belonged to two different groups. The first group was composed of thirty people, while the other only had a single person.

Comparing the two groups, it was quite odd that the group with only one person felt more dangerous than the other. It was even stranger since the person looked harmless compared to the other group.

Soft brown hair, a pair of soft, small cheeks, about fifty-four inches in height, and looked around ten years old.

No matter how anyone looked, it was nothing but a young boy.

Nevertheless, the aura around him was no less than a monster.

He had an arrogant feel on his eyes as if he looked down on others. And more than anything else, there was a vertical, third eye on his forehead and seemed to have two more closed slits that lay between each of the two eyes and the third eye.

It was safe to assume that this boy had five eyes on his face.

Without a doubt, one of the apostles of the Observer.

The moment he arrived, he did not dare touch the barrier in front of him. In a single look, he knew that it was a harmful border between reality and a cursed space.

"Damn it. The Fifth should be the one observing this since she's more versed in curses."

The boy murmured.

Unfortunately, the one he was talking about was in a different location right at this moment. 

"After a Destroyer vanished in the Spirit Dimension and the sudden death of The Eleventh, the other higher ranking Eyes were quite busy at the moment. Jeez, why did something big like this happened this time? And while I'm taking a nap."

The boy complained as he started his real duty. It was to observe from the shadows.

As the other group arrived, none of them saw the boy that was standing right in front of them. There was no need for the boy to act immediately. He was different from the Scouts and the Destroyers.

He was a direct Apostle.

Their duty was to search for things and beings that fit some criteria.

It was those anomalies that could tilt the balance of the world, avoiding the current set of rules present in the surface. Gathering information about them and reporting these to their Master.

And lastly, executing the judgment of their Master, regarding that anomaly.

"Yawn~..." The boy stretched his arms sleepily while looking at the gigantic bird in front of him. "I'll just do my job, I guess. I don't want to get scolded. Master had been quite pissed off since the work of another guy unexpectedly entered Earth and turned it into this mess. It also caused those guys hiding to become more unruly after being left alone."

The boy sure was talkative. He was talking to no one but himself, though.

As the boy sat on the roof, he watched the other group as they flew around like idiots.

"These guys are definitely members of that organization."

The boy murmured.

***

The other group was composed of fifteen people. They were riding on the back of a large bird that seemed to release charges of electricity on its wings each time it flapped.

Five within the group looked totally human. However, they were releasing a thing aura of death from their bodies. It felt like they were ghosts even though they seemed to have bodies of their own.

Two were nine-foot-tall man and woman with an oddly thin physique, pale skin, several layers of sharp teeth, and a bald head. Their hunger for human flesh was visible in his eyes.

Three were women with odd energy emanating from their bodies. They were wearing pointed hats and black robes that definitely pointed out what they were. Different from common depictions, however, they all seemed to be young. Furthermore, the one that stood in the center had blood-red-colored hair.

And lastly, the other five. These five definitely looked human, and the Leader of this group was among these five. Despite their human appearance, however, they were emanating an aura no different from canine beasts.

The Leader stared at the barrier in front of him. He seemed to be a man in his early thirties. His body was quite muscular and was bursting with energy. Despite that, however, his hair was white as an elderly.

"What a strong curse."

The Leader said as he looked at the barrier and its effects of the curse on the infected below.

He then turned to the three witches.

"Any ideas if we can come in?"

Unfortunately, each of them shook their heads.

"This curse is beyond our capabilities." The red-haired Witch spoke. "All we can do is wait until the barrier subsided and see what caused it."

After hearing those words, the white-haired man frowned.

They were members of Auraboros from Pennsylvania that was currently assigned near the area. After they felt a strong fluctuation of evil energy coming from this location, he immediately gathered a team and took their fastest Thunderbird to get here. He was quite annoyed to know that they would not be able to enter as soon as they arrived.

"Any ideas on what could be inside?" 

The Leader of the group asked the witches once more. Witches were known experts of black magic and curses. It was not wrong to ask them.

At that question, the three witches whispered at each other before the red-haired one replied.

"We three had the same conclusion." The red-haired Witch looked at the barrier. "It is very likely that someone or something managed to be relieved of its curse. Although it's already faint, there are traces of energy coming from a sealing curse that was forcefully torn."

That made the Leader nodded his head slightly. Since the outbreak came, different phenomenons had been happening one after another. The energy in the air caused by the Mutagen had been causing anomalies not only to humans but also to magical creatures and objects.

They even heard from one branch that even the Spirit Dimension was now filled with infected magical beings that were far more dangerous than their human counterparts.

Even the Spirit Tree of Auraboros in Ireland had already been subjected to attacks of such magical infected.

"We will wait then." The Leader decided. "Whatever it was that escaped its sealing curse, we must get it in our hands before others arrive. We might be able to find something we can offer to the branch leader and gain his favor."

Everyone in the group agreed. The Leader then commanded the Thunderbird to land as they wait.

As they did that, however, the two tall people jumped off and caught several infected to munch on.

"These Wendigos really can't restrain their selves for too long." One of the people with strange spiritual fluctuations spoke with disdain."

"It's not like you, Demonic Spirits, are different." The red-haired Witch retorted.

That Demonic Spirit glared at the Witch but did not say anything. Comparing hierarchy, these Witches were still higher in the group.

"You all stop arguing." 

The Leader spoke.

***

"Really, what a bunch of idiots." The Eye, who was watching nearby murmured. "They really think that they could get their hands on something that was sealed by a sealing curse created by multiple gods? They are dreaming too high."

The boy looked at the barrier. 

Most people that could feel the energy in the barrier would only be able to tell that it was a sealing curse. For the boy, however, he could feel the faint traces of energy released by the Gods in this curse. It was already faded, though, causing the curse to weaken after thousands of years. Furthermore, since the Gods that made the curse were no longer on Earth, it hastened the weakening of the curse.

The boy sighed. He could not understand why Observers liked implementing rules that the True God that created the world did not even give. 

"Who's there?!"

The white-haired Leader suddenly shouted as he quickly turned to the direction of the boy.

Hearing that, the boy smiled as he retreated.

"This guy is not bad. He managed to detect my presence slightly."

Although amused, the boy had no reason to reveal himself. These people were not included in his work, and he was lazy to include them. If the elimination of Auraboros was among the work of the Eyes, there was no way for them to last this long on Earth.

The Auraboros was left alone by the Observer for a reason. Thus, the boy would not carelessly meddle with them.

"Leader, there's nothing there."

One of the direct subordinates of the Leader said, looking in the same direction.

"Strange." The Leader said as he approached the place he was looking at. "I definitely felt a presence here."

"Leader, maybe, you're just hallucinating. Maybe, this curse had other effects."

Another subordinate chimed.

The Leader did not say anything. He was sure that he felt a presence there but suddenly vanished.

From there, they could only wait.

However, they could not help but frown as they noticed other groups appearing in the area as they waited. These newcomers were in no doubt also members of Auraboros. Some came from the same branch, and some came from others.

No one came near each other to talk, though. Competition between members and branches of Auraboros was intense. This time, they were competing on who would get the thing that caused this event.

Unexpectedly, not only the members of Auraborors but others also appeared. Some wandering creatures appeared and even a group of Eastern warriors.

There was even a small spacecraft. This was the United States, after all.

After three hours of waiting, the red-haired Witch stood up.

"The barrier is weakening."

The red-haired Witch spoke. It seemed that among their group, she was the most sensitive towards magical energies as the others were yet to detect the subtle changes in the barrier.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves."

The Leader spoke loud, forcing the two Wendigos to stop eating the infected and stand by.

Another ten minutes passed, the others finally felt that the barrier started to vanish.

After another five minutes, they could see that the color inside the barrier started to return to normal.

As the dark color of the surroundings vanished, the barrier finally dissipated.

"Go!"

The Leader shouted, making the Thunderbird fly forward as fast as it could.

They were not only ones that had the same idea. With their fastest speed, most of the groups rushed towards the center of the area affected by the barrier before it dissipated.

Sure enough, friction between the groups commenced.

Some were patient enough, though, and did not rush. Some gave up due to what was happening, while others wanted to be the orioles behind the mantises.

What added more to the chaos, however, was the infected that was affected by the curse. These infected started attacking anyone that came near, causing small battles here and there.

***

At the center of it all, Mark frowned.

Before, he did not expect that something like this would happen. He thought that only that first group and the Eye lurking in the shadows would appear. 

But now, there were about a hundred people, human or not, rushing towards them.

And there was no place to hide, either. Unless they wanted to dive unto the dirty lake that was now filled with dead fishes and insects.

The biggest problem, however, the barrier vanished even though Chimetrice was still in the process of absorbing the crystals. Like the others, it was better not to move him while in this state. It was the same for Amihan and Spera before, when they were in the Spirit Dimension.

Thus, as the guests arrived, Mark, Mei, and Illia had no choice but to hold them all back until Chimetrice finished absorbing the crystals.