Mutagen

Day 129 - 04:10 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran's Memorial Park, Oakly, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

Knowing that his farce seemed to have some effect, Mark felt a bit relaxed. Furthermore, while no one could easily see it, his eyes were glowing red. He was trying to affect the minds of these people to a degree.

With these arrangements, even if these people did not leave, they would not make a move. At least, not until they realize that Chimetrice had no way of moving currently.

Mark only needed another half hour. That was what he estimated from how fast Chimetrice was absorbing the energy from the crystals.

Sure enough, Chimetrice's body was far more powerful compared to anyone he encountered before. Even the rate of his absorption was inhumane.

Everyone that he gave a crystal so far needed at least a half-day or more to absorb the crystals. It was the case even though what Mark gave them were those non-attributed ones that contained only an eighth of the energy compared to attributed crystals.

Chimetrice, however, only needed a few hours to absorb the energy from three attributed crystals.

If Mark could stall these guests in another half hour, they would be able to leave this place without the need to show his cards. It was the best situation to happen.

But then, at the slight moment that Mark took his attention away from the guests, a foreboding feeling overwhelmed him.

Mark raised his face a glare towards the guests. His eyes brightly glowed as he dropped any notion of concealing it.

But it was no use.

Only those that had stable minds and a few that had no greed in their hearts managed to retain their sanity. 

As for the others...

Their minds turned into a chaotic mess where their greed consumed their rationality.

"NOT GOOD!"

The elder among cultivators shouted as he noticed the sudden changes in the members of his group. He also heard that voice that whispered into their heads, but only he and a young girl among his group managed to resist the temptation.

As for the first group that arrived, the white-haired man and the red-haired witch did not know what to do. All their members seemed to have gone crazy and could not hear them at all.

And for the other groups, all of them succumbed to the whispers of the devil.

Except for four people, all those that came charged towards Mark and his group in one go. They looked like a bunch of crazed animals.

"Mei'er! Illia! Get ready to fight!"

Mark shouted as he conjured his blood scythe. Mei also redied her [Shooting Moon Blade], while Illia wielded her daggers.

Gritting his teeth, Mark cursed in his heart. There was no need to know what was happening. Without a doubt, the Eye was playing with them.

Mark turned towards the elder that was chasing after the members of his group.

"If you want your members to live, you better catch them before they reach us!"

The elder could not help but turn to Mark just to see him beheading the first creature to approach. A display of ruthlessness without hesitation. If he did not hurry, the younger cultivators that came with him would have the same fate.

BANG!

Mei's weapon loudly echoed as she shot a bird-like humanoid that swooped towards her.

On the other hand, Illia agilely brandished her dagger as she stabbed the neck of an Imp that approached her.

CLANG! CLANG!

Metallic sounds echoed as Mark parried to swords that slashed at him. In front of Mark, two young cultivators held the swords.

Comparing physical strength, these two were far weaker compared to Huo Long Yue. Thus, with a quick push, Mark made the two men stagger backward.

There, Mark stretched both hands to his right, extending the range of his scythe.

"STOP!"

The elder that managed to catch two members of his group shouted.

However, Mark only glanced at him.

SHING! PLOP! PLOP!

Mark's scythe moved in a wide swing, beheading the two young cultivators. Their heads plopped down to the ground in front of the elder and the young girl in their group.

The elder rushed down, but he was already late. He could only land in front of the two headless corpses.

"Do you have to be that ruthless?"

The elder questioned Mark, who was currently blocking a golem-like creature. The group of cultivators only had seven people, including the elder. He managed to restrain two, and the girl managed to catch one. The other two, however, were already beheaded by Mark.

"I don't have the time to argue with you and your bullsh*t nonsense. I already told everyone to leave. Don't blame me if any of you die because of your stupidity."

"Y-you!" 

The elder was thoroughly infuriated.

Sure enough, narrow-minded people hated to be blamed for the consequences of their own actions.

BANG! BANG!

Mei shot her sniper rifle continuously after each time she reloaded. These creatures were not easy enemies. They might have turned berserk, but they still had some senses remaining. Not all of them were blindly charging at Mark's group, and many were able to evade Mei's bullets. And the worst part...

Some of them were not even hurt after being shot by Mei.

CRACKLE!

A loud, crisp sound echoed in the surroundings.

"Oh, sh*t."

Mark could only curse as he stared above.

The Thunderbird was going for a lightning attack.

"Gather!"

Mark shouted as he retreated towards Chimetrice. Mei and Illia did the same, although Illia seemed to be at a loss of what to do. She immediately embraced Chimetrice to shield him. One of the banes of Evil beings were lightning attacks. Even though the Thunderbird could not kill Chimetrice, he would receive injuries, especially since he basically had no defenses at this moment.

THOOM!

Thick branches of lightning fell to the ground as if a different end of the world came.

At the last moment, Mark pulled Mei behind him as he stood in front of Illia and Chimetrice.

Stretching his right hand forward, the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] flew in front of his palm. As the crystal glowed, all the branches of lightning that were about to hit them changed directions.

Mark, Mei, and Illia could feel the stinging and numbing sensation on their skin as the electricity from the lightning strikes scattered around them.

The attack from the Thunderbird caused the remaining trees and plants to burst into flames.

The small peninsula where the cursed tree stood before was now engulfed in flames.

As the lightning attack ended, Mark stared at the sky.

Several ugly winged demons were gathered, performing some sort of ritual. They chanted a language Mark never heard before conjuring a large magic circle in front of them.

"Mei'er, Illia. Take care of this place."

Mark spoke with a serene voice as his wings formed on his back.

His wings glowed red, and with the strong gust of wind left by the flap of his wings, Mark flew up, leaving a trail of red light.

Covering his scythe with a faint shade of Miasma, he swiped it at the magic circle.

CRASH!

The magic circle unexpectedly shattered in front of everyone, causing the demons to cough out blood with their ritual being interrupted.

Not finished, Mark flapped his wings charging towards the demons, waving his scythe from different angles.

As he passed by, blood spurted from the bodies of demons before they fell from the sky. 

After dispatching the demons, Mark flew towards the other flying enemies.

BANG! BANG!

The shots from Mei's weapon echoed one after another. She was shooting the Wendigos from the first group that was now charging towards her. Unfortunately, she could only frown as all her shots missed the target.

These Wendigos were really fast. Even with her [Bullet Time], she was having a hard time chasing their erratic movements. Furthermore, even though her bullets were faster, it was hard to take aim when the two Wendigos were changing their direction at random.

Mei wanted to try to shoot them more times. However, they were already too close.

CLICK! CLICK!

Clicking sounds echoed as Mei transformed her weapon as fast as she could.

CLANG!

The metallic sound ring into their ears as Mei used her sword to block the teeth of the closest Wendigo that arrived before her.

CREAK! CREAK!

Mei wanted to pull the sword out of the Wendigo's bite. But like a clamp, it was not letting go. The worst thing was that...

She was already within reach of the other Wendigo. She needed to let go of her weapon if she wanted to dodge it.

BAM!

Unexpected, the second Wendigo was suddenly sent flying. There, Illia came to the rescue, kicking away the Wendigo with all her might as she found a good timing to do so.

The first Wendigo then tried to reach towards Mei with its long arms while keeping the [Shooting Moon Blade] clamped between its teeth.

Without letting go of her weapon, Mei jumped side to side, evading the hands of the Wendigo.

After finding a good footing, Mei's feet released a red glow as she kicked the ground.

Mei jumped without letting go of the sword. It caused her to turn upside down mid-air, as she pulled the head of the Wendigo with her.

Her unexpected movements caught the Wendigo off guard causing its head to follow Mei against its will. At the moment its head was facing upwards with Mei's sword, it tried to resist causing its uncontrolled movement to stop.

At that moment, however, Mei was already falling towards its back and was already in an upright position. With both her feet, she kicked the nape of the Wendigo as hard as she could.

CRACK!

The Wendigo's head bent at an impossible angle. Its neck stretched backward as its head dangled upside down on its back. As if fell lifeless on the ground, it finally let go of Mei's weapon. She immediately pulled it back and charged towards the other Wendigo that Illia was stalling.

At the sky, Mark saw Mei's movements as she killed the Wendigo. He kind of felt proud that the weak girl he saved before could not contend with inhumane creatures on her own. These creatures were different from the infected, after all. They had intelligence and uncanny abilities that not just anyone could handle.

SHOOM! SHOOM!

With those in mind, Mark flew in twisted patterns. He was currently maneuvering through a barrage of fireballs being shot from the mouth of several lizard-like creatures.

Because Mark suddenly showed his capability of flight, he managed to gather most of the attention of the enemies. Right now, Mei and Illia only needed to face a smaller number of creatures as most of them were aiming at him.

But then, Mark suddenly felt some strong magical fluctuations.

CLINK! CLINK!

Multiple metallic sounds echoed around Mark to his surprise. He immediately flew faster as he could not tell where the sounds were coming from.

But then, below, while Mei and Illia were fighting the other Wendigo...

The elder cultivator suddenly made a move.

He was still in the right mind. However, the sudden death of two of the disciples of their sect affected his mentality.

The worst part, he was aiming for Mei and Illia while they were occupied with a strong enemy.

Mark saw the elder move and immediately flew down as fast as he could to intercept him.

But then...

CLINK! CLINK!

The metallic sounds intensified around Mark.

Suddenly, he felt a searing pain on his right foot as his fast flight suddenly came into a stop.

CLINK! CLINK!

Mark ignored the pain, and he turned to his foot. There was a chain that came out of nowhere tightening around it. He had not time to think about it and immediately waved his scythe to cut the chain.

Nevertheless, the wave of his scythe stopped midway as another set of chains appeared and caught his right arm.

Mark was surprised. However, Mei's safety was his priority. He released a surge of Miasma around the chains, causing it to disappear since it was made of magic.

As he did, however, more chains appeared around him, tightening around his neck, waist, and other parts of his body. He became completely still mid-air.

Below, the elder was already a few steps from Mei and Illia.

Mark did not care anymore. A cloud of Miasma burst out of his body, melting all the chains that constricted him. He flapped his wings as hard as he could, trying to stop the elder.

However, because of the chains and his hesitation, he was late.

Illia and Mei managed to react at the last second and noticed the elder behind them.

Unfortunately, his glowing palms were already moving towards their bodies. Those were just palms, but for some reason, they could not move because of it.

BAM! BAM!

The two palms hit Mei and Illia on their upper backs, causing them to cough out blood at contact. From the force of the attack, both women were flung several meters away before crashing in the middle of the memorial park.

"Hahaha! I'm just starting!" The elder laughed. "This is the consequence of killing disciples of our sect!"

The elder sure was in a crazed state, albeit mildly. It seemed that he received another whisper.

But then...

BAM!

The surroundings suddenly became colder.