Mutagen

Day 11:24 PM - Glassgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Mark stared at Christia with both confusion and surprise.

Who would not feel this way? Think about an infected properly asking for a battle. This kind of thing never passed by Mark's mind even once.

Only because Christia was here that it was possible to happen. An Infected Queen that retained her human memories. Just how many individuals like her would there be in the world among the billions of infected?

"A challenge? It's not a fight until one of us dies, is it?"

Mark asked. That question, however, made Christia show a smile.

"If it was before, that might have been the case. But now that we met you, I would rather not risk our lives here. But of course, we can't just go back like this since, you know, us infected are hot blooded individuals."

"By the eight divines. Can I decline?"

Mark grumbled. If possible, he just wanted these guys to go away and sot that he could rest.

"Hmm... I guess this would be the case, no?" Christia's smile turned questionable. "Humans prefer to stay away from things that would not give them any benefit, after all."

And there, Christia gave a proposition.

"Well, we really can't do anything if you want to decline. So, how about this. Fight with my King. It's not a deathmatch, and I promise that if you were the one defeated, we would leave peacefully. In exchange, no matter who wins or loses, I will answer your questions about us afterward. Of course, I won't answer any question if you end up killing my King. I will also do my best to kill some of your companions if you did that. Even if I have to sacrifice myself in exchange."

What Christia said made Mark weigh the options.

Because of the whole day of hectic travel, the battle in Logan Square, and mental fatigue, he would have preferred to rest. However, he could not ignore the fact that an intelligent infected actually proposed that she would answer his questions.

An opportunity like this would not come by whenever he wanted. Not to mention that encountering an intelligent infected like Christia was not something that everyone would experience. Well, others would do, but they should have already gone to the afterlife after encountering a couple of Infected Monarchs.

Mark was sure that Christia only gave this proposition since she also found him as a threat.

"Then, let me ask a question first."

Mark spoke.

"I'll answer, depending on the question, and just one."

Christia raised her index finger to Mark.

"The question is nothing that important, really," Mark said as he looked at the two alternately. "I just want to know what your goal is for fighting me. You already said that you two might risk your lives if we were to actually try and kill each other, so why?"

"I can answer that. Two reasons, actually." Christia raised her two fingers. "First, to satiate my King's hunger for battle. You probably understand this but at our stage, finding a satisfying fight is very hard. Second, is to see how we would fare against beings like you. We have encountered Mutants before, but not psychics, after all."

That last sentence was unexpected.

"You can tell?"

Mark asked.

"Not exactly." Christia tilted her head. "But unlike Mutants, you are oozing with unpleasantly attractive energy with you, after all. Even two of your companions seemed to be Psychics too, but yours is on an entirely different level."

"Can you two hurry up?"

Heron interrupted once more. And by the looks of it, this guy would not take a no from Mark as an answer.

"Well," Christia bitterly smiled while shrugging her shoulders. "Let's leave other things for later. I guess your answer is yes, am I right?"

Mark nodded.

"By the way, how will the winner be determined?"

"Hmm... disabling the loser should be fine, I think?"

Christia replied.

"Okay, then." 

Mark smiled, shifting his eyes towards to Heron.

"I'll go to the side, alright."

With those words, Christia moved. She was very fast. In a second, she might have traveled a hundred meters and reached the side of the quarry.

"Should we start?"

Heron massaged his shoulder.

"Just attack," Mark said, concentrating his attention on Heron.

As Mark spoke, however, Heron kicked the ground. Sure enough, this one was not talkative at all. Or rather, his strength did not lay on intelligence. Instead...

BOOOM!!!

With that light kick on the ground, the area where Heron stood before exploded into dust and rubble. With that strong momentum, he instantly appeared in front of Mark.

Mark was quite surprised. This guy was faster than the other one this afternoon. Furthermore, his speed relied on both his leg flexibility and strength.

The moment that Heron appeared, he unleashed a right straight towards Mark's face.

For the first time in a while, he felt the aura of death in that punch. Mark immediately tilted his head, allowing the attack to pass over his right shoulder.

BOOOM!!!

The punch missed, and Heron paused a bit as his fist arm reached its farthest stretch. Nevertheless, an explosion of air created by that punch echoed behind Mark. To think that a single fist would be able to create a sonic boom.

But then, Mark did not falter. Before Heron could pull his arm back, Mark grabbed it and tilted his body backward. He then kicked Heron's right foot that was steeped forward, causing the latter to lose balance. With the other foot, Mark kicked the ground, pulling Heron forward.

Mark did not let go and spun his body, throwing Heron to the ground.

BAM!

The ground cracked as Heron's back hit the ground. He was quite surprised at what Mark did, but before he could react, Mark's punch was already going towards his face.

Heron tried to evade, but his right arm was pinned by Mark using his left arm and foot, both glowing in red.

Without a doubt, while Heron's punch missed, Mark's would hit.

PANG!

However, there was no sound of flesh being hit. Instead, it sounded like someone tried to punch a sheet of metal with his bare fist.

Mark shivered as his hand felt pain. Heron took the opportunity to escape from Mark's grasp and was able to, jumping back for several meters.

Inspecting his bruised hand, Mark winced. Of course, the bruise immediately healed, but the residual pain was still there. He then turned to Heron, whose face became steel colored. It was kind of hard to see in the dark, but the reflection of the moon gave it away.

On the other hand, Heron had a bright smile on his face. It was the first time he was actually thrown in the ground ever since he gained his consciousness. And to him, it felt exhilarating. He had some expectations on his face as he stared at Mark.

"HAHAHAHA! One more time!"

Heron laughed as he caused another explosion of dust and debris with his foot. He, once more, appeared in front of Mark almost instantly. He was unleashing other punch, this time, with his fist turning into steel.

Mark saw the same attack pattern with more overwhelming strength. But would he grab it and also do the same counter? No. That would be stupid. He then took a stance as the fist arrived at his face.

And there, Mark's both hands moved circularly from below, hitting Heron's arm on that angle. Heron's punch was redirected and continued above Mark's head as he lowered his body slightly. Spinning his body, Mark made a foot sweep, hitting both feet of Heron. Mark then stood upright as Heron lost balance and landed his glowing palm to the latter's chest.

With his glowing red palm, he pushed Heron to the ground.

BOOOM!!!

The ground Mark stood on cracked as Heron hit the ground once more.

Heron's body seemed to have metal properties making it invulnerable to attacks from outside. Thus, Mark shifted his attack on rattling his opponent's organs.

"GAHAH!"

Heron groaned as blood spat out from his mouth. Sure enough, Mark's sudden shift in attack style was quite effective. 

But then, Mark felt danger and suddenly pulled his arm away and jumped back.

Mark then felt a searing pain on his palm. When he looked at it, his hand was almost cut in half. There was a wound that went from between his index and middle finger to his wrist that was deep enough to hit his bone.

As Mark let it heal, he frowned. He looked back to Heron that stood up, only to see his body to be covered with bladed spikes.

"This guy..."

Mark was quite surprised. He did not expect it, but Heron had two different abilities that he showed just now.

"Again!"

Heron shouted with glee. He did not mind being thrown to the ground two times. Instead, he was in ecstasy for encountering an opponent worthy for him to show his abilities.

And there, Heron lowered his body and flexed his arm and fingers. And there, claws as sharp as swords grew out of his fingers. And with a leap, those claws came down on Mark.

Mark stepped back, making the claws pass in front of this face to the ground.

SHING!

This time, the stony ground of the quarry did not explode or crack. Instead, Heron's claws passed through it like he was slicing tofu. 

Even the small gravel and stones that the claws passed through were sliced. That showed how sharp these claws were.

As Mark managed to evade, more swipes came after. However, as he saw the sharpness of these claws, blindly blocking or parrying these attacks would be suicidal. While dodging, Mark made a small stick of [Blood Metal] hidden on his hand.

And as Heron made another swipe of his arm, Mark threw the stick of [Blood Metal] towards Heron's claws.

CLANG!

The metallic sound echoed. It made Mark smile, and Heron surprised. The two of them paid attention to the stick of metal that was flung away intact.

Mark then opened his ring and took the [Slicer] and [Divider] out of nowhere.

Seeing that, both Heron and Christia were surprised.

Nevertheless, Heron continued to attack. But now...

CLANG!

Mark blocked both hands with his swords. 

PANG! PANG! PANG!

Metallic sounds echoed at the two exchanged attacks and defense in speeds that could not be seen by the naked eye anymore. Only the metallic sheen on the claws and the swords could be seen as the moonlight reflected on them.

And then, as Heron got used to evading and blocking the swords, a thing that he did not expect to happen caused him to falter.

It was because as Mark swung his sword, it started to stretch out like bladed whips, attacking Heron at different angles.

CLANG! CLANG!

The swords and claws collided, but now, Heron had to pay attention to the blades moving in an irregular pattern, even attacking him from behind.

"HAHAHAHA!"

Heron's laugh echoed as his shirt tore off with large, thick, and sharp scales growing on his back. 

The [Slicer] and the [Divider] made contact with the scales but only ended up making metallic sounds and got bounced back.

"What the hell..."

Mark was getting perplexed by this guy.

[Metal Skin], [Blade Spikes], [Blade Claws], and now, [Metal Scales]. For most people to see this, they might just think that it was just different applications of Heron's seemingly metallic mutation.

However, Mark thought differently.

From what Mark knew, even if one had a whole body mutation, whether it be human or the infected, there would be a resemblance to the appearance of the ability. Nevertheless, texture, sharpness, thickness, and even appearance, none of Heron's abilities that he displayed so far resembled each other.

"Just how many abilities do you have?"

Mark could not help but ask.

"You don't have to ask!" Heron smiled. "Let me show you!"

Heron roared as his body started to change.

And there, Mark felt the pressure in the surroundings suddenly grow. It was the strongest pressure he felt so far from an infected.