Mutagen

Day 143 - 8:10 PM - The Ice Cube, Arctic Depths

Replenishing some of the energy he used up to reach this place, Chimetrice led Illia to enter the door that led to the interior of [The Ice Cube].

Approaching the door, the two could not help but raise their heads and look upward. There was a feeling of nostalgia in their eyes. After all, even though it might be less time in their sense of time, it was still several thousand years since they been here. However, it was not the only reason. It was because the door was gigantic.

In front of them was a seven-meter tall double door that was five meters wide and had a thickness of half a meter. Not to mention that it was made of metal several times harder than titanium. Its weight was unfathomable that this pair of doors alone would make anyone question as to how this place was kept afloat. It was such a door that even most Deities could not force open. And due to that, it did not even need any kind of lock to keep it in place.

Because it was such a kind of door, a piece of machinery that could open it automatically did not exist. Back in the days, there was a pair of golems that stood guard in front of this door. The two were tasked to specifically open these doors to its owners and invited visitors. There were two golems not because of aesthetics. It was because these two doors would not move unless both were pushed at the same time.

And to say, just those two golems were quite a topic of envy due to the fact that while those two were not flexible in other aspects, their raw strength was on par with Higher Deities. Imagine how that kind of monstrous power was just being used to open and close these doors.

Now, however, no signs of the two golems could be seen. Who knows what happened to them. Even so, it was questionable that the two golems were destroyed as there was no sign of previous battles were present at the entrance.

"I'm opening it."

Chimetrice spoke as he placed his palms on the doors.

Forcing all the physical strength in his body, Chimetrice groaned as he pushed the doors open. He might struggle to open these doors, but an anti-god weapon like him would not be stopped by it.

Nevertheless, it took a large amount of effort to open the doors. Chimetrice only needed to make an opening enough for him and Illia to slip through. Even so, it took him twenty minutes of continuous pushing to create enough gap between the doors.

As the gap between the doors was created, they could feel the air was colder inside for some reason. Even so, the freezing temperature did not deter them as Chimetrice enveloped himself and Illia with a protective aura.

Finally, they managed to enter the door. And to say, Chimetrice and Illia were surprised.

The whole place was...

Wrecked.

It was unexpected, considering there was no sign of fighting outside the doors. Furthermore, the doors were closed. Which enemy would close a door after wrecking the whole place, anyway?

Nevertheless, looking at the well preserved dead bodies lying everywhere, the conflict came from inside the laboratory.

The dead bodies did not belong to any human, Deity, or God. It was monsters that were unfathomable to people of both the past and the present.

Chimetrice and Illia walked along the corridors dimly lit by phosphorus lights. While moving, they could not help but look at the preserved bodies.

Near the door, there was a feline covered in metal scales. Its back was deeply dented, which might have caused its death.

Not far from it, they saw the body of a large bird with gills. It was kind of hard to deduce what bird it was as its head already turned into meat paste with its beak lying in front of it.

Another scene was a nine-meter-long snake with a body as thick as a human. However, instead of scales, it had wire-like fur covering its body. Its body was coiled unto another monster with an appearance that was hard to explain.

It could be a bear with a turtle shell or a turtle with a bear's head and limbs. The fur-covered snake coiled around it, crushing its turtle shell causing its death. It killed the snake, though, as its fangs were still deeply rooted at the snake's neck.

The abominations did not end there. While Chimetrice and Illia continued deep into the laboratory and passed by empty rooms with broken glass chambers, they saw more and more dead bodies.

One was a cobra with a plant-like body.

Another was a scorpion with bat wings.

Next was a dragonfly with pincers.

And there was also a big green caterpillar with hundred legs of a beetle.

There was a large variety, and all of them were of monstrous size.

The smallest one they saw so far was a crystal pillbug that was about the size of a basketball.

"The Creator had a lot of fun after we're gone, didn't he?"

Chimetrice said as he walked under the frozen body of an octopus-legged lizard that was stuck on the ceiling.

"To create all these things. The Creator must have planned something."

Illia replied with a frown.

"That's right. That man is always scheming something. These creatures might just be a preparation for a huge plan. Unfortunately, it seemed something happened for each and every single one of these creatures to be dead and outside their chambers."

Going through the freezing corridors, they continued. The goal of this journey was the core area of [The Ice Cube]. It was the place of birth for both Chimetrice and possibly, all these dead monsters.

As they continued, the dead bodies did not decrease at all. In fact, it increased further, making it harder to wave through the dead bodies.

"Master, looks like the cold is coming from that chamber."

Illia said as she pointed at an open room.

The two peeked into the room. And there, Chimetrice and Illia saw the cause of this freezing temperature.

Unexpectedly, the impregnable walls of [The Ice Cube] was broken through by who knows what. There was a huge gap in the wall. Fortunately, the whole fortress was still covered with a barrier, and the seawater did not enter. However, also because of that, a thick sheet of ice covered the gap. It was causing this freezing temperature inside the laboratory.

Just what in the world was able to punch through this wall? Even Deities and Lower Gods would not be able to make a hole like this easily.

This hole in the wall might also be the reason why Chimetrice encountered a lot of monsters while looking for this place. All of those monsters might either be those that managed to survive or their descendants.

"We can't do anything about that right now." Chimetrice said. "Let's go."

The two then continued, changing floors and moving towards the core of the structure. [The Ice Cube] was not too large. However, its corridors were designed to be a maze filled with experimental chambers making the travel take too long. Furthermore, a lot of things in [The Ice Cube] changed from what they remembered, making it harder to find the core room.

The way to the core was quite uneventful. Everything inside the laboratory was dead, after all.

And soon, they reached the core of the laboratory and was about to enter its broken down metal doors.

At the door, however, they finally saw where the two golems that were supposed to be at the entrance.

The two golems lay near the center of the core room, smashed into pieces.

Not only the golems but a lot of apparatus in the core room were destroyed.

And there, Chimetrice and Illia's attention became focused on something.

The Creator's old body dangled on the wall with a metal spike embedded in his heart.

Chimetrice and Illia finally entered the core room, wanting to investigate what in the world happened here.

But then...

WHIRL!!!

Whirling sounds echoed as if a machine was suddenly powered up. The dim core room was suddenly lit up, along with the remaining apparatus inside.

Both Chimetrice and Illia were surprised by the sudden event. The two of them readied their battle stance, waiting for any possible threat.

It was when several beams of light were shot in the middle of the core room, converging into an image.

That image, however, made Chimetrice frown and made Illia shocked.

"I never thought that you will come back here, Chimetrice. It seemed that you were properly able to recreate your body after thousands of years."

The voice of an old man echoed into their ears, as the lights converged into an image of a person.

Of course, the image was no other than The Creator, the master of [The Ice Cube] and the maker of Chimetrice and the monsters in this place.

"It seems you're consciousness is still alive, Creator."

Chimetrice spoke with a cold tone.

"Hahaha," The Creator laughed. "Alive? No, unfortunately. The true body died and his soul was eaten by his last creation. As for me, I'm nothing but a piece of consciousness. You can consider me as an imprint. Of course, the true body is not powerful enough to create one so he combined the power of magic and technology to create me."

The Creator explained as he floated towards Chimetrice and Illia. That, however, caused the two to raise their guard.

"You two don't have to be on guard. I can't do anything but speak. And even though I'm created by him and was a piece of his consciousness, I'm different from the true body."

The Creator, no, The Creator's Imprint, explained further. Of course, the two still did not let down their guard.

"I guess I can't blame your suspicions." The image turned around and floated back to the center of the room. "I won't tell you two to relax. Even so, I will answer your questions if you have any."

With those words, Chimetrice and Illia also walked to the center of the room.

Of course, the two could not help but look around, estimating the extent of destruction in this place.

Finally, Illia could not hold it any longer.

"Just what happened to this place?"

She asked, turning to the projection.

The old man then smiled and replied.

"It's a long story which spanned several years. And whether you two believe it or not, it had something to do with the two of you."

Those words took the attention of Chimetrice.

Seeing that Chimetrice was now listening, the imprint continued.

"You two should know the true body's ambition, right?"

"To create a godly being that can contend against gods. Fame and riches did not matter to him as long as he could create the ultimate being."

Chimetrice replied.

"You are correct," The old man nodded. "And you are his first successful creation that should have fulfilled his ambition. A chimera based off an arch angel, composed with bodies of divine and mystical creatures. A body resilent and almost indestructible, together with a soul that could not be vanquished. Not even by the gods in that era."

Chimetrice closed his eyes. Everything that the projection said was true. Although he was defeated, he could not be killed. And thus, they sealed him with a powerful curse.

"However, there was a problem with you," And then the old man continued. "At first, you were an obedient child, following his orders. Nothing but a puppet. However, you slowly gained awareness because of her."

The projection then turned to Illia.

"Soon, you started to disobey his orders. Fortunately, you were sealed before you start to rebel."

And at this point, the projection turned his head away, looking at the empty air in front of him.

At the same time, a broken projection similar to a screen started to play a fuzzy recording.

"Chimetrice, you being sealed and gaining awareness drove him to create another one."

Then, the image of a creature flashed on the screen.

"Unlike you, however, that was modeled from an Archangel..."

"The second one is of an Archdevil."