Mutagen

Day 197 - 3:59 PM - Southern Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Municipality of Infanta, Province of Quezon

The beginning of the fight of Karlene, Karla, and Alana against the five [Mechids] was witnessed by many. Even the soldiers fighting the parasites could not help but put a bit of their attention on the three. The soldiers knew that it could be dangerous for their concentration to stray away from their battle. But given that it was literally raining lasers, they had to retreat further for them not to become accidental casualties.

In fact, some of the lasers came flying towards the line of soldiers, forcing them to hurriedly break formation. It was already lucky that none of them were hit since the distance between the soldiers and the [Mechids] was pretty far away. But if they did not pull back their line of defense, it would be more dangerous for them.

It was not only the soldiers that were faced by the barrage of lasers. Despite their smaller sizes, a lot of the parasites were hit. The smell of burning flesh could be whiffed off from the air due to this.

And to the surprise of the soldiers, the lasers were quite effective against the parasites.

The parasites hit by the lasers had parts of their bodies burnt to a crisp, causing the movements of the parasites to become stiff. Furthermore, the injuries the parasites received did not seem to heal or cause them to multiply further.

It was strange. But looking at the burnt injuries of the parasites, the cause might be the extremely high temperature of the lasers.

"Major, you knew nothing about that?"

Jones Galley asked Major Bautista, seeing the major's appalled expression.

"No. This is the first time I've seen this." Major Bautista replied. "Alana's strength is one thing, but Karlene never even mentioned anything about this even slightly."

"So, they even hid it from you..." Jones said, confused. "But why?"

At that question, Major Bautista could only shake his head slightly. But inside his mind, Mark and the people in his base flashed in his eyes for some reason. They were a mysterious group of people. During the time he stayed there... While he learned many things, he also felt that many things and secrets did not reach his ears at all.

In any case, Major Bautista could only sigh in relief as he saw Karlene and Karla behead the two animal-like [Mechids]. Looking at that, it seemed that they really had the ability to fight against [Mechids].

Nonetheless, his relief was short-lived as the following scenes happened.

***

CLANG! CLANG!

The sounds of metal echoed as the headless bodies of the two animal-like [Mechids] hit and slid on the ground. Their heads were also flung away in different directions.

And for some reason, this made the other three [Mechids] pause, with red glowing lenses on their bodies focused on the three girls.

This exhibit of behavior was completely different from the [Infected]. The [Infected] would not care whatever happened to the members of their horde and continue to attack their prey as much as they could.

The [Mechids], however, paused, seemingly assessing the situation. 

"KKWWRREEAAKK!"

Suddenly, the jellyfish-like [Mechid] released sounds that one would not expect from a robotic creature. It sounded like a roar of a monster and the sound of creaking metal at the same time.

Then, the two humanoids [Mechids] stood in front of the jellyfish-like [Mechid]. The [Mechid] with the long blade in the foremost and the other with lasers in the middle.

At the same moment, the jellyfish-like [Mechid] made a tumble backward. Now, it was exposing the underbelly of its rounded body, facing Alana's group. Parts of the [Mechid]'s underbelly moved, opening as if it was a blooming flower. And to everyone's shock, the [Mechid]'s underbelly had a bigger laser inside its body. The parts that opened up also seemed to have glass-like parts, and it all started to glow, together with the barrel of the laser.

It was the first time they fought a group of [Mechids], but as how it looked like, [Mechids] were also different from the [Infected] in group battles. The [Mechids] appeared to be able to utilize formations and strategies to some extent. It was something that could not be denied at this point.

But as if the three [Mechids] in formation was not enough...

SPLAT! SPLAT!

The sounds of dripping sticky fluid splattering on the ground were heard together with metallic clanking sounds.

Alana's group hurriedly turned behind them and saw the headless bodies of the animal-like [Mechids] slowly standing up. Black, foul-smelling liquid dripped from their necks like oil. But, of course, it could be anything but oil, considering how it smelled like rotting flesh. There were also the neatly cut wires protruding from the [Mechids'] necks, releasing sparks of electricity every now and then.

But the point here was that the [Mechids] would not die just by decapitating their heads like how the [Infected] should be dealt with.

Nonetheless, it was not like decapitating their heads did not have any effect. While it was still a mystery how [Mechids] could still move and fight without their heads, their sight still relied primarily on their [Ocular Sensors] installed where their eyes should be. With those sensors missing, their senses, especially sight, were impaired to some extent. It could be seen how the animal-like [Mechids] were moving slower than before, seemingly having a harder time sensing their surroundings.

"Seems like Mark's right," Karlene said, seeing the headless [Mechids]. "We really need to destroy their processors or the core of their AI if we want to kill them. But how can we know how to do it or where to hit?"

Karlene remembered the few days Mark allowed them to train to fight the [Mechid] he caught. He gave them some of his ideas to fight the [Mechids. That was also the time Mark gave the alias [Gemini] to Karlene and Karla. He was a bit annoyed, though. In the middle of training, Karlene cut off that [Mechid]'s blade arm.

Mark liked his new toys. So, he was annoyed that the [Mechid] he caught got damaged. In the least, they knew that Karlene and Karla's claws could slice through the bodies.

"Killing them comes later," Alana replied. "That thing on the back is doing something suspicious. We need to deal with that first."

The two humanoid [Mechids] were protecting the jellyfish-like [Mechid] behind them as it transformed. There was no doubt that the [Mechids] now saw Alana's group as threats and were preparing for a stronger dangerous-looking attack.

"Ignore the headless two. I'll take care of the one with the lasers on its shoulders. You two take care of the other two in front."

Alana said.

"Okay!"

Karlene replied while Karla nodded in understanding.

As they replied, the two headless [Mechids] jumped in their direction. The two sure could still sense them despite not having their heads anymore.

However, the two injured [Mechids] missed as the three girls already charged forwards.

With Alana being the fastest among the three, she arrived first in front of the [Mechid] with the long blade. The [Mechid] swiftly slashed towards her. Unfortunately for the slash received no feedback as Alana avoided the attack and ran past through it.

And that was the worst timing for the long-bladed [Mechid]. With its attack missing Alana, it was open to any incoming attack. That was when Karla arrived in front of its already swung arm. The [Mechid] tried to retract its arm as fast as it could. However, Karla pushed its arm further with a bash of the armor on her right arm.

SHING!

Karla's pitch-black claws flashed. The next thing that everyone saw was the long-bladed [Mechid's] head slashed off and falling to the ground.

But knowing that the [Mechid] would not just die from being beheaded, Karla swung her claws a few more times, leaving after-images of her claws at every swing.

And leaving a kick as her last gift as she retreated, the [Mechids] body was sliced to pieces, splattering the black liquid around the bits and pieces of its body.

Karla retreated immediately. It was because another rain of laser was coming in her direction.

In front, Alana was already locked in battle with the laser-mounted [Mechid]. The rain of lasers was the result of the [Mechid] trying to shoot Alana and missing miserably.

Although it was missing, there was no doubt that every shot of the [Mechid's] laser was accurate. However, Alana was moving too fast that she was able to avoid the lasers before any of them hit her.

In a moment, Alana was dodging the lasers. In the next, she already stood in front of the [Mechid]. However, that was not all. Although it could not be seen because her arms were covered by her clothing, veins of red light were glowing through her arms.

It was the racial ability of [Blood Demons], capable of either buffing either their strength, defense, or speed. Hers, however, could only increase her strength and defense. Alana was one of the descendants of [Blood Demons] since the start. She was one of the two that naturally awakened during the birth of the [Night Everred Spirit Tree], with Emi being the other one. It was also not the first time she used this ability, but it was definitely the first time she used it outside the activities of Mark's base.

And with Alana's buffed strength and her new speed, Alana grabbed the laser guns mounted on the [Mechid]'s shoulder and tore them off the poor robot. She quickly threw the lasers away and clenched her gauntlet-covered fists tightly.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

In an instant, several punches were unleashed at an inhuman speed. At every punch, a mark of a fist was left on the [Mechid's] body. The damage in every punch did not seem fatal, considering. It was no surprise, regarding [Mechids] could be barely damaged by small explosions and needed high explosives to kill.

But with each punch stacked one after another, the damage and dents on the [Mechid's] body accumulated fast. Soon, the rotten black liquid was already spurting out its joints and gaps of its metal places as its body dented and broke from Alana's punches.

And lastly, the jellyfish-like [Mechid], which Karlene chose to face.

Unlike the two humanoids [Mechids], the last one was in a completely immobile state. Its body was glowing as if it was absorbing energy from somewhere. The glass parts of its body seemed to represent something like solar panels, which might explain why it appeared to be facing the afternoon sun.

But without anything else to protect it, this state it was in was fatal. Karlene was already charging towards it with her claws ready to dismantle it to pieces.

Nonetheless, the smart [Mechid] knew that it could not continue charging its energy any longer. It moved, directing the energy it gathered into the barrel. The [Mechid] decided to fire its weapon earlier than it was supposed to, but it should be enough to kill the enemy in front of it.

The [Mechid] aimed the barrel at Karlene. It was glowing, close to firing. But even if it had an advanced AI, it seemed that its reaction was delayed due to mispredicting the situation. Although it was ready to fire, Karlene's claw was already an inch away from its body.

SHING!

Karlene's claw reached the [Mechid] first. It was unable to fire its weapon as she slashed the [Mechid] in half.

A smile crept up Karlene's face as she sliced through the [Mechid's] body, avoiding the seemingly dangerous attack from happening.

But then...

"WATCH OUT!"

Alana's frantic shout entered Karlene's ear.

That was when Karlene realized that the [Mechid] she sliced began to glow intensely.

BOOM!

The intense surge of light bloomed, covering an area about ten meters in radius instantly. It was as if the sun suddenly bloomed in that particular area.

Everyone was blinded by the sudden surge of light. Not only the humans were affected. It seemed worse for the parasites, which all appeared to start squirming like earthworms showered in salt.

The explosion of light spread further, making everyone feel the surge of heat enveloping them.

"KARLENE!"

Major Bautista exclaimed, worried for his daughter's safety. Even the major was deprived of sight, but he began feeling his surroundings and hurriedly made his way down the watchtower.