Mutagen

Day 319 - 10:23 AM - Toyosu Roku-chome Park, Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo

The alarms continued to ring. The gunshots and screams had yet to end either.

Today's sudden attack from the western side of the Reclaimed City was not exactly the first. There were times when a flock or two of hungry [Mutated Birds] would swoop down to try and prey on humans. Most of the time, there would be no casualties. It was due to the Defense Forces always being on patrol. There was no need to mention the presence groups of [Ability Holders] living in different areas of the Reclaimed City.

Of course, there were times when deaths could not be avoided.

But, even so, today's attack was different from the past attacks from the sky that the Reclaimed City had faced.

The giant hornets arrived even before the first alarm began its first repeat. It was not like the emergency alarm was late. It was the hornets that were fast. As such, everyone was caught off guard.

However, not as much blood was spilled as one would think despite the chaos that could be seen.

Why?

The hornets' primary goal was not to commit slaughter. Their goal was to hunt live prey and bring them back to their colony alive. The screams that could be heard were people being swarmed by multiple bees, immobilized, and dragged to the sky without getting killed.

Unfortunately, it did not mean that they were not killing people.

If one was to observe closely, the hornets were divided into two tasks. One portion was to capture prey, while the rest attacked threats to the hunt.

And, right now, those attackers were swarming towards the Toyosu Roku-chome Park.

The park that Mark chose to be the stage of their sudden show.

Wait... A stage? A show?

It was something that Mark would not likely do. However, he was doing such at this moment.

The park was just a block away from the Registration and Management Bureau. And right at the north and east sides of the park were high-security buildings where the most powerful people of the Reclaimed City resided.

These large buildings were almost impenetrable by the hornets due to the railings fit on the balconies and windows. The most important rooms even had bulletproof components. As such, people inside these buildings could safely watch the situation outside while hiding.

And most of them were watching the park at this moment. Specifically, the unfamiliar group, fearlessly fighting the swarm of hornets pouring unto them.

"You two okay?"

Spera asked the uncomfortable couple behind her.

Of course, Mark and Mei were the most uncomfortable in this arrangement.

Mei was always the center of unwanted attention wherever she went. On the other hand, Mark did not want to be the center of anyone's attention. And while Mei felt uncomfortable due to her past and personality, Mark could literally feel the stares stabbing at his back due to his abilities.

This whole attention thing was Mark's plan. However, it was not like he was fond of the idea. However, it was the fastest method to reach their current goals.

"We're fine," Mark replied, with Mei's nod as confirmation. "Just focus on the enemies. These hornets don't plan to capture us like the others. The hornets already see us as a threat, so they will clearly try to eliminate us."

Mark was not wrong with his words. The army, those [Ability Holders] that fought back, and even those civilians that tried to retaliate was marked as dangerous and for elimination. In fact, all the casualties that had already occurred were all those who fought the hornets instead of fleeing.

These hornets were smart. They would not take the risk of bringing a dangerous factor into their nest. And by killing those that they deemed to be a threat to their prospect hunting grounds, they might be able to hunt more in the future.

Mark shook his head. He also focused his mind on eliminating the enemies to reduce the uncomfortable feeling.

Running within the formation, Mark gripped his weapons tightly. Just like during the examination, Mark held two blades of different lengths. The longer one was for attacking, while the shorter blade was for support and defense.

But unlike Mark's previous weapons, the blades on his hand looked different. Instead of the blade part being one whole piece of sharpened metal, it actually had layers. Furthermore, the blades were a bit thicker than usual, as if it was stuffed with something inside.

And that was right. The entirety of these weapons contained things inside them. To be specific, these weapons were filled with magic circuits, alien tech, and even lost tech.

These weapons were the results of Mark's experiments for the past month or so. It was what Mark called [Abyss Weapons]. He did not give that name because these weapons were black-colored, evil, or born from darkness. It was because looking at the weapon's insides would likely make one feel like they would be sucked into an incomprehensible blackhole since its components were far from modern people's technological knowledge.

With [Blood Metal] as base and coating, the [Abyss Weapons] contained the same [Magic Symbols] from the lost era. Its layers were composed of [Alien Metal] from the [Mechids]. And lastly, its circuitry was created following the technological level of the destroyed planet of Eriellis.

No regular human would be able to comprehend those things easily. Even if one of these weapons fell into the hands of a scientist on Earth, he would take years to study just a small part of it.

While Mark ran around, he turned his head as a hornet flew near him. He gripped his longer blade, the [AT-Divicer], causing its blade to emit an extremely hot whitish glow. And with the glow leaving a trail of white light through the hornet's body, it was bisected without resistance.

If one studied the [Mechids] closely, the white glow of the [AT-Divicer] would be familiar. It was because the same glow could be seen on the weapons of [Mechids] that wielded blades. It was not a heated blade but a substance divider. Although it only worked effectively on certain materials, the flesh and skin of [Mutated Hornets] were among those.

The hornet that Mark bisected was suddenly flung away before the two separate parts could plop on the ground. Mark kicked the bisected hornet away since it would be harder to move around if the vicinity of the formation was littered with sticky insect corpses and blood.

Mark's eyes fell on Spera. She was doing well despite having her combat training pretty late. As Mark had observed before, Spera was a defensive fighter. It was not like she had to wield a shield and wear heavy armor. Her fighting skills just revolved more around dodging and counterattacking.

Spera was a genius, as Mark had said in the past. Her talent with the concept of space far exceeded the original owner of her [Psycast Ability] to open portals. However, it did not actually end there.

The combat ability that Spera had was not exceptional in one look. Even if her leg speed and running stamina were enhanced by becoming an [Evolver], her speed was just enough to run around and avoid danger. Her physical strength was also pretty mediocre due to her small physique despite her age.

However, Spera's reflexes were quite above average, especially now that she was properly trained. And most of all, her spatial awareness was outstanding.

Spera could instantly deduce the length of attacks and avoid them with minimal distance necessary. And due to minimal movements of her dodges, she could easily opt for counterattacks from most angles.

And a good showcase of Spera's ability had just arrived.

Another hornet swooped down to Spera with its stinger pointed at her face. The hornet swooped pretty fast, but Spera twisted her body a little to the right, allowing the poor hornet to pass over her shoulder. It was a good dodge with minimal movements. But then, using the twist she made to dodge, she pulled back her body, with the sword in her hand getting pulled from below.

Before the hornet could pass through and enter the formation to Mark's position, Spera's sword was swung upward, and the hornet was sliced through vertically from below. It was a beautiful counterattack, especially with her sword leaving that trail of white light, similar to Mark's blades.

Following Spera's attack, Mark appeared not far behind her, kicking away the hornet she had just killed.

Spera's short sword, the [AT-Night Blossom], also had the same capabilities as Mark's blades. Furthermore, it had a few other functions she could utilize if she had to. However, it looked like her current combat abilities were enough for her to stand in her position without needing to use those functions.

Aside from these blades, Abbygale's current pair of shoes, the [AT-Burst Shift], were also a product of Mark's development. Although Abbygale was already a [Psychic] who could utilize barriers at footholds, it did not stop Mark from giving her more options for maneuvering both on the ground and mid-air.

Using the [Mechid's] thruster technology present on those [Hover Types], Mark created a pair of shoes that could let out bursts of energy from under and behind, making it move like a rocket. Not only could it shift Abbygale's body mid-air, but it could supplement more strength to her kicks when utilized.

But how much strength?

Abbygale's regular kick, strengthened by her shoes' burst, could likely topple a military transport truck. If she was transformed and using the [Blood Enhancement], the racial ability of [Blood Demons], she could likely even kick the whole thing rolling several meters.

Of course, kicking a truck like that would give Abbygale muscle pains, but the shoes should be able to withstand an impact stronger than that.

The next one was Miracle's gloves, the [AT-Wrecker]. In this past month, Abbygale also developed. The mid-range attacks she exhibited during the combat examination, for example.

Miracle's body was not normal as a [Blood Child]. She might have a humanoid body, but she could deform and reform her shape at will. And that attack similar to [Rubber Rubber Pistol] was one of the fruits of her training. Of course, it was still different. Miracle's body was not rubbery like a certain Wanted Pirate. Instead of using elasticity, it was her raw strength that she was using to propel her punches and allow her arms to extend forward.

And to complement her new attack, Mark gave her the gloves that would not only enhance the impact of her punches but would be able to withstand her strength without breaking.

Next were Mei's and Iola's guns. Iola had a pair of strange pistols, the [AT-Flame Bloom] and the [AT-Lightning Bloom]. On the other hand, Mei had the modified [Shooting Moon Blade], which was now remodeled and renamed the [AT-Etherbloom].

The two pistols were created with the same capabilities as Mei's transformable sniper greatsword. Both could be transformed into daggers and could shoot magically enhanced bullets. And just by their names, it was clear what magical enhancement the pistols could give.

As for Mei's sniper greatsword, Mark did not hesitate to take advantage to study and remodel the weapon this past month. Furthermore, he remodeled it to Mei's liking. While its previous white color was nice, it was not good as a coloring for a sniper rifle that was more effective when being stealthy. After all, the white color could be seen even in the darkness of the night.

Of course, that was not all for the three guns, as all of them had a third mode that they would not utilize for now.

Mark also applied his current tech to their current armor. Unfortunately, Mark asked everyone to turn their armor off for this event as it was unnecessary.

As for Amihan and Emika, the two did not necessarily need weapons since their main attacks came from their abilities. As such, Mark only gave them new armor and uniform despite their protests.

Furthermore, a month was not enough for everything. It was already good that Mark managed to finish the current weapons and armor. He did have more time to make another for the two that they would not likely use. Fortunately, they were not hard to pacify, although Mark promised to give them something next time.

And right now, their weapons brightly shined, literally. After all, with all the waves of their swords and shots of their guns, a trail of white glow was always left behind, which was even more emphasized by their night-like color.