Mutagen

Day 129 - 6:42 PM - Newton Lake, Veteran's Memorial Park, Oaklyn, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

Mark, Chimetrice, and Illia watched the boy float and fade out like a ghost. In an instant, his presence in the surroundings vanished as if he never existed.

The Eye called Ninth finally left.

Although Mark had not vented all of his anger for what happened, in the least, he could relax now.

And as Mark lost all the tension from the events that had just ended, his body felt heavy. His head was throbbing hard, and his body was shivering a bit.

"You alright?" Chimetrice asked. "I know you are angry. Me too, since Illia also got harmed. But, is it worth it to torture yourself like that?"

Hearing those words only made Mark shake his head slightly and shrug.

Mark planned on hiding this fact, but it seemed like Chimetrice noticed.

The new ability he awakened came with a huge setback.

He was able to share the emotions of a target to others in raw form and not just by affecting their minds. That, however, could only be achieved by using his mind as the medium.

In simple words, while he slowly made the enemies suffer while killing them, he was also experiencing the same suffering they had.

Other people would not be able to do this at all, even if they achieved the same realm as an Empath. The fortunate thing was that the pain he felt would not linger for too long before disappearing. Furthermore, he was too enraged to feel it at all.

After all, people tend to forget and not feel many things when they got swallowed by their extreme emotions.

Furthermore...

"Some people say that pain is the best way to remember things. In the future, I will remember that this happened because I hesitated. That way, I won't let history repeat itself."

Mark said as he kneeled down and caressed Mei's head.

"Humans are really complicated," Illia spoke with a complicated expression. "Wait, you two are Demons, right?"

Illia became confused. At first, she did not notice, but when Mark and Mei concealed their wings, they felt no different from humans.

"They are humans with Demon Blood," Chimetrice interjected.

"Ah, I see now." Illia nodded in understanding.

Mark checked Mei's current state. It looked like she was already fine but still needed rest.

"What are your plans?" Mark asked Chimetrice. "If you two don't have anywhere to go, why not go to my place instead?"

Those words were enough for Illia and Chimetrice to understand. Mark was asking for an alliance.

Chimetrice turned to Illia.

"Do we have anywhere to go?"

Illia tapped her chin. She seemed to be unsure.

"We have the group I led with Jude, but I only used them to gather more energy to revive Master. They're useless now since the seal is already broken."

"How about the creator's lair? No, I think it should be called a laboratory by modern standards."

That question from Chimetrice made Illia shake her head.

"A lot of things have changed since five thousand years ago. Even geography included. I don't know where that place is now or if it still exists."

"That's true..." Chimetrice nodded.

There, Chimetrice decided on what they would do first.

"Mark, thank you for the invitation."

"But, you two are not going to join us, right?"

Mark replied.

"We will, but not right now. I don't want to join you and without giving something in return. If I'm correct, it's called leeching off, right?"

"Just your presence is already fine, though."

"That is not enough." Chimetrice shook his head. "If we managed to find my creator's laboratory, we might be able to bring back some good things. Another thing is that I don't feel comfortable with my current face. It feels like I will get unnecessary enemies just because of this face alone."

Hearing that reason, Mark could only nod. If Mark brought Chimetrice with him right now, Felicia and her family would definitely act violently.

"Then, we'll be going," Chimetrice said as he carried Illia flapped his wings.

"Alright, see you two later."

"Take this." Chimetrice made one of his golden feathers float towards Mark. "After we found my creator's laboratory, we'll come looking for you."

And with those words, Chimetrice and Illia flew away towards North.

"They really are in a hurry."

Mark murmured as he saw the silhouettes of the two vanish into the night.

However, it was not a bad thing. It was better to move faster even more. The news that Ninth brought them was not something to joke at. It would dictate the fate of the world.

And now, it was no wonder that Auraboros was being too active now. It was the same for the cultivators.

Although the lower members of these factions were not supposed to know about it, their leaders must have told them to grow stronger.

Now, those that received that order were going everywhere to find their own ways.

Nevertheless, Mark could not help but think of one thing. Why did the observer have a change of heart? He chased away the Gods and did more things so that humans could dominate the planet once more. But with the new rules, the very same humans would get implicated.

Mark sighed. This was not a good time or place to think about it.

As Mark stored the golden feather that Chimetrice left behind, he decided to scour the bloody battlefield to see if he could get something to loot, especially the flying swords that the cultivators had.

But there, Mark realized a troublesome thing.

He was just a single person, but he needed to carry two unconscious girls back.

***

Day 129 - 6:30 PM - Devil's Den, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States of America

The Devil's Den. In the past, it was a historical landmark mentioned in the records of the Battle of Gettysburg. Many tourists would visit this boulder-strewn hill, not only to see its odd appearance but to see the remnants of the past.

This place, however, was not only known for good things. Being a place where soldiers died in the war, it was also known among the most haunted places in the state of Pennsylvania.

In the past, it was just a historical landmark, a tourist spot, and a haunted place. Now, however, another of its mysteries unfolded.

A small fortress now stood at the same hill. It was not just a regular fortress, though, but a strange one. In one look at this fortress, even the densest person would realize that there was something mysterious going on in this place.

Inside its walls, both humans and non-humans inhabited the place.

At this moment, several beams of light fell unto the fortress.

The people in the fortress were surprised and made way for the beams in a calm manner.

As the beams of light landed unto the main square of the fortress, each beam turned into several people and a Thunderbird.

"It's Aurex and Mellice!"

The people around exclaimed.

Without a doubt, this fortress was one of the outposts of Auraboros. Since humans were present in this place, it was the indication that it was a fortress for outer members of the organization.

Aurex, the white-haired man, and Mellice, the red-haired Witch, looked around as they appeared. Seeing that they safely landed inside the fortress, the two slumped on the ground. They were still conscious and could stand up and walk. However, they expended the last of their magical powers, leaving them weakened severely.

"Puff!"

Both Aurex and Mellice vomited blood. It was the backlash of the magic they used to escape.

"Sir Aurex, what happened?!"

A young man hurriedly approached to help Aurex up.

"Don't bother about me. Help our brothers and sisters first."

Aurex shrugged the help of the young man and pointed at the unconscious men and witches that were left of their group.

Since he was commanded to do so, the young man told the others to help their unconscious members.

"My, my, what happened to you two?"

A jeering voice sounded. It came from a blond-haired witch that came out after hearing the commotion.

"Also, where are the other members of your group? Your group was just supposed to scout the unusual activities in Reading City."

"Pew!" Mellice spat out the remaining blood on her mouth. "Agatha, don't annoy us. We almost died after encountering a monster. If you're in our place, I don't think that you will even make it back."

The Witch called Agatha frowned.

"What really happened?"

At that question, both Aurex and Mellice stood up.

"We'll tell you later," Aurex replied. "We need to meet the Chief first and report what happened."

With those words, despite staggering in their steps, Aurex and Mellice entered deeper in the fortress.

As the two left, a Witch about fifteen years old approached Agatha. The young Witch was not walking but was floating while sitting on a basketball-sized crystal ball.

"Eina, can you find out what happened to them?"

Agatha said to the young Witch.

Eina did not reply but only jumped off her crystal ball and wiped her index finger to the blood vomited by Mellice and Aurex. Then, she wiped the blood on the floating crystal ball.

The gallery saw what the two were doing and approached to see what would happen.

And there, horror had struck everyone as they saw everything that happened to the group led by Aurex and Mellice.

However, when Agatha saw Chimetrice's face, she was shocked.

"Jude?"

She murmured as she remembered what happened several years ago. It was when Jude seduced her in Atlantic City. She could still remember how he told her sweet nothings and how he abandoned another woman for her.

Only to be sold to an underground group.

That all happened to her when she was still a regular human.

***

Day 129 - ▋▋:▋▋ ▋▋- ▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋▋

An unknown dimension. It was a place where mortals could not step into.

As for the beings that knew about this place, it was called the Observatory.

It was a place where the Observers dwelled as they observed the world through the Eyes.

At this moment, a robed person whose gender or face could not be confirmed was pacing back and forth in irritation.

Without a doubt, this person was the current Observer of Earth.

The Observer saw everything that happened in front of Ninth.

"It's amazing that Earth is able to produce two God candidates now."

The Observer was quite elated to find Mark and Mei. At these times where the world was facing its end, what the world needed was strong beings that could face this end and try to prevent it.

Thus, new rules were implemented even if it defied the previous rules they had.

After all, all these rules were useless if there was no world to implement it.

What irritated the Observer, however, was that the next wave that would come.

"If that idiot from Melvastea did not mess up with the world he is managing, this would not have happened."

The Observer seethed in anger.

"And now, this universe is on the verge of collapse because of him."

Right now, a lot of habitable planets, not only in this galaxy, but this universe that Earth belonged to was facing a huge calamity. It was a calamity that continued to spread, destroying all lives, and erasing planets from existence.

And now, it was Earth's turn.

The worst thing, however, the Observers that cherished the planets they were managing could not directly interfere. The best that they could do was bend the rules they already had and wish for the best to happen.

Thus, Ninth finding Mark and Mei, was a good thing for the Observer.

The Observer did not care anymore if Mark and Mei would tilt the balance of the world. As long as it was saved, the Observer could compromise.

Still, the Observer could only lament.

After all, both Mark and Mei were still young.

The path to Godhood was not easy to traverse, especially for humans, no matter what kind of blood flowed in their veins.