Mutagen

Day 367 - 6:21 PM - Mountain Turtle, Kajen, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Nighttime soon came. A few things happened after the survivors heading to Bali climbed the mountain on the giant turtle's back.

Searching the mountain for stragglers of the [Infected] horde proved necessary. Although they had yet to scour the whole back of the giant turtle, they at least managed to clear over fifty [Infected] still lurking on the front half of the mountain. It secured the area where they would set camp from hidden dangers.

However, while everyone was busy on the mountain on the giant turtle's back, there was already quite a commotion below, prompting Aephelia to raise the turtle's body from the ground.

It was because the blood and corpses from the previous battle had already gathered unwanted attention from nearby [Infected] and [Evolved Animals]. It was not surprising that the [Infected] appeared since the group had been encountering them since they started their journey. However, it was different for the [Evolved Animals].

Most animals had already fled due to forest fire caused by the eruption of Mount Muria. It meant that the ones that stayed despite the disaster were [Feral Evolved Animals], which had less survival instinct and were desperate to look for food.

It caused a skirmish between the two groups below the giant turtle.

Of course, Mark and the others took advantage of the situation.

Unless they evolved into poisonous species, even [Feral Evolved Animals] were edible, at least if one was not thinking about the possible diet of these creatures. As for the [Infected] lured to this place, they were killed for materials and [Mutagen Stones].

Unfortunately, the constant fighting between the [Evolved Animals] and the [Infected] caused more and more of them to appear in the area. While it was somehow a welcome sight in this situation, it was still annoying. There was a limit as to how much carcasses the survivors could butcher and meat they could store. As for the [Infected], they were far more unpredictable.

Since the [Infected] could sense a congregation of living people without needing sight and smell, it was possible for them to get lured to the giant turtle, and some of them could try to climb its back.

Thus, while it was early, Mark had to order Aephelia to move the turtle more than a kilometer away from the initial position.

And it was not a comfortable event.

Each step of the turtle would cause the entire mountain on its back to shake as if there was an earthquake. While it was not too strong, it was still akin to riding a vehicle without shock absorbers, going over speed bumps four times a minute.

With the giant turtle as their form of transport, the journey to Bali would be faster and safer. However, traveling at night would surely be a bad idea to go with.

Unfortunately, despite the constant shaking as the giant turtle moved, Luna showed no signs of waking up. It was making everyone worried about her well-being.

On the other hand, Limabela returned from her walk before sunset. She seemed to be not in the best mood, with her eyes a little swollen, and some of her friends noticed and asked her what was wrong. However, Limabela only shook her head, even to her father and younger brother, saying she was okay and the air being too dusty caused her irritated eyes.

Of course, there was no way Limabela's lies would fly over Mark's [Empath] abilities, and she was aware of it. When her eyes matched Mark's gaze, she lightly shook her head, telling him not to say anything.

Mark had no problems with her request. He was not a nosy person to be meddling with someone's problems. If she told him, he would listen. If not, it was also fine.

Besides, Mark also had other things to do.

For example, for now, resting.

Mark's experiment with Amihan seemed to have damaged his body more than he thought. He was currently feeling sluggish and sleepy. It was not because he was still injured. It was because his regenerative abilities did their best, and that was why he was now experiencing such side effects.

But Mark was not just resting. He was also mulling over things while staring at the early evening sky. Specifically, Mark was thinking about the clues Ignis accidentally spoke to Mark after the experiment.

"Rejection and Compatibility..."

Mark murmured.

It was clear that there was a rejection reaction during the experiment. Thinking about the injuries he got, it was more likely that Amihan's magical energy was rejecting Mark's body as it passed through. It was definitely not the other way around since he would not have such injuries if that was the case.

The conjecture was rather hard to finalize. Mark never thought of compatibility issues before he tried it. But as it turned out, Mark might not be compatible with Amihan's magical energy. Or worse, he might not be compatible with wind attribute magic.

In the first place, Mark was only able to use wind manipulation abilities using the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal]. He never had the ability in the first place.

But then, Mark began thinking.

Was Mark compatible with fire and lightning attributes, then?

Although in mutated form, Mark could use black flames and black lightning. Both came from the [Mental Crystals] he consumed. Was he able to consume the crystals and use the abilities because he was compatible? Mark had never felt the sense of rejection from these abilities so far.

Or...

Mark was not compatible, but the crystals themselves made him compatible with these elements.

Would he become compatible with the wind attribute if Mark swallowed the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal]?

As those thoughts entered Mark's mind, he felt tempted to try. Having a new ability would be helpful in many ways. Mark was not really keen on absorbing these crystals. He could still use the abilities inside the [Mental Crystals] as long as he had the [PsyCrystal]. Furthermore, if he consumed more, he would undergo another painful experience.

Worse, he might get a side effect, like his other abilities weakening for some time, or worse, not being able to use them at all.

It was not a good thing to happen in the current circumstances.

Mark would need all the abilities at his disposal when the inevitable happened.

Until they got rid of the most important problems in this country, Mark would refrain from swallowing another crystal.

"I guess... I'll leave it for later," Mark murmured. "But I need to think of another way..."

...to get more strength.

Mark uttered half of his thoughts.

Memories of the events a few days ago flashed in Mark's mind. While Mark was not showing much reaction to it, he was actually quite affected by the existence of that created goddess and the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.

The Deity of Soul Sacrifice was not like The Great One or Gar'Vlam. Gar'Vlam was sealed until recently and was not in his best form, while The Great One was in a soul state when they first faced him. The second encounter with The Great One did not count since it was only a weakened puppet.

On the other hand, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice was a Deity at his full strength. He evaded the pursuit of the [Eyes] without needing the methods others used or experienced. It was not wrong to say that he might even be stronger than Amihan or the Incarnation of Yamata-no-Orochi, considering they were mere soul fragments of the real things.

And then, there was that created goddess, the Night Goddess.

The Night Goddess had already carried divinity before her awakening. She was already a Goddess before her soul was formed by the Deity of Soul Sacrifice's ritual. Mark might have done some tricks to disrupt the ritual, but it did little to lessen the sense of danger Mark felt from her.

At this stage, the Night Goddess would be the strongest enemy they could face so far. Mark was even unsure if Chimetrice could stop her if the ritual was finished perfectly.

Both the Night Goddess and Chimetrice were created for the same goal. It was for a lower being to give birth to a God or, at least, something to contend with them. Nonetheless, the two were created in different ways, but it seemed that they were brought to life by a specific field of ungodly art.

"Alchemy."

Mark uttered.

Chimetrice was a [Chimera] created using a hodgepodge of parts from Divine and Demonic beings. On the other hand, the Night Goddess was clearly a [Homonculus]. While Mark was unclear on the specifics, the things Mei and the others saw before reaching the cathedral were a testament to it. The room filled with experimental chambers...

even the Night Goddess was within an experimental chamber when they saw it.

To create life using some sort of magical or experimental chambers only points Mark to the existence of those folklore beings.

In this case, Chimetrice was quite a failure of a product. He might have been able to contend against Gods, but he was no God. And the Night Goddess was a near-successful product. Unfortunately, her creator, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, was a dolt for letting Mark anywhere near his final ritual.

One should never invite uncertain elements into important events. Even mortal occasions would get ruined by doing so, not to mention an important ritual such as the awakening of a Goddess.

By interfering with that ritual, Mark gave himself and everyone some time to prepare. He was unsure how long will it be, but they, without a doubt, would face the Night Goddess after a while.

But how did Mark interfere with the ritual? Well... As an [Empath] who could channel emotions to others... There would be no better target than an empty slate of a creature. As Mark urged everyone to leave the ritual, the Night Goddess was already forming her soul using the initial sacrifices.

That was when Mark induced two intense emotions into her, making it harder for the Deity of Soul Sacrifice to control her. It was deep-seated anger covered by horrifying fear.

The moment the Night Goddess' soul was enough for her to gain sentience, she immediately woke up due to intense fear that had no source. It caused her to be fearful of everything, even towards her creator.

Once her fear caused her confusion, and when her creator tried to capture her, the Night Goddess' response would be the next emotion she had under. It was that anger that caused her to go berserk after her attempt to flee was hindered.

It was quite a fun sight to see when the flustered Deity of Soul Sacrifice did his best to capture his creation, who had gone berserk for reasons he could not understand. It would not just be a failure to him but also a blow to his confidence.

Unfortunately, no matter how much backtracking the Deity of Soul Sacrifice did, he would never find the error since there was no error aside from the uncertain factor he invited into his ritual due to his arrogance.

Mark spent the night with a lot of thoughts in his head. Of course, he did not fail to monitor the well-being of everyone. The only ones who were causing problems were Limabela, Luna, and Feng Zhiruo.

Luna's problem was pretty obvious. However, through the night, Mark and those sensitive to magical energy felt strange fluctuations coming from her while she was unconscious.

Limabela was also out of it too. But she was keeping her problems to herself, unfortunately.

As for Feng Zhiruo, she spent the whole night training her sword. However, she was having the same feeling of disgust towards the techniques she learned from her sect. It was a confusing problem for her.

Mark thought that he should help with Feng Zhiruo's problems. After all, he was already half a master to her. Unfortunately, even Mark had no clue what was the cause of her disgust.

Hah... Mark sighed as he gazed at the sky outside the tent.

Mark was filled with thoughts that night passed without him noticing.

The morning was a usual routine for everyone. However, there was no need for them to pack up everything, unlike the first two days.

When everyone was ready to go, Aephelia made the giant turtle start its bumpy ride.

But when everyone thought that the shaking would be their only problem from now on...

The scenery from behind showed sudden distortions as fog quickly loomed in.

Another round of the [Overflow] happened, and it quickly plunged everything within its disorientating fog.