Mutagen

The Infected King had fallen. It was, without a doubt, defeated. Nevertheless, the battle did not end there.

Limbless and in pain, the [King Type] repeatedly growled and roared. It squirmed its torso violently in its last attempt of struggle.

Following its roars, however, its people, the infected army, responded rather violently.

Ignoring everything, the [Catapults], the flying army, and the hundred-thousand horde charged towards the direction of their distraught king. They all entered a crazed state.

Charging forward while ignoring everything, yes, everything.

They ignored everything, including the moat that surrounded most of Bay City Settlement.

Roaring and screaming, they all ran like there was no tomorrow.

Since the Infected King was way down south of Bay City, all the infected had to run towards that direction. It caused the immediate fall of the northern horde.

***

The infected army at the north stood in front of the moat south of them. Running south without minding anything was the worst thing they could do. Except for the ones at the northeast corner of the settlement, the rest fell unto the murky waters. While the moat was not too deep, the water was to some extent.

As they continued to traverse the waters, the deeper they sunk into the channel. The Biters immediately turned into slower Eaters due to the lack of air.

The [Catapults] became stuck in the mud and sunk deeper and deeper as they tried to move. While their heads managed to remain over water, their bodies were too heavy. The muddy waters of the reclaimed area would not be able to keep them from sinking further.

Because of the current happening, the defensive forces in the northern walls became confused. Nevertheless, the chance to retaliate without worries finally came.

Captain Dela Rosa, who led the forces on the north wall, shouted on his radio.

"Throw the nets!"

Following his command, the soldiers threw nets unto the murky waters. Of course, these were not fishing nets.

"Captain! The nets are ready!"

The soldiers shouted one by one through the radio.

"Turn it on!"

,m The Captain Commanded.

"Roger! Turning it on!"

CRACKLE!

Following their echoing voices in the radio, the sounds of cracking and sizzling followed.

What they threw were copper nets woven from electrical cables. It was one of the defense measures Bay City had, especially on the northern walls where the moat was lower compared to the other sides.

Unfortunately, they could only use this once the horde entered the waters. With the horde avoiding dropping into the moats before, they were not able to use it. Now, however, it was the time for the nets to shine, literally.

With the electricity equal to a fourth of what Bay City accumulated, the copper nets created an electric field. With sparks here and there, electricity blanketed the waters.

This method might create some mutations, the scientists of Bay City said. It was a highly possible scenario. Nevertheless, with the high voltage of electricity on the nets, frying the infected\'s brains would come first before they mutate.

Soon, the murky waters of Libertad Channel, the water channel on the moat, became covered with floating corpses.

***

With the [Catapults] that stopped their task to throw the infected over the walls, the infected inside the Settlement died out fast enough. The threat inside died down too quickly after the survivors mobbed them to death.

On the Eastern walls of the North District, General Perez immediately acquired information on what was happening. Although it did not look like the infected were retreating, the horde still left their previous positions. There was also the collapse of the building. The people on this side saw that clearly. They wanted to know what was happening so they could adapt their strategies.

Hearing about the situation from Major Lopez himself, General Perez sighed in relief. It looked like that Mark really did subdue the horde. The current situation seemed to have stemmed from the defeat of the horde leader.

"Everyone!"

The General shouted.

"Sir!"

The squad leaders around him lined up and waited for his order.

"The situation is pretty much under control! However, we still need to back up the people that brought us on the verge of victory! The horde is coming their way!" The General raised his assault rifle. "Hear my orders! Fire at will! Reduce the number of the infected outside as much as possible!"

"YES! SIR!"

With that, the relentless shooting of the infected commenced from the walls. Before, they needed to concentrate on reducing the number of the almost invincible [Catapults] and kill the infected that entered the settlement. Now, all they needed to do right now was to kill any infected on their line of sight.

Without the pressure of defending their home, they were finally able to unleash their frustration from the several hours of struggling.

***

Around the Infected King, the flying infected gathered. They were swarming towards their king in an attempt to retrieve him.

FWWWOOOOM!!!

However, the devil clad in black armor and equipped with his flaming cursed sword stood on the way. No, the devil, he was actually stepping on the body of their king.

The flaming sword waved around as the devil danced with his flaming sword. In every swing, an infected or two would fall while burning into flames. Once in awhile, black pebbles could be seen bursting out of the heads of the infected. These black pebbles would then fly towards the devil and would disappear after landing on his right wrist.

Alone, the devil contested against the flying horde, with his body glowing red, especially his eyes.

A fearsome sight it was.

Because his helmet did not cover his mouth at all, anyone would witness the sinister smile on his lips.

Of course, it would not matter to the infected as they all swarmed towards his direction in an attempt to rescue their defeated king.

Unfortunately, the number of flying infected was not enough. Their numbers had already dwindled to two digits with the efforts of Mei, Chaflar, and Aimee.

Swarming towards Mark was a complete suicide to those that remained.

Soon, the last of the flying infected was killed.

Then, the next enemies finally came.

Soon as the flying horde was dealt with, the hundred-thousand horde was running ferociously towards Mark.

But without the ability to fly, what could these infected do?

Mark smiled as he sheathed Flam on his back. He grabbed the infected king by his neck and created an extension from his armor around the neck of the king. He then flew forward the body of the gigantic flying infected and did the same.

As he flew, he saw the soldiers on the wall throwing electric nets over the walls unto the water. Seeing that, he had an idea.

Carrying the two bodies, he flew away. He flew towards the direction of the coast of Manila Bay to the west. Behind him, Chaflar and Mei followed.

And of course, the horde chased after them frantically.

Mark started to attack the [King Type] with his [Blood Whips] inflicting more pain to it. The sounds of the Infected King screaming to its demise was painful to the ears. However, it was what Mark wanted.

As the [King Type] roared louder and louder, the more frantic the infected below became. Even the infected animals and insects in the water started to move. There were fewer of these kinds because of the methods of the military, but they were noticeable.

***

Finally, they reached the waters of Manila Bay. Luring the infected was a time-consuming task and it took more time than the actual battle. The speed of the infected varied and he needed to make sure that most of them were keeping up.

Soon, one by one, the hundred-thousand infected entered the waters as Mark flew just a meter from the surface. The once covered in flames caused the water to sizzle and their bodies started to become stiff.

Mark continued to torture the Infected King which made the horde even more agitated.

When most of the infected fell onto the waters, it was finally time.

Two crystals flew out of Mark\'s wrist and flew around him in circles.

As he waited for all of the infected to enter the waters of the bay, he prepared.

The two crystals glowed. One caused clouds to gather. Another agitated the electric charges in the clouds.

Seeing the sky darkening, Mei, riding on Chaflar behind, already predicted what her Gege was going to do. Once all the infected entered the waters, a storm of lightning would strike them from the sky. She did not predict something, however...

Seeing that the last of the infected stepped on the water, Mark smiled. Mark nodded on Mei and Chaflar and the three flew up to the sky.

Then, Mei noticed that the clouds above started moving. To her surprise, some of the clouds started to fly down and form a visage of a giant old man with a long beard, wearing a robe and was holding a staff. At the same time, lightning started to fall from the sky randomly striking almost everything below. The lightning even started to kill some of the infected under the water.

Mei who did not care about things outside her current family could not help but scratch her head and look at Mark with a bitter smile.

\'At least, Gege is enjoying things this much.\'

She thought.

Lightning then covered the staff of the visage. No one would be able to tell how much voltage of electricity was gathered at that moment but it should be very large to kill all the infected even if they were underwater.

Mark looked at the waters below filled with infected under and muttered.

"Judgement Bolt."

The arms of the old man made of clouds then moved. It threw the staff made of lightning unto the water.

As the staff entered the water of the bay, it exploded causing a huge scatter of lightning and clouds around. The heat generated by lightning started to boil the water in a large area.

The scale of this attack made the defensive measures of the Bay City pale severely.

As the clouds and lightning dissipated, the corpses floating at the bay appeared.

About a hundred thousand corpses floating on the bay was the stuff of horrifying nightmares. Even the scene of corpses floating down the river in a certain alien invasion movie could not be compared to this.

Nevertheless, they were in the apocalypse, seeing them running around in the streets was more horrifying than seeing them floating on the bay and river as corpses.

The most important thing, the horde was eliminated.

Mark and his group could take a break for the rest of the day. They were more than tired for the last two days.

He could also try and interrogate this thing in his hand. Of course, it was not the same as interrogating humans. He doubted that it could understand everything he would ask. Thus, he needed to come up with a way to get the answers from it.

Mark took a deep breath, the glow on his body subsided. As he stopped the circulation of his adrenaline and the activation of his blood, his breathing started to become ragged.

His body was shaking and he ground his teeth.

It was too painful. He exerted too much burden on his body, especially on the move that he used to deal with the giant flying infected he was currently holding.

"Chaflar, can you hold this for me?"

Mark told the dragon and threw the dead flying infected. The dragon caught it with its legs.

With the Infected King that was now gagged with [Blood Metal] on its mouth, Mark plopped down on Chaflar\'s back.

"Gege, are you okay?"

Mei asked worriedly. She remembered the first time in the mall she saw Mark like this.

Mark could already use a large amount of adrenaline in his body without a problem. Yet, it seemed that he still used more than what he could handle. There was also the upgrade in his blood that was not fully tested yet.

[Blood Whips] were then released by Mark which secured the [King Type] on Chaflar\'s back. Mark then sat beside Mei, tired. As the battle was finished, Crimson and Oracle started to turn back to normal.

As soon as the armors were removed, Mark felt a pull on his shoulder. He did not resist and soon, his head fell on Mei\'s soft lap.

While the two rode on the dragon\'s back, Chaflar flew into the settlement.

Seeing the dragon enter, the people below cheered loud. Despite the frightening display, their settlement was saved.

They did not know that the one they were cheering for already fell asleep.