Mutagen

The location of the Mountain Base was surely hard to reach. It was in the middle of the mountains, after all. Dangers was also in every corner.

But with enough preparations, supplies, and personnel, it was one of the better locations to settle in during the apocalypse. Of course, it was not the best. It was only because of the abilities of those that settled in this place. Or else, it might have been wiped out with the arrival of [Mechids] from space. If not, the dimensions fused together could have caused its destruction.

Very much most of the remaining settlements in the world.

Although at this time, the peace that the Mountain Base had for a while was finally disturbed.

"Quick! Inform Master!"

One of the [Tikbalangs] cried out as a presence suddenly entered their [Illusion Magic] around the base.

Usually, the [Tikbalangs] would not panic upon detecting the presence of an intruder. After all, the [Illusion Magic] they cast around the base would cause intruders to be lost inside the forest that it covered. However, not every single creature could be caught by the illusion.

For example, the [Mechids]. The [Illusion Magic] of the [Tikbalangs] directly affect the minds of the victims, fogging their eyes and distorting their sense of direction. However, the [Mechids] did not have an organic brain that the [Illusion Magic] could affect.

But it was not only [Mechids] who were unaffected to the [Illusion Magic].

There were others. One kind of those unaffected creatures was, of course...

People of the same race as the user of the [Illusion Magic].

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The sound of alarm sounded from the eastern area of the base. And as rehearsed, the workers immediately made their way back inside the inner walls.

However...

The intruders this time were not just some [Infected].

"AHHH!"

One of the workers screamed as he saw several humanoid figures rushing towards him. With the upper bodies of a human, horse heads, and lower bodies, the intruders were definitely [Tikbalangs], [Infected Tikabalangs], indicated by the open flesh wounds all over their bodies.

Infected they might be, they were still among the infamous race when they were still alive. All of these [Infected Tikbalangs] still ran too fast. Regular people, and even most [Mutators], had no way of outrunning the group.

Even if the alarms were sounded early and the workers immediately retreated, it was not enough. The [Infected Tikbalangs] already caught up to the workers lagging behind.

Of course, the workers could not help but feel afraid. Even though they experienced fighting the [Infected] while gathering supplies in Pennsylvania, none of them moved as fast as the [Infected Tikbalangs]. All the workers could see was the vague shape of the intruders because of their speed.

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, the ground shook. A wall rock rose from the soil, blocking the way of the leading [Infected Tikbalangs].

BAM!

Three of the intruders slammed onto the walls. Living [Tikbalangs] would not make this kind of mistake. They were used to their unparalleled speed and would not have any problem avoiding the wall. The brainless [Infected], however, could not. As they slammed onto the wall, the force caused the three multiple injuries, even disfiguring their horse heads.

But it was not enough to kill them. Furthermore, there were more than just three.

"Quick! Retreat!"

Louis shouted towards the workers as he created more walls of stone to block the enemies. Luckily, he was working on the walls on the northeast side of the base. He managed to quickly respond to the threat.

With Louis present, however, the [Infected Tikbalangs] shifted their target to him. It was no news that the [Infected] were more attracted to beings with [Magical Energy].

Still, it was the better scenario. Most of the workers had no way of defending themselves against these extremely fast enemies. Louis could at least slow them down, even if his speed also had no match against them.

WHOOSH!

A shadow moved past Louis, rushing towards the closest [Infected Tikbalang].

SLASH!

The shadow swiped her hand, her long claws slashed towards the neck of the enemy.

NEIGH!!!

Unfortunately, unlike those of humans, the neck of [Tikbalangs] was much larger. The [Infected Tikbalang] with its wounded throat tried to attack the shadow with a loud neigh. It moved its head, trying to use its long neck as a blunt weapon, splattering its blood around it.

"Tsk!"

The shadow retreated immediately, clicking her tongue in annoyance. Her identity was no one else but Felicia, the feline [Mutator] with a pitiful past. She was currently in her cat form, giving her enough speed to match the [Infected Tikbalangs].

BAM!

"Felicia! Are you okay?!"

Louis shouted as he hurled a basketball-sized stone towards the [Infected Tikbalang] that attacked Felicia. Using its head as a weapon while heavily wounded caused the [Infected Tikbalang] to stagger. The stone smashed unto the head of its target. The [Infected Tikbalang]\'s head exploded from the impact. Its headless body fell to the ground.

But the battle was not over yet.

"I\'m fine!" Felicia shouted as she retreated. "I\'m just surprised my claws weren\'t able to cut off its head."

"You two should concentrate on fighting first."

A voice entered the ears of the two as another shadow joined them.

"Roan!"

Felicia exclaimed as she saw her older brother arrived.

"Don\'t space out!" Roan shouted. "The intruders are fast!"

Roan shouted since the remaining [Infected Tikbalangs] already managed to go around the walls that Louis made.

Louis immediately retreated to the back while Felicia and Roan took the front. They were showing good coordination and understanding of each other\'s abilities.

SLASH!

Roan rushed forward to lead the battle. Unexpectedly, unlike Felicia, his claw swiped through the thick neck of his target. This was the difference in the strength of the two, considering that Roan was a [Level 3 Mutator].

"Damn it... their necks are tough!"

Roan exclaimed as he avoided an incoming attack. While he did manage to kill one in one swipe of his claws, it seemed that he had to exert a good amount of strength to do so.

By the looks of the situation, Felicia\'s attack before did not work not only because the necks of the [Infected Tikbalangs] were thick, but their bodies were also toughened when they turned.

As for Felicia, since attacking the neck did not work for her, she changed her attack method. Instead of beheading the enemies, she aimed to pierce their heads. It was more dangerous, however, as she had to attack a specific spot. It was far different than aiming for the more obvious parts of the enemy\'s body.

Around Louis, several pointed stones floated. Unfortunately, attacking the fast-moving [Infected Tikbalangs] by hurling stones was hard. Louis had no way of aiming for the heads, and most of his attacks were missing.

Even so, the attacks from Louis served as a good distraction for the enemies. It allowed Roan and Felicia have more openings to attack.

***

Above the east side of the inner walls, several people were watching the situation.

"You have good people here," Chimetrice spoke to Mark, who stood beside him. "They have good coordination."

"I know. I handpicked them." Mark replied. "But just the three of them won\'t be enough."

That was true. The three managed to kill a few already, but it was quite a sizable horde of [Infected Tikbalangs].

How many were there?

With five dead, there were still twenty-two remaining, trying to attack the three people. And there, from the forest, a few more were coming, shambling with their heavily injured bodies.

"We should move already."

Mark suggested as he was about to jump off the wall.

"Wait." Chimetrice stopped Mark, making him look back. "Leave this to me."

"You sure?"

Mark asked.

"No problems." Chimetrice nodded. "I know that the people here have accepted us to some extent, but I want to show my worth."

"If you say so."

Mark agreed.

And there, Chimetrice took off his shirt, revealing his heavily sculpted body. His wings then spread out, surprising the people around, aside from Mark and Mei, who had seen it before.

Soaring fast from the walls, Chimetrice landed in front of the trio, surprising them.

"Hah..." Ilia sighed. "I already told Master that he doesn\'t need to prove himself to humans. Yet, he still did it."

"It might not seem necessary to you, but it\'s a must for him since he\'s not a socialite like you. He needs something as a leverage people to treat him that he belongs with them."

Mark replied.

Illia fell silent. Maybe it was something she overlooked even though she had nothing but Chimetrice in her eyes.

***

In the middle of the battle...

"Who?!"

Roan exclaimed as someone landed in front of them without warning. Those wings were not familiar to them, after all.

"It\'s me."

Chimetrice turned his head.

"Watch out!"

Louis shouted. The moment Chimetrice turned to Roan, a pair of the [Infected Tikbalangs] was already in front of him to attack.

But to their surprise, without even looking, Chimetrice grabbed the necks of the two attackers.

The two flailed as they lost the mobility of their heads. Their hands and nails hit the arms of Chimetrice, while their wild kicking hit Chimetrice\'s body.

Being a half horse, a [Tikbalang\'s] kick was not something that just anyone could receive. It had twice the force of a kick from a real horse or more.

Yet, to everyone\'s surprise, Chimetrice did not even flinch from the kick. There was not even a scratch from the hooves of the [Infected Tikbalangs].

"I\'ll handle this."

Chimetrice said.

And before the three could respond, a strong gust of wind was felt around Chimetrice.

Then, the two [Infected Tikbalangs] in the hands of Chimetrice were beheaded with an invisible force. Chimetrice then threw the two heads away as their bloody bodies plopped to the ground.

At the same time, the remaining enemies were already on the move to attack the new target. Compared to Louis, Chimetrice was exuding more [Magical Energy], not to mention that he was closer than the other.

But then, Chimetrice waved his hands.

Everyone watching was shocked at the scene that unfolded before them.

A surge of unseen energy was felt by everyone together with a breeze of wind that brushed through their faces.

And there, all the [Infected Tikbalangs], even those that were still behind the stone walls that Louis created, stopped on their tracks. A line of blood appeared on their necks before each head started to slide off their necks.

Almost at the same time, all the [Infected Tikbalangs] fell down with their heads detached from their bodies. Unexpectedly, even the stone walls that stood before some of the enemies were bisected.

***

Everyone stared at the scene. The battle just ended like that. None of them even knew what happened.

The only ones that knew were Mark, Mei, Illia, and the Sylphs in the base.

"His [Windblades] is stronger than before."

Mark said to Illia. Back when Mark fought Chimetrice in New Jersey, those [Windblades] were far smaller. But now, it covered an entire area.

"Master already recovered his abilities," Illia replied proudly. "Master\'s state back then was nothing compared to now."

Mark could only nod. In fact, Mark also sensed this already. If he and Chimetrice fought now, there was a huge chance that he would lose.

But then, Illia suddenly whispered.

"Master already recovered, but he said before that he had no confidence in beating you. You also improved drastically during the time we haven\'t seen you. But by the looks of it, you\'re not aware, huh."

Mark could only look at Illia. Was he mistaken about his current abilities?

In any case, the sudden threat to the base was already dealt with, and Chimetrice had proven his strength to everyone. It was hitting two birds with one stone.

Still, it also proved that the defenses of the base were still lacking, and there were many unexpected dangers that they could come across. This time, it was lucky that Louis and Felicia were nearby, or there would be casualties among the workers.

And lastly, everyone learned that the [Magical Infected] were more dangerous than they thought, especially when they were in large groups.