Mutagen

All [Infected] that witnessed the pillar growled in utter confusion. And with the growls from their blood-covered mouths, their legs moved toward the pillar of light, attracted by something they could not fathom.

Same as the [Infected], the [Mechids], rarely seen within the ruins of Tokyo, began to approach the pillar of light.

***

Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Demon\'s Dominion, Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture

The town of Inawashiro. It was a rural town centered on agriculture, mainly rice. It must have been a nice rural town, although now, it was the center of the Demon\'s Dominion.

It became a hellish place filled with conflict. Knowing how aggressive and violent the Demons of Japan were, this outcome was not surprising.

Yet, on this night, the Demons all went silent as they gazed at the southern sky. Even at this distance, they could feel the power of purification that their kind extremely feared.

With hostile hearts and minds, they made an oath.

The time to eradicate the humans in this country would come soon.

***

Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Auraboros Japan Branch, Aokigahara, Narusawa, Fujikawaguchiko, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi

While the north was disturbed, the west was in a state of confusion.

The members of Auraboros stared at the eastern sky, looking at the very same pillar of light.

They had no idea what was happening. As such, the Empress immediately sent people to gather information about what was happening.

The Empress looked at that pillar of light.

If the Reclaimed City was currently facing a crisis, it would be a good opportunity to gain the upper hand in the incoming alliance meeting.

***

Day 234 - 10:19 PM - Reclaimed City, Tokyo Bay, Ruins of Tokyo

The north was disturbed, and the west was confused.

As for the residents of the Reclaimed City, they felt fear.

Those who were awake stared at the sky. Those asleep were woken by the ones awake. They all stared in fear due to the unfathomable scene before them.

The pillar of light that turned nighttime into daytime was not far from the Reclaimed City. With such a fact, their fear was not unreasonable.

With the sudden situation, the army was immediately mobilized. At the same time, the Territorial Groups managing the different districts in the Reclaimed City also prepared.

But out of all things, what confused the people of the Reclaimed City the most was the sudden mobilization of the Shinto Priests from the Temple.

The common people would not usually see the Shinto Priests outside the Temple except for a few special occasions and emergencies. It was even rarer to see the most powerful ones who were comparable to [Ability Holders].

But this night, the common people could see a few groups of Shinto Priests jumping from building to building and running through the streets, with their bodies emitting a faint glow.

The sudden mobilization of the Shinto Priests made the people believe whatever was happening was a serious issue.

Unknown to everyone, it was not just the Shinto Priests, the Territorial Groups, and the Army who were preparing.

At the base of the Evernight Group, Mei was already changing into her armor. It was already late, and Mark had yet to return. When the pillar of light appeared, she tried contacting him through the rings that Bathala gave them, but it did not seem to be coming through.

Mei was getting worried. She could tell that Mark was in the same direction as the pillar of light.

As such, Mei decided to find him. And using Spera\'s portal, she planned to start the search outside the Reclaimed City.

***

Day 234 - 10:20 PM - Flooded Forest Ruin, Forbidden Zone, Oshiage, Sumida City, Ruins of Tokyo

Within the ruins of Oshiage, the pillar of light dissipated as fast as it tore through the night sky.

And seeing Mark still flying in the sky, unscathed, the eyes of the Priestess glittered.

That pillar of light was one of the most powerful attacks the Priestess had in hand. Most Demons she encountered in the past would not be able to receive the attack and remain with an intact body. The Priestess was convinced that Mark would be able to survive it. That was why she used it without hesitation. However, she never expected him to receive the full brunt of the attack and remain unaffected.

And if there was something that fascinated the Priestess even more, it was the fact that she felt the presence of [Miasma] just before her attack hit Mark.

Was Mark able to wield [Miasma] of his own volition? The Priestess knew that it was nonsense and that any being with a physical body should not be able to touch [Miasma] without being affected by its corruptive properties.

However, what else would explain what happened just now?

Rather than denying the fact, the Priestess was more inclined to believe that the person she was fighting right now was a unique existence.

On the other side, Mark sighed. With his [Empath] abilities, he could tell from the Priestess\' emotional fluctuations that she noticed Mark\'s use of [Miasma]. But this fact confirmed one thing about the Priestess. She had quite a unique mindset. [Miasma] was something feared by many, and it would not be a surprise that a Shinto Priestess like her would begin thinking of eliminating him as a threat. However, that was clearly not the case. The Priestess did not care. She only wanted Mark to fight seriously.

SHOOOM!

At this time, the Priestess began her next attacks. It started with a group of talismans that immediately turned into a barrage of light beams shooting at Mark.

Mark immediately moved, evading the beams as fast as he could. These beams were different from the fireballs and lightning bolts before as these beams carried the same properties as the pillar of light just now. He knew that these beams could not be blocked by his wings, and he would get wounded if he got hit by these attacks.

Unfortunately, the light beams were pretty fast. They shot at lightspeed, after all. Mark had no way of evading all of them.

And as such, with a wave of his hand, a surge of [Miasma] formed a wall in front of him, which blocked and absorbed the beams of light.

The barrage of light beams ended, and Mark immediately retaliated.

Mark stretched out both his arms. Small surges of [Miasma] formed and shot towards the Priestess.

The Priestess saw Mark\'s retaliation and immediately went for defense. With her command, the tree roots that now littered Oshiage moved to block and swat the surges of [Miasma] that rained from Mark.

Due to the sheer quantity of the roots, Mark\'s attacks were blocked, not even reaching the ground. However, each root that managed to block Mark\'s [Miasma] immediately withered, turning into dried roots, which soon crumbled to pieces that rained to the flooded ground.

Not waiting for the Priestess to release another barrage of dangerous attacks, Mark\'s wings showed a reddish glow. His speed accelerated even more as he charged at the Priestess.

With a smile and an excited glint in her eyes, the Priestess waved her arms, and the hundreds of remaining tree roots moved to block Mark\'s path.

At this time, Mark\'s eyes glowed with a purplish sheen. He then displayed unexpected movements, in which he actually evaded the hundreds of roots attacking him.

The Priestess was surprised by that scene. She realized that Mark\'s movements were strange. He was not responding to the attacks and evading them. It felt more like he was already evading the attack before it even came.

As time passed and the Priestess fought Mark more, her view of him became more and more unfathomable.

While it was true that it was expected for a Pureblood Demon to have some uncanny abilities, what Mark had shown her was already beyond what a normal Pureblood Demon was supposed to be capable of. Furthermore, his move sets did not make sense. In the first place, how was he able to wield [Miasma]? And if he was able to wield [Miasma], how was he capable of other magical attacks?

[Miasma] was a greedy energy. [Formless Demons], which were commonly known to wield it, were incapable of any other things aside from using [Miasma]. Yet, Mark, who had a physical body and was able to shoot fireballs, was also using [Miasma].

The Priestess was excited about her unique opponent. Yet, she was also utterly confused.

With a serious look in her eyes, the Priestess waved her fans downward. The halo behind her glowed brighter, and the roots around Mark moved differently and began to make unpredictable movements.

At that sudden change in pattern, it was Mark\'s turn to be surprised. The Priestess imbued her aura to the roots as she controlled them. And Mark\'s [Future Sight] suddenly became less effective.

The gears in Mark\'s head spun as he evaded the roots to his full abilities. And he arrived at a single answer.

Gods were outside the influence of fate. The Priestess\' aura, containing the powers of the Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, had some resistance against abilities that read the future.

Mark was stopped on his flight, surrounded by the tree roots under the Priestess\' control. And with a deep breath, Mark shouted.

"HAH!"

[Miasma] exploded from his body in all directions. The roots surrounding Mark were enveloped by the expanding surge of [Miasma], immediately withering and crumbling.

Mark tore through the roots and continued his charge towards the Priestess. Wielding his swords, Mark slashed at the Priestess. It was a serious attack, and the Priestess would definitely get injured if she could not defend herself.

However, the Priestess was already preparing when Mark was surrounded by the roots. A pentagram of talismans was already in front of her, with the talismans already getting slashed to pieces. And with the Metal Talisman as the last to crumble, a magical barrier with a metallic sheen formed in front of her.

BAM!

The sword in Mark\'s hand and the metallic barrier of the Priestess collided with a powerful impact that rattled the surroundings.

It was a deadlock once again, with the Priestess on defense and Mark on the offensive.

With her arms outstretched in front of her, the Priestess was reinforcing the barrier. On the other side, Mark\'s wings flapped stronger and stronger as he tried to slash through the barrier.

The power the two were emitting was already off the charts as the force between their struggle was transmitted to the surroundings.

It was clear that this would be the final bout. If Mark could slash through the barrier, he would win this fight. Otherwise, the Priestess would win if she was able to defend herself against Mark\'s attack.

But as the struggle intensified, a barrage of fireballs suddenly shot at Mark.

Mark was caught a little off guard. It was not because he let his guard down against the Priestess. It was because the fireballs came from a completely different direction.

As it was too sudden, Mark had no time to use his wings to defend against the fireballs. He would either need to receive the brunt of the attack as he continued his slash to try to break the metallic barrier or abandon it and retreat.

Most of all, the Priestess was also surprised by the fireballs. It was clear that it did not come from her.

But as the fireballs were about to make Mark come to a decision, several muffled gunshots were heard. The fireballs were shot through, causing them to dissipate into nothingness.

At this time, both Mark and the Priestess looked at each other and came to an understanding.

""Let\'s end this here.""

The two said at the same time as they both lowered their weapons.