Mutagen

Ren stared at the pendant with the now missing gemstone.

Just before the Black Lotus Group left for the expedition, Mako gave it to Ren. No. It was more like Mako forced it onto her.

Ren knew this pendant was from her grandfather and was given to Mako long ago. It was really nothing too notable aside from being a little expensive-looking. Furthermore, her grandfather would give things to her and their trainees from time to time.

For the longest time, the ninjas following Ren knew that Mako had lost the gem of the pendant somewhere during one of her missions. And from then, the pendant remained without a centerpiece. But, strange enough, Mako did not seem to make any efforts to fix it.

Ren was quite surprised when Mako tried to give it to her. Furthermore, the pendant was already fixed, looking far different from when it was missing a centerpiece despite not having too many changes from its actual appearance.

The pendant was fixed, and Mako tried to give it to Ren without much explanation. Of course, knowing that it was an important item, Ren was more inclined to decline. But as Mako did not back down, they compromised that Ren would keep it for now and return it later.

And for some strange reason, Mako agreed on the premise that Ren would always keep it in her possession.

Who would have thought Ren would not have any chance to return it to her?

The sentimental thoughts aside, Ren was baffled.

"What does this pendant have to do with my survival and Mako\'s decision?"

Ren asked her two friends in front of her.

And Tadashi explained what he knew.

"The pendant Mako received from the Grandmaster is an artifact. Furthermore, it is a life-saving artifact. When someone in possession of this pendant is fatally wounded, the gemstone will shatter and channel life energy to the owner. The person will be saved, and until the energy channeled to the owner is exhausted, they will exhibit unnatural healing abilities."

The explanation surprised Ren. It would probably be a bigger surprise to her than the attempted assassination by her family. Artifacts that were only known through myths and legends. Furthermore, an even rarer life-saving artifact. This single piece might be enough to spark a small between countries if this information was to spread.

Who would have thought that the one in possession of such a valuable item was Mako all along?

And thinking about it, Mako\'s regenerative abilities seemed to have shined after she "broke" the pendant. The circumstances around Mako seemed to be what Tadashi had just explained.

"Wait... If the gemstone shattered, can it be replaced?"

Ren asked.

"It seems so," Tadashi answered. "But it seems that the gemstone on the pendant is far rarer than the artifact itself. It was near impossible to replace."

"But..." Ren was even more surprised. "Didn\'t Mako give this to me with a gemstone?"

"Mako just got lucky," Tadashi sighed. "And it seemed she was in a massive debt just to get the artifact repaired."

"Debt..." Ren muttered, looking at the pendant and then back at Tadashi. "Did you know all of this all along? You too, Keiko?"

Mako kept everything a secret. Yet, Tadashi was able to explain everything to her. By the looks of it, Keiko also knew of it, as she did not show much reaction to Tadashi\'s explanation.

But before the two could answer...

"They didn\'t know anything. I\'m the one who told them."

A familiar voice that Ren did not expect to hear entered her ears. As she immediately turned to the door, the surprise on her face could not be concealed.

"Wh-why are you here?"

That was what Ren asked as she saw the person.

"Why can\'t I? This is my place."

Mark replied with a slight tilt of his head as he entered the door.

"This room?"

Ren asked, turning her head around the place.

But the one to answer the previous question was not Mark but Tadashi.

"Ojou-sama. Not only this room or this building. The entire fortress you can see outside the window is his. Mark-sama is the owner of this entire base."

"He is also the person who saved us."

Keiko chimed in with a bitter smile. Unlike Ren, Mako, and Tadashi, Keiko did not know Mark that much. She only knew him personally after the unfortunate events two days ago.

"Before everything," Mark spoke and showed what he was carrying. "Your food is ready."

"Ah! Please, give it to me."

Tadashi immediately received the bowl of rice porridge on a tray from Mark. Good food for a patient who has not eaten for two days.

But Ren\'s attention was not on the food. She was focused on Mark and the unexpected things she heard just now.

Mark was the one who saved them, and this entire place was his.

The person that Ren and the others thought they saved from the ruins in Tokyo. The person with many uncertain factors.

That person turned out to be their savior.

Questions upon questions piled up inside Ren\'s mind, and she did not know where to start.

"Leave the questions in your mind for later," Mark suddenly spoke. "We still have a few days to discuss things."

"A few days... No," Ren remembered something. "The Alliance Meeting! What happened to it?"

One of the reasons the Black Lotus Group was returning at that time was because of the Alliance Meeting supposedly scheduled the next day. It was an important thing to everyone in the Reclaimed City since the representative of the Auraboros Japan Brance would visit.

"You\'re concerned about that, huh," Unexpectedly, Mark gave a small smile as he responded. "Don\'t worry. As I said, we still have a few days. The Alliance Meeting got delayed and rescheduled for another five days."

"Wha-why?"

Ren asked in shock. And by the looks of it, it was the first time for Tadashi and Keiko to hear about this too. The two were worried about their own circumstances, after all.

And to that shocked question, Mark\'s answer was...

"Because I said so?"

Ren became speechless.

"Are you joking? That meeting is important to the Reclaimed City... They won\'t just reschedule it because you said so."

"You think I\'m joking?" Mark sneered. "Consider that the Empress invited me to attend that meeting. Then I told them to move the schedule a bit. Don\'t worry. I also informed the Priestess. She understood the situation and agreed. There were some people angry about the schedule being moved, though."

"Just... Who are you really?"

Ren asked. Among all things, that was what she really wanted to know right now. If he was serious about the things he said just now, it meant that he had enough power and connections to influence the flow and fate of the Reclaimed City, no, what remained of her country.

"Me? I\'m just Mark," Mark shrugged. "It\'s just that I happened to have the same status as your Priestess. I think? I don\'t know who\'s stronger between us, though."

The three members Black Lotus Group stared at Mark with mouths open in shock. Just Mark? Definitely not. If he was at the same status as the Priestess, he was basically at the level of being a leader of a nation. 

And... what the three had in mind was not wrong in a sense. After all, all main settlements currently in a good state in the Philippines were within Mark\'s circle of influence. He even pushed the President down from his position and pulled another person to be the leader.

But Mark was not thinking of himself being such a thing.

"Anyway, as I\'m saying, you don\'t have to worry. We have time." Mark said, ignoring their silence. "Besides, it\'s not like I just forced them to delay it. There\'s another reason."

"And that reason is?"

Ren shook her shock away and asked.

"Because the enemies are also waiting for the Alliance Meeting," Mark explained. "Don\'t you think the timing of your family\'s cooperation with the Demons is strange? They aimed for your life while taking that seal thing from your hand just before the meeting happened. They wanted to induce chaos right during the day of the Alliance Meeting."

"They will then attack during the meeting. And because of the chaos, there\'s less time to prepare to defend."

Ren chimed in her assumption.

"Correct," Mark nodded. "At the same time, the traitors inside the meeting will also make their move. They plan to take down the Priestess and the Empress in one full sweep. Although the Priestess and the Empress might be strong, the Demons have strong people too. It will be quite a party, and anyone not strong enough will end up dead."

"Haah..." Mark continued with a sigh. "If not for this fact, I would have straight up attacked Shin that time. I had a hard time controlling myself, you know?"

Mark went to rescue Ren and the others immediately after taking the girls back home. He then went with Mei and Spera on Chaflar\'s back. And after a little bit of searching and with the reports of Ignis and Crimson, Mark found the three just in time for Mako\'s betrayal.

When Mark saw Shin, he really wanted to kill the guy and get what he went to Japan for. The ability to slash space.

However, Mark held himself back. While attacking Shin at that exact time might finish his main quest in Japan, the side quests would end up in disarray afterward. Mark chose to hold back and keep things predictable rather than make them complicated. After all, Shin was not his only enemy in Japan. Gar\'Vlam, a [Deity Level Flame Demon], was also there.

Mark would rather not leave loose ends.

Hearing Mark\'s mutterings, Ren remembered that Mark was searching for Shin for some unknown reason. And that very guy was there when Ren was almost killed.

Ren really had a lot to ask. But it seemed that Mark\'s existence was straying Ren from the initial topic.

"You said you told them about Mako and this artifact."

Ren went back to the topic when Mark entered the room.

"Yep. I did," Mark replied without hesitation. "Mako told me some things about her and that artifact."

"But why would she tell you?"

Another question was posed by Ren to confirm things. And the answer gave her another surprise.

"She had no choice but to tell me the story, or I won\'t be able to properly fix that," Mark pointed at the pendant. "Yeah, I fixed that. I\'m also the one she owed a debt to for fixing that."

Ren began to have a bit of a headache. The more she asked things about Mark, the deeper his character became for her to comprehend.

First, he was a refugee, who turned out to be someone searching for Shin, who ended up being someone who knew the Priestess, then someone who could influence the Alliance Meeting, and then a person at the same status as the Priestess. 

Now, he was a person who could fix artifacts. A person who should not exist among mortals.

What was next? Was he going to be a Demon Deity on his way to becoming a God of Chaos?

Ren did not know anymore. Her brain, which had just woken up after almost dying, could not handle every baffling information Mark was trying to feed her.

"I\'ll shut up, I guess?" Mark shrugged. "Just start eating your food. It might help clear up your head."

Mark went quiet, but he did not leave the room. He was waiting for Ren to finish her food to discuss some milder things.

Well... Not exactly milder.

After all... The Mitsui Clan trying to take over the territory of the Black Lotus Group was not exactly a mild thing. It might be something mild for Mark, but definitely not for the members of the Black Lotus.