Mutagen

Above the frozen river, the fierce battle between the forces of the Reclaimed City and the Demons continued.

BOOM!

RUMBLE!

The explosions from the bombardment of the soldiers continued. Under the command of the bureau chief, they primarily concentrated on trying to take down the [Gashadokuro], the giant skeleton. All the Demons were a threat to the Reclaimed City, but the [Gashadokuro] was the most terrifying in the current situation.

Due to the continuous bombardment of the tanks, the [Gashadokuro] had a hard time advancing despite its size. That and the fact most of the attacks it received were aimed at its legs.

And finally...

CRASH!

The [Gashadokuro] fell down.

Its legs were unable to endure the bombardment and finally crumbled. The [Gashadouro\'s] gigantic body fell down without resistance. It crashed into the frozen river, killing everything underneath it. Its heavy body also left deep cracks in the ice.

Unfortunately, the [Gashadokuro] was still far from dying. Nonetheless, it became a huge obstacle for the advance of the Demons. Furthermore, it seemed unable to mend its broken leg and could only try to crawl over the slippery ice. And given that its body was made of bones without the proper ability to grip through the ice, it could not properly advance while crawling.

Seeing the giant skeleton fall, crushing dozens of Demons under it, everyone defending the Reclaimed City felt elated. Seeing a threatening enemy fall like that caused a great boost to everyone\'s morale.

But, of course, the fight was far from over. The Demons were still relentlessly trying to invade the Reclaimed City. Many people even began thinking that the number of enemies was endless.

Just how many Demons and Yokais were there? The entire coastline surrounding the Reclaimed City was surrounded by the enemies. And no matter how many were killed, their numbers did not seem to be dwindling.

The only good thing was that, unlike a few minutes ago, the enemies were now hindered by a few things. One was the collapsed [Gashadokuro], and the other was the rampage of a certain individual in the middle of the enemies.

***

"GRAAR!"

A wolf-like Demon pounced on Mark. It attempted to bite his neck off. Of course, it ended up as nothing but an attempt as a hand grabbed its neck instead.

"Are there creatures like this in Japanese folklore?" Mark murmured as he stared at the struggling wolf creature he grabbed. "Oh, right. There\'s one, isn\'t it? [Okuri-inu], was it?"

While having those thoughts, Mark\'s left hand grabbing the wolf was enveloped in a milky-white glow. It was not just this dog, but Mark had already done this to a number of Demons he chose in the middle of the enemy army.

It was clear what Mark was doing here.

And just like with the [Yuki-Onna], a black haze came out of the [Okuri-inu\'s] body. And with a slight thought, he absorbed the haze into his body before throwing the unconcious [Okuri-Inu] away.

But as the [Okuri-Inu\'s] body landed on the ice, the nearby Demons immediately began to attack it. The poor Demon was torn to shreds by the aggressive Demons that surrounded it.

Mark did not have much reaction as he saw that happen. It was not the first one, after all. Still, it was strange to see how much these Demons were affected by the haze. It did not matter if the target was a former ally or even their own kind. Anything alive not influenced by the haze was attacked indiscriminately.

"Hey! Are you listening?"

Spera\'s voice entered Mark\'s ears through the communicator.

"I\'m listening."

Mark replied.

While Mark was fighting the Demons and absorbing the [Miasma], he was listening to Spera\'s reports of what was happening in Toyosu.

First was the revelation of the armored woman\'s identity. Mark shrugged after hearing it.

Even for Mark, pointing out specific traitors would be hard. That was why when the members of the Black Lotus were rescued, he moved to secure information. One way was to infiltrate the base of the Mitsui Clan. Given that they were a business-oriented family, it would not be a surprise if they were keeping proper records of everything.

That was when Mark encountered Sayuri. It was just by accident, but he overheard her cursing their elders, older brother, and father. It was when she learned about the clan\'s plans involving her marriage. He took the opportunity to meet her and recruit her under his wing. To Mark\'s surprise, Sayuri did not hesitate even a single bit. She agreed to Mark\'s terms as long as she could finally leave her greedy family. It seemed that she wanted to leave a very long time ago. However, she lacked the ability and chance to do so.

Sayuri knew that Mark was her only chance to leave the family before it faced its demise. And she was one of the people that made sure that the Mitsui Clan would never succeed with their plans.

And after making a copy of her clan\'s restricted documents, Sayuri joined Mark\'s group that very same evening.

Those documents really helped fish the traitors among the higher-ups of the government and the management of the entire Reclaimed City. If Mark had to do it alone, those things would take a lot of effort. Worse, traitors would likely be able to slip out of the net.

And all that led to the current Sayuri, different from her dolled-up persona, trained with her true talents.

Sayuri aside, what was more concerning was the current state of Keiji.

There was no doubt that Keiji and Ren were siblings. They just would not die even if you killed them.

However, Keiji\'s case was different. After hearing the situation, Mark really wanted to check on that guy. However, he had more important things to do.

In any case, the situation in Toyosu was getting dangerous. If Keiji was now able to use magical abilities, then Ren and Sayuri would not be able to deal with the situation on their own.

"How is the situation now?"

Mark asked Spera as he grabbed another Demon.

"I don\'t think the sisters will last any longer," Spera\'s reply immediately came. "Also, the attacks from their brother are getting more out of hand. He slashed at Ren just now, and it tore the entire entrance of the market."

At this time, someone else\'s voice came through Spera\'s communicator.

"The place is getting dismantled by the minute. I won\'t tolerate more deaths among innocent people. I\'ll take action even if you don\'t have a solution to this."

It was the Priestess\' voice. It seemed that she reached Spera\'s location and was watching the situation.

Mark thought about it as he threw another Demon into the death pit of its own army.

If possible, Mark did not want the Empress and the Priestess to take action prematurely. They needed to make the enemies think the two were trapped within the isolated space the Mitsui Clan created.

And to keep this plan up, Mark also went with a few more other arrangements. If the Priestess acted now, things might spiral far more than Mark expected.

Mark sighed and communicated with someone through his mind.

"Ignis, how is the situation there?"

Mark contacted his [Demon Sword], the Flamberge, Ignis.

And where was Ignis?

***

"AGH! GLURG!"

An elder of the Mitsui clan voiced out as he clasped his throat, severely bleeding through a sharp cut. The elder was already gurgling his own blood as he succumbed to the cold feeling of death.

With a thud, the elder fell, and all life was snuffed out from his eyes.

In front of the elder\'s dead body, another armored woman stood. In her hand was a Western sword with a wavy blade.

The Mitsui Clan was supposed to be in the middle of their preparations to escape. However, an interruption came to their dismay.

BAM!

The door to the dead elder\'s room was blasted open.

There, another elder entered in a fit of urgency. It was a familiar elder that everyone in the Black Lotus should recognize.

"What... Who are you?"

The elder, Hideo, unsheathed his sword as he looked around the room he forced open. He saw the elder\'s dead body, along with the elder\'s seven guards. All these guards had high skills and expertise. They were all trained by Hideo, just like the others. But now, they all fell at the hands of a single person.

Hideo stared at the armored woman, not receiving any reply. Instead, she slashed her sword. It was a strange move since Hideo was clearly outside the rage of the woman\'s sword.

However, Hideo\'s instincts kicked in. He jumped away from the door by reflex. And what he saw next was a wave of black flames flying through the doorway and hitting the wall of the hallway.

A grave feeling of danger overwhelmed Hideo. He rushed here after the elders and their guards were running late. It was not just the elder in this room, but some other people from further rooms on this floor. Were they all dead?

The armored woman cautiously walked out of the door. She looked at Hideo, who was now ready for a clash. The old master was feeling danger, but he was not the type to chicken out unless necessary.

But to Hideo\'s surprise, the woman suddenly made a familiar rhythm using her footsteps. And then, she vanished, even if he was clearly staring at her just now.

All of a sudden, Hideo slashed to his left side, immediately receiving an impact of an attack. Following the first slash, he turned around and blocked an attack coming from behind.

Hideo was fighting against an enemy he could not see. However, he was still able to block and even counterattack.

Then, the feeling of danger was felt again, making Hideo jump backward. 

Black flames immediately covered the area where he stood just now.

And, finally, the armored woman\'s figure emerged once again.

Now, Hideo had a clear idea of his opponent.

"So, you\'re also alive," Hideo spoke and called the armored woman\'s name. "Mako."

Among the trained children within the Mitsui Clan, only one girl reached such an exquisite level of stealth. But by the looks of it, her abilities had grown beyond human after her supposed death.

"This is unexpected," Mako finally spoke. "I didn\'t expect that you would recognize me this easily. I guess it\'s hard to hide things from the person who taught us everything."

"Are you here for revenge?"

Hideo asked Mako with complicated emotions.

"Are there other reasons?" Mako answered, with her voice tinged with anger. "I was promised to see my real family. That is why I agreed to cooperate even if it betrayed the young miss. But I realized that\'s just a lie. That is why I made my own preparations to screw things up. If that was the end and I still survived, I might have just stayed quiet somewhere."

"But what did I learn afterward?" Mako continued. "The reason I became an orphan. It was because my family got a clash of interests with the clan. And they were silently dealt with. I was the sole survivor of that family. My family was killed by the clan that adopted and raised me. No wonder the grandmaster gave me a special gift. He should have known and was guilty about it. But I\'ll apologize to him in the afterlife. I\'ll have to cut off the roots of those that mercilessly eliminated my family just for a few pennies."

"Still, you are our teacher. And one of the few upright people in the clan." Mako added. "Step aside, and I\'ll not bother you."

Hideo\'s expression turned ugly. There was no turning back now. They were now surrounded by threats and dangers.

"Unfortunately, I can\'t do that." Hideo tightened the grip on his katana. "I\'m still the clan\'s protector. I can\'t do much about the clan head or the young master, but I still have to stand up to protect the others and let the clan continue."

"I see," Mako nodded. "Then, I won\'t hold back, master."

Mako let go of the flamberge, which surprisingly hovered midair. She then took a different weapon. A dagger with a seemingly high-tech appearance. She then took a pose.

And now, Hideo\'s eyes opened wide in shock.

The black flames from the sword were already shocking. But now, Hideo could see traces of Chakra manifesting around Mako. It was not only Ren. Mako also reached a level he was not able to despite his old age.

However, different from Ren, who manifested a Black Lotus, the figure behind Mako looked eerie.

It was a closed eye, seemingly tearing up with blood.

And then, the eye opened. Hideo was frozen.

It was not because the eye had paralyzing properties. It was because his throat was already slashed open.

Hideo fell to his knees as his body began to lose strength. However, instead of fear, a smile floated on his face. Being the clan\'s protector was a heavy responsibility he could not escape even if the clan veered to an evil path. And now, he was finally liberated from it.

Mako was already behind Hideo as he fell. She did not look at their master\'s body as she urged the flamberge back to her hand. She still had more people to end.

The Mitsui Clan should not escape. Only a few people, a few exceptions, were allowed.

***

Mark heard the report from Ignis, who was currently being used by Mako. He shrugged. He was thinking of sending Mako to help Ren and Sayuri, but she was still not done with her business.

In that case, there was no choice.

"Spera, bring the prick to the other side of the bridge in Kachidoki. Can you do that?"

"Hmmm..." Spera was thinking on the other side. "It\'s tricky, but I think I can do it. It might be impossible if he\'s still in the right mind, but the current him looked really stupid. We just have to bait him a little."

"Okay, I\'ll leave that to you," Mark replied. "I\'ll wait here. The bridge is just a few dozen meters away from me."

And almost half a minute later, three portals appeared on the riverside of the Sumida River. Following the portals, a monster and three women appeared.

Confused and feeling threatened, the monster with eight heads roared.

It was a roar that shook the entire battlefield.