Mutagen

Mark finally decided to transform, stepping up the fight to the next phase. But was it not reckless? While the changes in his body were not too much, he would grow horns, fangs, and his hair would become longer in the process. To transform with his helmet on, would that not break it from the inside?

However, it was one of the things Mark paid attention to when making his armor. And as if following his will, the helmet adapted to his transformation.

There were slots on the helmet at the exact spot where Mark\'s horns would grow. These slots could only open by getting pushed from the inside. And while it allowed Mark\'s horns to grow unhindered, it also served as a switch that controlled the back part of his helmet.

When Mark\'s horns grew while pushing the slots on the forehead of the helmet open, the back part of the helmet opened in the middle and retracted to the sides. This opening allowed Mark\'s hair to grow freely to its desired size during the transformation, making it flow outside with his surging aura.

Gar\'Vlam could not help but frown as he felt the surge of Mark\'s aura. His blood could not help but boil irritatingly.

As a Demon Deity, Gar\'Vlam should be the one standing over most of the Demons. He was the one who the weak should look up to. However, to everything in the world, Earth or not, exceptions to the rules could always exist.

And to Demons, it was the purity of bloodline.

Demons were unnatural beings of the world. Those born in the lost era were formed by the residues of the corrupted presence of the gods. The ones born afterward were from corrupted residues of the creatures living on this planet.

But among Demons, there were those who were born directly from the influence of Gods of the Lost Era.

Those were the Pure Bloods.

And those Pure Bloods carried a natural bloodline that could suppress other Demons.

However, even in the past, before the purge of magical beings from Earth happened, Pure Bloods were not easy to encounter. It was because the Pure Bloods were born from the corrupted intention of Evil Gods. They became the target of killing for righteous Gods.

And since the Pure Blood Demons were born smarter than other Demon Races, they learned how to hide instead of foolishly confronting enemies they could not defeat.

Gar\'Vlam was born in the late Lost Era and became a Deity. Even then, Gar\'Vlam had only seen a true Pure Blood a few times until he was sealed. While one reason was that Gar\'Vlam avoided known territories of Pure Blood Demons, Gar\'Vlam never really encountered one face-to-face in the wild.

In the current era of Earth, the Pure Bloods were even harder to find among the already rare Demon races. Their bloodline declined over the ages that passed, not to mention the inevitable mixing among the races of Demons and living creatures, causing the decline to become faster.

Mark definitely was the first Pure Blood Demon Gar\'Vlam faced in a hostile environment. And that was why Gar\'Vlam could feel the full extent of the effects of the suppression of the bloodline between him and Mark.

Gar\'Vlam was a Deity. But even so, he could not escape his inferior bloodline.

The blood within Gar\'Vlam\'s new body, which flowed and boiled like magma, was disturbed to the point of erupting.

Irritating.

Gar\'Vlam felt irritated as he gazed upon the lowly human that became a Pure Blood Demon for no apparent reason.

Only someone like him, a Demon Deity, should have such an opportunity. Not a lowly human.

Why could it not be him?

Why this human?

Gar\'Vlam felt very agitated. Jealousy and anger began creeping up inside his mind.

Unable to watch the irritating transformation of his opponent, Gar\'Vlam committed the most criminal thing a villain could do within Tokusatsu Shows. It was to attack the protagonists in the middle of their transformation sequence.

Gar\'Vlam raised his left hand, facing Mark\'s direction. And there, dozens of fist-sized fireballs manifested. Like torrential rain, those fireballs flew toward Mark\'s location.

But who said that Mark could not move during his transformation?

In response to Gar\'Vlam\'s attack, Mark also raised his left hand.

And a swirl of ominous mist flowed out of Mark\'s hand, forming a wall that swallowed the fireballs into nothingness.

Seeing that familiar mist, Gar\'Vlam immediately stopped the rain of fireballs.

Gar\'Vlam had already witnessed Mark harness [Miasma] before. And he was not stupid to feed Mark his magical energy.

This just proved how much of a tricky opponent Mark was, even for a Demon Deity like Gar\'Vlam. Mark could already use [Miasma], which could protect him from magical and even a lot of physical attacks, and now, he could even harness the bloodline suppression of a Pure Blood Demon.

Gar\'Vlam heaved a deep breath. Something unthinkable for him to do in most situations. However, he was feeling irritated at this moment due to Mark\'s existence.

The irritation was growing. Gar\'Vlam felt the urge to end it soon.

That was why, for the first time in this battle, Gar\'Vlam went on the full offensive.

Gar\'Vlam jumped off the riverbank with literal explosive force. Everything around his original position was enveloped with a burst of flames.

With a trail of flames behind him, Gar\'Vlam appeared in front of Mark, unleashing a flame-enveloped kick.

But unlike the first punch that Gar\'Vlam unleashed, his kick missed.

Mark\'s eyes left a bluish trail inside his helmet as he jumped backward.

Gar\'Vlam\'s kick landed on the frozen river, making the ice beneath his foot crack before shattering. And with the high-temperature flames on Gar\'Vlam\'s foot, the missed kick resulted in another steam explosion.

Water and steam blocked Gar\'Vlam\'s view. But it was never a problem. There was no way he would lose the opponent with all the aura he was releasing...

Gar\'Vlam\'s eyes widened in an instant.

Just like before Mark transformed, his presence and aura vanished.

Did Mark release his transformation?

Gar\'Vlam did not have the time to ask or think.

The blade of a great sword clad in [Miasma] sliced through the mist from Gar\'Vlam\'s back.

Gar\'Vlam immediately reacted to the movement behind him. He turned around and blocked the sword with a flame barrier while he counterattacked by firing a barrage of fireballs in the sword\'s direction.

As Gar\'Vlam counterattacked, the sword retreated, hiding behind the steam. He was about to follow through and escape the poor visibility he was experiencing, but he felt a stinging pain behind his back.

The feeling on Gar\'Vlam\'s back was absurdly painful. He even felt his energy getting drained.

Without overthinking anything, Gar\'Vlam released a burst of flames around his body before making it explode without letting the flames enter the water beneath his feet. The steam around him was blown away by the explosion. But most importantly, it blew away whatever latched on his back just now.

Gar\'Vlam flew up and inspected his back with a quick glance over his shoulder. His physical body was damaged, with his back looking corroded. He then looked in front, feeling Mark\'s aura soar once again.

Mark stood on the ice, unscathed. He held his combined sword with a sort of carefree posture.

Gar\'Vlam frowned. He wanted to know what expression Mark had behind his helmet. Was Mark mocking him for getting caught off guard? Or was he still taking it east? Gar\'Vlam really wanted to know that it was making him even more irritated.

And Mark?

Mark had a small smile hidden behind his helmet. If only Gar\'Vlam could see the bright red glow of his right eye, the Demon Deity would sense something was wrong. Furthermore, holding back his [Aura of Death], which masked his presence and aura, was quite a trick as well. After all, it caused Gar\'Vlam to be caught off guard just now.

And Mark was pretty sure Gar\'Vlam was still confused about what was going on at this moment. After all, Gar\'Vlam was attacked with [Miasma] from a different direction. Furthermore, there was no way anyone here would understand how his aura and presence seemed to turn on and off at his behest.

Mark then shrugged as he looked at Gar\'Vlam, giving a bit more of a provocation.

But Gar\'Vlam was not insane enough to fall into that. The steam explosion had already gotten him in a precarious position just now. There was no way he would go close to the surface of the frozen river anytime soon.

That was why, with a fierce look in his eyes, Gar\'Vlam raised both of his hands.

In an instant, a gigantic ball of flames formed above Gar\'Vlam\'s hands. How big? How about double a size of a city bus?

That gigantic fireball would burn anything it hit without even leaving any spec of ash.

And as soon as it grew large enough, Gar\'Vlam threw it at Mark.

One would think that an attack of that size would fly slowly. However, it flew at Mark as fast as an F1 racecar at full speed. Only a blur could be seen before it caused a massive impact at where Mark stood just now.

And, just like the previous instances, it caused a steam explosion. However, this time was massive, as it even brought the river water several dozen meters into the air.

Within that explosion, Mark\'s presence vanished once again.

Gar\'Vlam then conjured smaller fireballs on both hands. He did not take his sight away from the explosion, which scattered steam below. He was sure the tricky Mark would not get done in by his attack just like that. The moment Mark emerged from the steam blocking the view, he would be ready to attack.

Nonetheless, what Gar\'Vlam did not expect was...

BAM!

A heavy impact on his back.

Gar\'Vlam was thrown into the river like a cannonball. The frozen surface did nothing at all to cushion his crash and shattered without resistance due to the strength of the impact.

In the air, where Gar\'Vlam hovered just now, Mark\'s figure slowly emerged from stealth. [Optical Illusion], it had been a while since Mark used this. There were very few instances it was necessary, just like now.

However, unlike the usual, the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] was nowhere to be seen. It was neither hovering around Mark\'s wrist nor inside his hands.

But if one was to look closely, one could see crystals embedded in Mark\'s right gauntlet. On the inner side of the wrist, to be exact.

It let Mark have the crystals ready to use without getting too conspicuous.

And as the weakness of fire was water, Mark used all his strength on his kick, along with the momentum of a high-speed flight, and sent Gar\'Vlam crashing into the river.

But Mark was not finished. The attack he made would not kill Gar\'Vlam.

As such...

Mark stretched his left arm, facing the water where Gar\'Vlam crashed into. His right hand formed a claw, which he slowly clenched into a fist.

Under the water, Gar\'Vlam was utterly furious. He could not believe that Mark sent him flying just like that.

Gar\'Vlam\'s anger even caused the water around him to start boiling.

But as he looked up, about to fly out of the water, Gar\'Vlam\'s eyes dilated.

Where was the exit?

No... Why was it dark underwater in the first place?

Gar\'Vlam had an ominous feeling.

It was not that the underwater was dark. Who knew how it happened, but the water around Gar\'Vlam was filled with a terrifying amount of [Miasma].

And all these [Miasma] began closing unto Gar\'Vlam as if trying to trap and devour him.

Gar\'Vlam\'s anger finally entered the level of rage. It was not just rage about the situation he had now. It was rage fueled by jealousy and a plethora of uncertain emotions.

But even though Gar\'Vlam had some uncertainty, there was one thing he was sure of.

Even if Mark\'s current strength was far from being able to fight Gar\'Vlam in a head-on fight, he was tricky enough to be a threat.

Gar\'Vlam should not hold back and underestimate the enemy. Treat Mark as a being that could threaten Deities or even Lower Gods.

With those thoughts, Gar\'Vlam\'s magical energy surged.

And in the air above the river, Mark felt the tremor in the air. The [Miasma] he was controlling just now vanished into nothingness.

BOOOM!

Another steam explosion occurred, even larger than Gar\'Vlam\'s previous attack.

Mark immediately retreated, but not without his eyes showing surprise.

It was because the Gar\'Vlam that emerged from the water was a giant humanoid with a magma-like body clad in yellowish-white flames.