Mutagen

GRROOOAARRR!!!

The berserk roar of the Serpent God echoed throughout the Reclaimed City as Mark pierced another of its eyes with his sword.

As it felt the pain in its eye, it tried to pull its head back by reflex. But Mark would not easily let go. His wings flapped with a black surge of aura as he drove his sword deeper into the Serpent God\'s Fire Attribute Head\'s right eye.

And then, Mark uttered.

"Flare Ignis."

WHOOOM!

At Mark\'s command, black flames ignited from Ignis\' blade before it bloomed into a massive explosion inside the Serpent God\'s eye socket.

It was a similar attack that Mark had used before, but also different.

Gar\'Vlam\'s flames that Mark acquired were weaker but still had enough temperature to burn the eye of the beastly god. The Demon Deity\'s flames burned and charred the eye, preventing it from healing and dealing as much pain as it could. However, since it was an ability stored within a crystal, those flames had limited effectiveness and amount.

On the other hand, Ignis had flames transformed by its master. It might not have the devastating temperature, but what it had was the properties of [Miasma]. Furthermore, the amount of flames Ignis could release was proportional to the magical energy it stored within itself and the amount its wielder could provide.

And right now, Mark\'s [Miasma] had almost no limit. As the [Miasma] flowed into the blades of Ignis and fused with its flames, the [Miasmic] flames grew stronger and stronger.

BOOOM!

The black flames exploded a second time, now taking out the other eye of the Flame Attribute head of the Serpent God.

Two eyes in one attack. Mark managed to pull it off.

GRRRRROAAAARR!!!

The Serpent God let out an ear-piercing roar. Different from the once before, which contained pain and anger, this one contained nothing but pure agony.

One of its eyes had yet to heal, and now, Mark took out a pair. The Serpent God could roar that way as it received such grave injuries.

And much worse, Mark\'s attack just now was no normal flames. It was [Miasmic Flames]. It was flames that would not only burn but also decay. It meant that the injuries the Serpent God received from those black flames would only get worse if the Serpent God could not extinguish the black flames remaining inside its eye sockets.

GRYAAAAAA!!!

The head that lost its sense of sight began violently whipping its head and neck, forcing Mark away. Furthermore, it began spewing flames everywhere as it flailed around. 

But what Mark did not expect when he retreated was that the other six uninjured heads of the Serpent God faced him with absolute hostility. It was not like they had already recovered from pain. It seemed more like their anger for the injuries they incurred reached a threshold way past the pain.

The Serpent God was still in extreme pain, and its heads were unstable. But despite all that, the Serpent God was now resolute on killing Mark even if it injured itself further.

Doing its best to ignore the pain it was feeling, all six heads opened their mouths as the Serpent God tried to deal a killing blow on Mark.

However, the Serpent God totally forgot that Mark was not its only enemy.

BOOOM!

Mark\'s hair fluttered as explosions enveloped his surroundings. A barrage of attacks from the defense forces hit the six heads, halting their attempt to kill the enemy before them.

The attack was far from perfect. Many of the artillery shells and magic attacks missed the targets and flew off to the horizon. Nonetheless, the timing was impeccable.

"Nice timing."

Mark said as he tightened both his hands while holding the grip of his sword.

The [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal] shined brightly on Mark\'s sword as he pointed it downward. And then, a strong gust of wind propelled him upward.

Mark soared up to the sky like a launched space shuttle, with his wings leaving black trails.

While the barrage of attacks from the Defense Forces hindered the Serpent God, Mark opted to bring it down from the sky. After all, it was harder for the Defense Forces to target an enemy in the sky than an enemy on the ground.

Reaching the altitude where the disintegrated clouds were before, Mark hovered and looked below. He could feel the cold temperature of the winter, but his body felt burning like summer.

Mark reached out to his storage space. His hand took out a familiar book. His eyes turned black, and the markings on his body seemed to come to life.

The [Miasma] began to flare from Mark\'s body into a growing vortex in the sky.

And there, Mark chanted. It was a chant that echoed not in everyone\'s ear but through everyone\'s fears.

"Oh, Substance of corruption, the matter of destruction."

"The causality of decay. The creator of dismay."

"With your greed to absorb, the gluttony to devour."

"EAT. Turn the power of this beastly god into your own."

The space began to tremble, and the vortex in the sky started to absorb the magical storm.

In a few seconds, the vortex began to form what seemed to be a tornado made of [Miasma].

Everyone watched in awe and fear as they continued attacking the Serpent God. They had seen the Prietess\' miracles before, but this was the first time they had witnessed what seemed to be an eternal curse.

And there, Mark raised his sword into the tip of the forming tornado.

"Absorb! Gather! Concentrate! Shrink! Form!"

The vortex began to move, getting sucked into a gigantic ball hovering by the tip of Mark\'s sword. Then, it began to form what seemed to be a gigantic hammer made of black haze.

And the last word, combining the chant and the ability of the [Earth Demon Deity], Mark shouted.

"[MATERIALIZE]!"

The hammer made of formless [Miasma] began to solidify, turning into a giant hammer half the size of Tokyo Tower.

"FALL! ABYSSAL HAMMER!"

Mark slashed his sword downward as if commanding the giant hammer.

The materialized [Miasma] began to fall from the sky. It carried an eerie sensation as it fell down like a meteorite.

It might be their inner thoughts. Or it may be their fear from what they were currently witnessing, but everyone fell silent as the hammer swooped down toward the Serpent God.

And as the volley of attacks from the Defense Forces ended, it was already too late for the Serpent God to feel the attack coming from the sky.

BOOOM!

The Serpent God felt a heavy blow on its back. Its body bent downward without control. And the next thing it knew was the extreme pain in its back and the increasing velocity of its uncontrollable fall.

BOOOOM!

Another boom entered everyone\'s ears, followed by a nuclear bomb-like shockwave. This time, it was the sound of the gigantic body of the Serpent God crashing into the ruins of Harumi and Toyosu.

ROOOOARR!!!

However, the crash was not the end of it, as the gigantic hammer tried to crush the body of the Serpent God, making it cry in pain and suffering.

The Serpent God frantically struggled, but the hammer continued to pin it to the ground. No, it was not only pinning the Serpent God. The hammer was actually trying to decay the Serpent God\'s body with its corruptive properties.

The hammer\'s corruptive properties were working better due to Mark\'s decisions.

One would think it would be cool to form a sword or a spear in Mark\'s situation. However, Mark was no Susanoo. He had no ability to slash a God with a sword or pierce the Serpent God\'s invulnerable scales with a spear. And if there was something that an Otaku like Mark learned from war-related media, it was that bladed weapons were not the best to use against fully armored monsters.

It was maces and hammers. These weapons were not for slicing or piercing but for crushing. And even if these weapons could not crush the armor, there was still a high chance of damaging what was behind the armor.

And now, Mark created a hammer using [Miasma] and the magical storm it absorbed.

As a result, the heavy hammer made the Serpent God fall, damaged its scales, and began decaying the scales or even the flesh behind the damaged scales.

ROOOOOAAARRR!!!

The Serpent God began flailing its whole body like a salted eartworm. Because of its large body, it flattened the already ruined Toyosu and Harumi even more.

However, no matter how much the Serpent God flailed its body, the giant hammer would not budge. Worse, the hammer continued to push further and further, to the point that it already created a crater under the Serpent God\'s body.

"Weapons free!!! Fire! Fire! Also, Fire the Susannoo\'s cannons!"

The Prime Minister commanded the soldiers.

Now, Mark managed to pin the Serpent God down to the ground. This situation was the best opportunity to attack with all their might.

The Serpent God roared. Its six uninjured heads began attacking the hammer that pinned it down, but its attacks were ineffective. In fact, the more it attacked, the heavier the hammer became. And now, the attacks from the Defense Forces came, causing the Serpent God a huge amount of pain.

Unfortunately, the attacks of human weapons could only scratch the scales at most.

However, the Empress opened her mouth. She began spewing golden fireballs, which flew straight at the Serpent God.

BOOM!

The flames engulfed the Serpent God, causing it to flail even more in agony. However, it was useless. The Serpent God was unable to flee from the weight of the giant hammer.

Furthermore, the golden fireballs seemed to be feeding the hammer even more, causing it to grow heavier and heavier.

CRACK!

Suddenly, everyone heard a loud crack.

CRACK!

Another one.

ROOOOAAARRR!!!

The Serpent God became even more frantic. It was because its scales under the hammer began cracking one after another.

And then, from the sky, a red meteorite fell.

It was Mark who charged from the sky. Using his flight speed and the momentum of his fall, Mark crashed atop the giant hammer.

CRASH!

This time, it was not just a crack. It was like a metal or glass smashed to pieces, the scales of the Serpent God under the hammer shattered.

GRYAAAAAAAAA!!!

This time, the Serpent God, who had nothing but anger filling its instincts, felt fear for the first time.

The Serpent God\'s pride was its indestructible scales. No one had ever been able to pierce or slash through its scales aside from one specific person, the God of Sea and Storms, Susanoo.

The current Serpent God might only be an incarnation, a fragment of the original [Yamata-no-Orochi], but its scales should be invincible in the modern world.

But now, for the second time in its multiple lives, the Serpent God\'s scales became nothing but shattered shells.

GRYAAAAAA!!!

The Serpent God roared. This time, it used all of its magical energy to try and break free.

BOOOOM!!!

The Serpent God\'s struggle caused a massive explosion of raw magical energy. Bright light engulfed everything. Not a single shadow was present in such a massive explosion.

Everyone braced themselves as the shockwave came from the explosion. Fortunately, the Priestess\' enhanced barrier blocked most of the impact.

Following the explosion, the bright light immediately died down.

"Priestess!"

The Priests and Maidens yelled in worry, causing everyone to turn around.

Unfortunately, the burden of blocking that explosion was too much for the Priestess to handle. She fell to the ground on her knees, with her nose dripping with blood.

"I am fine." The Priestess used her staff to prop her body up. "It is not the end yet."

The Priestess then looked forward. Everyone did the same.

And there, the Serpent God hovered high above the ground. It looked banged up, and the injuries it received were visible for everyone to see. Unfortunately, it really managed to free itself from the hammer.

But now, everyone looked around with a question in their minds.

"Where is Mark?"

Mark was there above the hammer when the explosion happened. He was at ground zero.

As everyone looked around, the hammer was gone. And so was Mark.

Unknown to them. No, only Mei probably knew.

Mark was currently underwater, looking up to the sky and the Serpent God that managed to break free.

At this moment, Mark had already realized.

This current state of his was not enough.

Mark needed to do something more.

"I needed to surpass the limits I currently have."

Mark thought as the enticing voice from before still lingered in his mind.