Mutagen

A giant blob rose from the waters, eating the Serpent God\'s elemental spheres. This scene caused turmoil to everyone who witnessed it.

Furthermore, describing the blob with nothing but the word "giant" would be an understatement.

The Serpent God was flying more than a hundred meters in the sky as it spewed its most powerful attack at Ariake. 

Yet, the blob outstretched itself out of the water, elongating its body more than a hundred meters to the sky before swallowing the Serpent God\'s attack. If its body only elongated as thin as possible to reach that height, it would not be as terrifying, but from the water to the sky, its elongated body did not stretch any thinner than the Serpent God\'s body.

The blob was more than just gigantic. Whatever this blob was, it was much, much, much larger than the Serpent God.

And not only its size but the fact that it swallowed the Serpent God\'s attack made it much more terrifying. A hundred Demons, Priests and Shrine Maidens, a Divine Blessed Priestess, a Nine-tailed Demon Fox, and an Incarnation of a Wind Goddess barely resisted the attack of the Serpent God. Yet, to the blob, it seemed nothing but a snack.

Shaken by the blob\'s sudden appearance, the Serpent God took a swift retreat. It spiraled its body away before facing the mysterious blob once again.

On the other hand, the blob swayed its unstable body, seemingly chewing on the snack it swallowed. But despite its unstable actions, its red eyes stared intently at the Serpent God.

There was a few seconds of silence, with the two gargantuan creatures staring at each other.

But the one with the least patience was the Serpent God. Seeing that the blob was unmoving and the fact that it interrupted the Serpent God\'s attack, the Serpent God immediately considered it as an enemy.

Opening the same six mouths as before, the Serpent God let out several elemental attacks in unison.

ROOOOOARRR!!!

All of the Serpent God\'s attacks poured straight onto the giant blob.

But in response, the blob opened its salivating mouth and received the magical attacks into it.

The Serpent God finally noticed something wrong. Its attacks were dealing no damage to the blob at all. It could only end its futile attack.

Furthermore, as the Serpent God\'s attack ended, the blob closed its mouth, chewing on the food it had just received.

And all this time, its red glowing eyes stared at the Serpent God.

The red pair of eyes then shone a bright glow. It was the time the blob began to move.

It moved its head towards the Serpent God. The blob\'s mouth was wide open, seemingly trying to eat its target.

The Serpent God was startled. It took an immediate retreat. Fortunately, its movements were far faster than the blob, and it should have no problem escaping the attack.

Well, that was not the case.

From all over the place, hundreds of tentacles rose from the waters, shooting out at the sky from all directions. Each tentacle was around three meters in thickness and more than a hundred meters in length from the water to the sky.

The Serpent God\'s remaining eyes went wide.

A single tentacle or even a doze might not pose a threat. But it was a different story with hundreds of them.

In an instant, the sky darkened with the tentacles shooting into the sky before curving toward the Serpent God.

The Serpent God began firing its magic in all directions. Unlike the main body, the tentacles did not stand a chance against the Serpent God\'s attacks. A whole lot of the tentacles got torn and destroyed by the Serpent God\'s retaliation.

But that was where the horror dug deeper.

With each tentacle destroyed, another one would rise from the ink-colored water. As such, the Serpent God was not under siege by an endless barrage of tentacles.

In Ariake, everyone was in shock. They stared at the towering blob, thinking that another dangerous creature might have appeared. The soldiers began to ready their weapons despite the questionable effectiveness these weapons had against a blob-like creature.

However, those with magical experience knew the creature was not an enemy. That black body and ominous aura, there was no doubt that the blob came to be using [Miasma].

And among everyone here, there was only one person who had the possible capability to do so.

It was no one else but Mark.

"Did Mark create that?"

The Priestess stood, using the [Divine Staff] to prop her unstable and tired body up. But as she looked at the Empress, the Priestess realized something might be wrong.

"What is wrong?"

The Priestess approached the Empress with Tsubasa\'s help.

Looking at the Empress, there was no doubt she was at the end of her powers. She looked ragged and spent. There was very little of the beautiful and elegant Empress to see.

It might just be an alliance. Or maybe for the Empress and the Demon\'s survival, but the Empress and her people from Auraboros did their best in this battle.

And right now, the Empress stared wide-eyed at the blob while it fought the Serpent God. She was clearly in utter disbelief.

"This is impossible."

That was what came out of the Empress\' mouth.

"What are you talking about?" 

The Priestess asked.

That question made the Empress glance at the Priestess before giving out a frustrated sigh.

"Mark is in a state of partial [Manifestation] at this moment."

"That\'s..." The Priestess was confused because of the Empress\' reaction. "Isn\'t that a good thing? He\'s even able to fight toe to toe with that snake."

The Priestess was right. At this moment, the blob, no, Mark\'s partial [Manifestation], was able to fight face-to-face with the Serpent God. And by the looks of it, the Serpent God was even struggling with the dozens of tentacles besieging it.

But the Priestess\' question just made the Empress frown even more.

"That is the issue," The Priestess answered. "[Manifestation], partial or full, should only happen within certain levels, beings at the level of Deities and above. Furthermore, it is not something you would be able to do just because you wanted to. There were Deities and Gods who devoted their lives to creating their [Manifestation] and reached the end of their lifespan without manifesting any. But that Mark. Not only was he able to enter the [Manifestation] state, but also while being below the level of  Deity. This situation should be impossible."

Here, the Priestess realized the gravity of the situation.

As a powerful being, the Priestess knew that there could be consequences to using a power beyond one\'s capacity and capabilities.

And if what the Empress had said was true, Mark was clearly using a power beyond what he should be able to use and control.

ROOOOOOOOARRR!!!

BOOOM!

The Serpent God\'s distressed roar echoed as a few dozen tentacles managed to tangle themselves to several of its tails. And then, the tentacles pulled down, hurling the Serpent God crashing to the ground.

As the Serpent God roared in pain, more tentacles surged out of the water, trying to pin the Serpent God down. But, of course, the Serpent God retaliated with all its might. 

The Serpent God spewed attacks at the tentacles, destroying most of them. However, some of the attacks continued flying toward Ariake.

Seeing the incoming attack, the Priestess immediately raised her hand and imbued more of her magical energy to the barrier to resist the attack.

"PUFF!"

The action caused the Priestess to cough out blood. Her magical energy was already running out. Pushing it more would cause her injuries.

However, it was not like the Priestess could give up.

And as if mocking the Priestess\' resolve, another attack, several lightning bolts, from the Serpent God tore through the tentacles and went straight for the barrier.

Amihan tried to help, but against lightning attacks, her wind manipulation barely did anything. In the end, the lightning bolts flew straight to the barrier.

The Priestess could only raise her hand and try to reinforce the barrier again.

Unfortunately, as the Priestess tried to, she felt her connection to the barrier vanish. The barrier was still there, but it seemed that Priestess did not have any magical energy left to continue reinforcing it.

And this was not a good situation. Furthermore, Mark seemed to be oblivious to the attacks reaching the barrier. Something was definitely wrong, just like what the Empress suspected.

But when the Priestess thought that barrier would shatter, something happened.

A magic circle appeared on the barrier, which did not only replenish its energy but also enhanced it several times.

The attacks that reached the barrier did not even shake it this time.

"What is happening?"

The Priestess was flabbergasted. Many people around were looking at her, thinking it was her doing, but the Priestess was sure it was not her.

But it was then that something else happened.

THUD! THUD!

One after another, the soldiers, the still conscious Priests and Demons, and everyone else with the defense forces, with the exception of the members of Evernight, fell to the ground unconscious.

The only ones left standing in extreme bafflement were the Priestess, Tsubasa, the Empress, the members of Evernight, and surprisingly, the Prime Minister and the Bureau Chief.

"What is going on?! Are you okay?!"

The Prime Minister yelled as he tried to wake up the Field Commander. However, there was no effect at all, even if he gave the poor soldier a few slaps.

"What is happening?"

The Priestess sighed in relief as she checked a few nearby unconscious Priests. Everyone was just asleep, and there seemed to be no harm that befell over them.

"Do no fret. Everyone is just asleep."

A voice echoed into everyone\'s ears. And the voice surprisingly came in front, where the barrier was.

As everyone turned their heads to the owner of the voice they heard just now, they saw a white-robed woman with a golden crown and accessories. Everyone felt her clothes were familiar, and they realized that the clothes were similar to the [Divine Vestments] the Priestess was currently wearing. The woman was touching the barrier, causing the magic circle to glow and strengthen the barrier even more. 

Then, the woman walked towards everyone. It was rather hard to gaze at her straight. Her visage gave the feeling of divinity. She was definitely a being above everyone.

The Priestess gazed at the woman. Her eyes, for some strange reason, were filled with longing. She realized her eyes began to let out tears, and it confused the Priestess even more.

"It seemed that you might not be able to recognize me, but your soul did, my beloved seamstress."

The woman spoke as she stood in front of the Priestess after a few strange strides. She traversed a wide distance in a few steps despite seemingly walking at a normal pace.

But what the woman had said baffled everyone here.

The woman called the Priestess her seamstress. What was going on?

Everyone else had zero idea what was happening. However, the members of Evernight had quite a familiar sensation as they gazed at the woman in white robes.

But then, the answer came as a figure appeared near them.

"She is the same as me but from a higher realm."

Magwayen declared as the members of Evernight looked at her.

The woman in white robes was the avatar of the Goddess of Light, Amaterasu.

With Amaterasu\'s beloved follower in danger, she decided to reveal herself and help out.

But as if the presence of two Goddesses were not enough, pressure began spreading from another source.

"Just what do you think you are doing?"

A familiar voice entered the Priestess\' ears.

"Sixteenth?"

The Priestess voiced out in surprise. After all, the [Eye of Amusement] never really tried to appear in public. Yet, here she was with all the witnesses around.

Unfortunately, Sixteenth was not in the mood to speak to the Priestess. After all, she was here to criticize the involvement of an outsider in this world they managed.