Mutagen

Mark lay on the bed, awake, and was thinking about things deeply.

The things he said to the fox woman, he was not joking about any of it. He planned to wage war against Auraboros since the time they tried to touch Mei.

Nevertheless, he was still not sure how he would do it.

After all, it was not just some local syndicate but an international secret organization. If not for the apocalypse that started, he might have never heard anything about it.

Adding every information he had about the organization and the things he learned and experienced, there was one thing that he concluded.

Unless he had someone in the inner circle of the organization to get some information, it would be hard to destroy that group they call Auraboros.

If he could not take out the enemy straight from its roots, it would be just like where this organization got its name. The Ouroboros. Their end would just become another beginning.

The most crucial thing in uprooting this gigantic tree was something he learned after meeting Bathala.

As Auraboros was an organization mainly composed of non-humans, it would not be surprising if the main person behind it might also be a former G.o.d. If that was the case, the issue was not fighting, but how to find that person.

Bathala had his own s.p.a.ce that even the Observer could not find him. It could also be possible that the ringleader of Auraboros was the same. Furthermore, there might not be just one. Maybe, there was more.

The fact that The Great One that he encountered before was stronger than the Deity of Bloodshed was also there.

This idea meant that he might need to find several dimension pockets that he had no idea where to find.

"Hah..."

Mark sighed.

There were very few times that his emotions manifested and affected him. What happened earlier was one of those times. After all, he saw how Emika suffered in his vision. Even though he managed to thwart the threat, he still saw it.

That was why when someone from the same organization that tried to harm his valued people proposed cooperation, he was infuriated. Furthermore, quite an amount of the emotions he absorbed from others leaked out at that time. It caused even Mei and the others to feel a bit suffocated.

Even the anger he felt back when he saw how everyone died in Bay City came back.

Affected by those deep-seated emotions, he immediately rejected the proposal without thinking.

Now that he calmed down, he knew that while it was an honest declaration, it was the most inefficient decision. 

Maybe, he should have accepted it first, use the connections, and slowly track down the roots of the organization.

Well, it was too late now.

All he could do now was kill everything from that organization that would block his path and while slowly tracing the source.

Thinking about it, it was not bad at all.

Just how frustrated the organization would become when things started to sway away from their favor.

Deciding that he would just leave things for the future and face the current situation, Mark closed his eyes.

However, it seemed like there was still no time for him to sleep at all.

Opening his eyes with a frown, he slowly removed Mei"s arms wrapped on his body. Then, without trying to wake her up, he vanished from the bed with a puff of black mist.

Appearing and disappearing throughout the base, Mark arrived at the quite unlikely place he would go.

The house Huey and the others built for the Tribe Elder and her grandchildren.

It was not like he did not like to go here, but as the Elder was already too old, it was better for her if there was not too much disturbance around her.

This time, however, Mark had no choice but to go.

As Mark appeared outside the door, the door abruptly opened. The granddaughter ran out in panic and immediately b.u.mped onto Mark. Being a regular person, even though she was the one who charged with momentum, she was the one who fell on her bottom.

Nevertheless, she did not feel the pain. When she saw that it was Mark who she ran into, she immediately stood up and cried out.

"Master! My Grandmother! SHE!"

Tears were pouring out of her eyes. Sure enough, something unwanted happened.

Mark did not speak and calmly entered the house. 

The house was rather small and simple. It was by the request of the Elder as there were only three of them living there. As such, after entering the door, Mark could see the Elder that was lying down on the bed without moving.

The grandson sat beside the bed. Unlike his sister, he was still calm. However, the worry in his eyes was present.

As Mark entered, the Elder opened her eyes and slowly turned her head.

"You have come."

The Elder said with a smile that was lighted by the [Glowing Blood Metal] installed on the ceiling.

With a frown, Mark approached.

"Just what did you do?"

He asked. His voice was serene and a bit upset.

"Haha." The Elder let out a short laugh. "I felt that something is not right even though I am not receiving an Oracle for some reason. That is why I tried to force myself to see why."

Cough! Cough!

"Grandmother!"

The Elder coughed hard, making her two grandchildren panicked. The two called out loud because the Elder started to cough out blood.

Mark, on the other hand, looked calm. It was already inevitable.

As the Elder was still not able to pa.s.s on her ability, despite her old age, she was still alive. Now, however, it seemed that she tried to touch something that she should not. The protection from her ability could not stop it anymore, and her life was waning slowly.

"Why did you force it? After a glimpse, there was still time to retreat, right?"

Mark asked.

The Elder let her grandaughter wipe the blood off from her mouth and replied weakly.

"Because I saw a glimpse of our demise. After seeing that, anyone will want to see more."

That made Mark frown even more.

"A man shrouded in a black haze. He will arrive when everyone less expected. He seemed to have some history with you and your wife. I know that you wanted to train your people to fight using the current enemies. But now is not the right time..."

The Elder turned towards the ceiling.

"What I saw... You might be able to save your family and close people. But the others, my grandchildren. You are too occupied at the battle. You did not notice."

Mark did not know what to say. If it was the case, then, no wonder that he did not receive any vision about it. The people in the base were important as manpower. However, they were not as important as people who he was close to. 

His relations.h.i.+p with them was not enough to trigger his vision.

So that was why the Elder forced it. The value of her life was gone a long time ago. She was already past her time. And to her, the lives of her grandchildren were far more valuable.

The words of the Elder was getting cryptic. Nevertheless, Mark got the gist of it.

Whoever the man covered in a black haze was, he was planning for a sneak attack. When his attention was on the battlefield, the enemy would try to eliminate his people.

Mark wanted more and explicit information.

However, the Elder had already closed her eyes.

She was still alive. However, she was likely not to last till morning.

With her eyes closed, she spoke one last time.

"My only regret is that the powers that flowed through the blood of our family will end at my time. I don"t know how I am going to apologize to our ancestors."

After those words, the Elder finally lost her consciousness.

The two grandchildren called out to their grandmother in tears. However, no matter how they shout, she did not respond.

"You two should cherish your last night with her."

Mark said and was about to return.

"No! My grandmother... She will live! Don"t lie!"

The granddaughter cried out loud, shouting at Mark.

With a serious look, Mark replied.

"Your grandmother was already past her time because of you two. Learn to take care of yourself and your brother already."

"No! Grandmother said that the enemy had a history with you, it"s your fault! That this happened!"

"Don"t be unreasonable."

Mark said with a glare. That glare made the girl step back.

"This is my place, I can kick you two and your tribe out anytime I want. I can"t say that you can"t blame anyone, but be reasonable. This is no one"s fault. Your grandmother did this to protect you two. Don"t put her decision in vain."

With those words, Mark did not wait for a reply. He walked out of the door without closing it.

Mark could understand the sorrow of the two kids. It was too overwhelming that they began to lose reasoning. Aside from their grandmother, they did not have any relatives left. They saw their parents die in front of them and managed to hold on because of their grandmother.

And Mark, who could absorb their emotions, was having a hard time resisting it. He needed to get away as soon as possible until the two stabilized their minds.

"I never expected that I will witness something like this again. And for it to happen here in the Mortal World."

The seductive voice of a woman was heard after Mark went out of the door.

"What are you doing here?"

Mark asked as he looked at the Slave Dryad that he brought back from the Spirit Dimension.

"I felt a burst of lifeforce, so I came here, my dear master."

"Don"t address me like that. Also, what do you know about this?"

Mark warned, along with a question he wanted to ask. It seemed that this Dryad knew about Oracles, or else, she would not be attracted here.

"Okay! Okay!" She sighed. "You see, I saw something like this before. You know, Oracles are not fortune-tellers. They are given omens and prophecies at random from the so-called string of fate. But they never should try to go beyond that. They are not like Clairvoyant people that can see into the future. However, there are times that more experienced Oracles can force to see the future."

Then, the Dryad turned to the house of the Elder.

"Like she did. As I said, I felt a burst of lifeforce. That is why I came here. For Oracles capable of this, they needed to pay their lifeforce. That old woman there is already past her time like you said. She had no lifeforce to pay, that is why the protection from her bloodline was broken. It looks like she was aware of this, but still did it."

With a shrug, the Dryad shook her head.

"I don"t understand you, humans."

Mark heard enough. And thus, he walked away.

But nevertheless, he left a few words to the Dryad.

"It"s not being human is that you don"t understand. It"s having a family of your own."

With those words, Mark vanished from the sight of the Dryad.

She turned back to the house, she could still hear the wailing of the two grandchildren.

She mulled over the words she had just heard.

"Yup, I don"t understand."

The Dryad murmured as she walked away back to where she was staying.

Mark appeared on the branch of the Night Evered Spirit Tree. He looked over the base below and then, towards the veil of fog that covered the whole place.

"I really hate it when things don"t go as planned."

He murmured.

A new threat was waiting. Or was it an old one? Nevertheless, it seemed like he should not wait for the enemy to come and take the initiative instead.

But as he thought that, he frowned once more.

The vortex of magical energy that continuously gathered mana started to slow down.

It was already too late to take the initiative. As vortex waned, it might stop by morning. At that time, the fog and energy around would start to dissipate.

And that was the countdown for the confrontation to start.