Mutagen

Light and Darkness contended with each other as the bright beam of light and the black spiral of Miasma clashed above the forest.

Many trembled at the sight of the clash of the two forces. The collision between the two created no tremor or shockwave. It was just the sheer amount of energy produced by the two that made their knees weakened. Just what would have happened if that beam of light went straight towards the races fleeing below? Not even their ash would probably remain.

Diwata Danaya was very lucky. Mark had taken her place and received the giant"s attack directly. Her life would have ended already together with many of her people if he did not intervene.

Flapping his wings above the lush forest of the mountain, Mark continued to receive the inconceivable attack. Each of it was already glowing bright red, and the force behind his it caused the trees below to sway. And yet, he seemed to be struggling.

It would be hard for everyone watching in the distance. But very slowly, Mark was being pushed back. Furthermore, the end of the attack was very far from sight as the giant seemed to be continuously feeding energy towards the attack.

"Old Man! I can barely absorb this beam! What is going on?!"

Mark bellowed in frustration.

He was not only getting pushed back, but his Miasma could barely absorb the energy from the attack of the giant. Most of the strength in the attack was either dispersing in the surroundings. Some of it was negating a part of his Miasma, causing him to make more effort to resist it than necessary.

Mark thought that he would be able to absorb this energy slowly and strengthen himself in the process. But it seemed that it was not the case at all.

"Of course, it will." The Old Man replied in Mark"s mind. "The energy in that attack and your Miasma are two contending forces. Miasma will absorb and contaminate. On the other hand, that light will erase everything it touched. That light can erase Miasma, but since Miasma is consuming a part of it while contaminating the other part, both energies can negate each other. Don"t expect to use it to strengthen yourself, just its raw energy can kill you like poison."

The reply from the Old Man made Mark made frown deeper. It was no wonder now. But still, he was not on the winning side here. If the giant did not stop this beam any soon, he would end up being pushed towards the direction the attack was aimed at, the Stone Fortress.

"Tsk! Since you will not stop, then, I"ll just go on the offensive!"

Mark grumbled as his body released Miasma covering his body. He had no plan to continue to endure this h.e.l.l of an attack. Then, ignoring the two diameter beam of light in front, several surges of Miasma flew its side, aiming for the giant"s clump of huge eyes on it back.

Of course, the eyes saw the surges of black smoke flying towards it. However, it could not comprehend what was happening at all. Being infected, while it knew how to attack, its intelligence was too lacking for it to be able to defend itself. Furthermore, counter-attack came too fast for it to react at all.

Thus, the surges of Miasma landed on the ginormous and disgusting clumps of eyes that released the beam of light.

GROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!

Sure enough, the giant staggered backward while wailing in pain. It trashed around the surroundings, toppling every tree and even damaging the foot of the mountain. The best thing, the beam of light was interrupted.

Mark took a deep breath as she stretched his wings. His wings felt a bit numb. All the burden in resisting the beam of light was put on these wings.

However, there as not a single second to spare.

He stretched his wings not only to release its numbness but also to prepare for his next attack.

His wings glowed as bright as before as suddenly blurred from everyone"s sight.

THOOM!

That was when the shockwave from the flap of his four wings was felt from behind. In an instant, he was already nearing the giant was still wailing in pain. Even for the infected, [Biter Types] was having a hard time because their bodies were basically still living.

Of course, while the Miasma hit the eyes on its back, there was barely any damage dealt on the eyes. Mark"s attack only caused severe pain but did not manage to fester the parts it touched.

Miasma was surely being negated in contact with the giant"s body.

"What a troublesome creature."

Mark said as he maneuvered out of the way.

As he flew closer, despite his speed and the giant still in pain, the tentacles and undamaged eyes on the giant"s body were following his movements. Seeing him getting closer, hundreds of smaller beams of light shot towards him.

Mark was forced to evade while he created a s.h.i.+eld of Miasma that would block those attacks that he could not. He felt like a fighter jet in an arcade game dodging attacks from the boss that was several times the plane"s size.

If his Miasma could affect this giant, this battle would have been faster. He could just cause the giant to rot despite being alive. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Then, if he could not use his Miasma to harm the giant...

Two crystals flew appearing from Mark"s body. He started to charge both the [Photokinesis Mental Crystal] and the [Lightning Mental Crysta] for an all-out attack. Due to the sheer size of the giant, small attacks would barely affect it unless it was like his Miasma that had unique characteristics and effects.

But of course, it seemed that it would not be simple.

The giant might have felt the energy Mark was gathering. Disregarding the pain, the giant felt on the eyes on its back, it jumped towards Mark, trying to swat him like a fly.

Before, when the races fought it, its movements were sluggish and slow. Now, on all fours, it was moving at an alarming speed. Its huge right hand appeared before Mark amidst the beams of light flying everywhere.

Mark flapped his wings and retreated. He did not want to be touched by this giant. Not because the attack would kill him and turn him into meat paste in one hit, it was because of the aura that covered its body. After all, the old man specifically told him to avoid this aura.

As Mark dodged the right hand, causing it to continue downwards, the left palm immediately came after. Unlike the first hand that as trying to swat him away, the second was trying to grab him.

Mark flew out of the left hand"s trajectory, turning into a black mist that circled fast around the giant"s outstretched left arm. As he was rather close to its skin, he could feel the aura almost brush around his body. Even without touching it, he could feel the searing hot temperature from it. If not for the aura"s dark color, Mark would have thought that it might be how devils felt after being sprayed with holy water.

He then appeared in front of the giant"s face. The difference in size sure was perplexing. The pupil of the biggest eye on the giant"s face was already as tall as Mark.

As Mark appeared and disappeared, the giant was not able to react as he appeared in front of its face. 

Mark then bent down, his horns and veins glowing brightly. Using all the energy reserves on both crystals on Mark"s hands, his body served as the conductor. Both lightning and light energy gathered in his body, then mixed with Miasma and fire energy. Four elements gathered, causing Mark a bit of pain. But this was worth it.

A small ball of light appeared between his horns. The ball was glowing while its surface was all black, releasing black surges of electricity, and having a temperature hotter than magma. It was just a small ball, but its appearance and creation caused the surroundings to tremble.

And before the giant could comprehend what was happening, the Cero... Ahem, the ball of light burst forth into an enormous beam of black, electrifying, searing, light.

The beam immediately tore an enormous hole on the giant"s face. A large part of its eyes vanished into a hole that pa.s.sed through its head. Its flesh, blood, and brain, which was touched by the black light, evaporated instantly.

But that was not the end.

Mark swayed his body, causing the beam of light to pa.s.s through the giant"s body several times, tearing it into several large pieces.

He thought that it was enough and was about to stop, it was when the Old Man"s voice hurriedly echoed in his mind.

"Don"t stop! Pulverize everything! A single part of that thing remaining can cause it to revive! Don"t bother with the collateral damage! Just erase that thing"s existence!"

Hearing that, Mark nodded. He was holding back a bit as he did not want to destroy the surroundings more than necessary. But it could not be helped if that was the case.

The beam of light from the center of his horns scattered similar to the light emitted by a flashlight. This ensured that all of the remaining parts of the giant was erased, up to a single eyeball.

While he did that, Mark had confirmed what the Old Man was afraid of. Even though the brain was damaged and the body was torn into pieces, the remaining parts of the giant"s body were wriggling as it tried to join back together. 

Mark was quite interested in what the giant would end up after it rejoined its remaining parts. But with that thought going in his mind, the Old Man shouted to absolute not try it.

Finally, the attack stopped. Nothing seemed to be left of the giant. The energy from the two crystals was also depleted completely. It would need several days from now on to recharge it.

Mark took a deep breath, and the glow in his body disappeared. Of course, he did not revert to normal. He needed to confirm the surroundings before becoming complacent.

Looking down below, the damage he and the giant did was tremendous. A large patch of the forest was erased, and the soil beneath was scorched. There was even fire spreading in some parts of the forest, which the races immediately tried to control. Mark looked to the northwest, it seemed that his initial attack that bore a hole on the giant"s face also tore a part of the mountain.

It was a necessary sacrifice of nature, though. This could not be helped from happening.

Mark was searching if there was still remnants of the giant remaining. And thus, he decided to land.

But then...

SHOOOOOOM!!!

A bright beam of light tore through the forest. The beam that was only about two feet in diameter took everyone by surprise. Unexpectedly, the target was not Mark. The beam of light flew at a fast speed towards the Stone Fortress.

As the beam reached the walls of the fortress, a large tear in s.p.a.ce opened. The beam of light went straight into that tear. Behind that tear in s.p.a.ce, the Old Man stood with his right hand outstretched.

Mark immediately went towards where the beam of light came from saw a fist-sized eyeball using four tentacles to prop itself up.

Seeing Mark, the eyeball stopped its attacks and tried to flee. But of course, it was impossible to let that happen. He caught up to it and pinned it down, using a spike created from his blood.

Despite being pierced by the spike, the eyeball still struggled as it tried to break free. There, Mark threw a ball of black fire unto the eyeball incinerating it to ashes.

After the eyeball turned to dust, however, a ball of light about the size of a basketball, escaped from it. Mark could tell that the ball of light was just a manifestation of pure energy. Remembering what the Old Man said, Mark was wary about this ball of light.

And then, horror had struck.

The ball of light flew towards Mark. Being caught off guard and because of the short distance, the only thing that Mark could do was to s.h.i.+eld himself.

But then...

Nothing happened to him...

There, he realized that the ball of light was not flying on its own, but was being sucked by the [Psycrystal] on his arm.

TINK! PLOP!

The sound of a gla.s.s that plopped unto the soil was heard. Mark looked down and saw a crystal with a small sun inside that unto the ground.