Mutagen

Day 366 - 4:21 AM - Riverside Campsite, Demak Ruins, Demak Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

The first-year celebration of the apocalypse was made short. After everyone got their share of food and drinks, most of the attendees went back to rest. Only some people were left after volunteering to clean up. The plan was already set in stone. By morning, the people of this camp would separate from the main group of the survivors of the Muria Sacred Fortress.

The decision was conveyed to everyone during the party. There were some people who showed uncertainty at first. However, in the end, everyone agreed with it.

If the other camp did not want them, there was no need to keep following them. And if staying meant accepting all the baseless accusations and scorn, it was better not to bother.

***

Mark on a large rock by the riverside. On his lap was Abbygale, who was sleeping. As for Mei and the rest, they were in the nearby tents, resting till departure.

As Mark gazed at the silhouette of Mount Muria from afar, still visible due to its reddish peak, footsteps approached him from behind.

"Sir Mark, you should rest too," Edge spoke as he sat at a nearby chair. "Leave the guard duty to us."

"I'm fine," Mark replied without turning his eyes away from the mountain. "You already know. Not only me, but Mei and our daughters are Demons. Sleep isn't a total necessity for us as much as a human, but it is just hard to get rid of the habit. As for me, I'm used to playing games and doing other things all night. I can go about two to three days without sleep unless I'm really tired."

"How about you?" Mark added as he turned to Edge. "You also drank a bit earlier. You're the one who should rest."

"Ah, no worries," Edge shrugged. "I'm not a heavy drinker, but just two glasses is too little for me to get drunk. Besides, it's hard for me to rest. I know they did it with good intentions, but it's not right to throw me and Luna in the same tent when she's slightly drunk."

"Yeah, right," Mark snickered. "She's really under a lot of stress. It's not surprising she downed a whole bottle after the beer touched her lips."

"Yeah..."

Edge's voice trailed off as he replied.

"Are you thinking about the things that lunatic Deity said?"

Mark spoke, sensing what Edge had in mind.

"Is that you're [Empathic] abilities at work?" Edge asked and sighed as he admitted. "Haah... Yeah. That Bearer of Ancient Blood thing. I'm pretty sure that guy looked at Luna and Kana when he said that. I don't know what it meant, but it made me wonder.

The gap between Luna and me still continues to widen."

"You're not trying to go and get bitten, right?"

Mark said jokingly.

"I'm not stupid, alright?" Edge shrugged. "What happened to Luna and the girls is nearly a miracle. I know how rare it is for bitten people to become mutants instead. If I get bitten, I'll likely turn into an [Infected]. There's no point then."

Mark stared at Edge through the corner of his eyes. Compared to a regular person, Edge had higher stamina, strength, and endurance. While part of his abilities came from the fact he was an [Evolver], most of it came from his efforts to catch up with the strength of his beloved.

But it was clear. Despite Edge's efforts, he could not catch up to Luna's current growth. And if Luna really was a Bearer of Ancient Blood, then she would likely be much stronger in the future. Edge was also a Weeb. Although he had no idea what a Bearer of Ancient Blood would mean, such a title was only given to individuals with absurd ancestry in anime and manga.

Those ancestries would awaken at the right time. No. Luna's Ancient Blood might have woken already, considering the strange power she exhibited when she rescued Amisha back then.

As for Edge, he had nothing. He was not special. He was not even a [Mutator]. And being an [Evolver] was not enough at all.

Edge felt that he would soon lose the right to stand beside Luna if the gap continued to widen.

Mark shrugged. It was clear Edge was overthinking things. However, it was not his position to say much about it. There was no point if Edge and Luna would not settle things up themselves. Unfortunately, it might take longer, considering the situation.

WHOMP!

Everyone who was still awake stopped in their steps. They felt a silent tremor in the air as a part of the sky far west turned pitch black.

"They're still not done, huh?"

Mark voiced out as he looked at the pitch-black sky.

It was not the first one. After the Deity of Soul Sacrifice and his Goddess disappeared above Mount Muria, several fluctuations had been felt by everyone from different directions of Java. By the looks of it, the two were still not done with their game of cat and mouse.

Since the Night Goddess was still trying to flee, it would keep her creator from directly meddling with the survivors of Muria Sacred Fortress until she was captured.

And that would not be an easy task.

"Will we really be okay with those kinds of creatures roaming about?"

Edge asked with worry in his eyes.

"It depends," Mark answered. "I already have a fair share of encounters with those kinds of beings. And here I am, still alive."

"They might be powerful beings," Mark added. "But they are not omnipotent. And definitely not immortal. Although, well... You do need enough power to kill them."

Edge stared at Mark. His words were not really helping in any way. Nonetheless, Mark did not seem to be lying.

"Did you escape? Or did you kill them?"

Edge could not help but ask.

"Kill, of course," Mark answered. "You know, depending on the circumstances, killing is much easier than escaping. Sure, it's possible to escape. But escaping won't end the problem. It will just be delaying the inevitable. And because you are busy escaping, you have less time to prepare.

When the end comes, and you're finally cornered, you might end up with neither a way nor courage to face the problem."

Mark gave Edge another glance.

In Edge's current state, Mark's words would have different meanings. It might not just be the answer to his question but also to his circumstances.

"Say... Just curious," Mark decided to change the topic. "What do you want to be? A sword or a shield?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Edge was confused by Mark's sudden question.

However, Mark did not answer Edge's question, prompting him to answer the weird question.

With a shrug, Edge gave his answer.

"I'd rather be both, honestly. A sword alone has less capability to protect, and the shield lacks the capability to attack. A balance of both is completely needed to protect anyone."

"Hmm..." Mark nodded. "I get you. Even Naofumi's shield needed to transform so he could attack. A simple shield alone had limited capabilities unless you were skilled and strong enough to use it like a boomerang or bash it against enemies."

"You really jumped in that direction, huh?"

Edge stared at Mark.

"Yep."

Mark snickered.

Then, Mark suddenly tossed something at Edge, making him catch the items by reflex.

"What?"

Edge looked at the contents of his hand. It was a pair of two marble-sized crystals.

"What is this?"

Edge asked. He was pretty sure Mark would not throw marbles at him to play or something of that sort.

"Put those in your mouth in the next camp before sleeping," Mark answered. "It would be painful, but I'm sure you will be fine."

"Wh-what?"

Edge was utterly confused. But as he was about to question further...

"Ugh, my head..."

Luna's voice entered their ears.

It looked like Luna woke up with a headache. It was not that of a surprising scene.

"Hah..." Edge sighed as he clasped the crystals in his hand and he bid Mark goodbye. "Later."

Edge then ran towards the tent where Luna was.

Mark shrugged as he continued sitting there, being watchful of the surroundings.

After all, some jealous people had been watching them since the celebration earlier.

***

Morning soon came. There were quite a number of people with varying degrees of hangover. It was not the ideal situation before departure. Nonetheless, it was not the worst either. After all, these people were able to unwind during the celebration, and most people needed it severely.

In any case, their hangover would not stop the departure. Not that anyone had a change of heart, either.

It was not just the isolated camp. The main camp was also in the middle of packing up to leave. Their next stop would be Semarang, where they plan to set up a more permanent camp with the military outpost there as its center.

While helping the others pack up, the people noticed a new addition to their camp.

"What's that?"

Luna asked, pointing at Annica and the pets gathered by the riverside.

There, aside from the two giant lizards and the golden dog, a moving boulder could be seen.

No, it was not a boulder. It was a giant tortoise. Since the tortoise was a highly evolved animal, it was hard to determine its original species.

Its species aside, the giant turtle was there, getting along with Annica.

"It appeared earlier while you were struggling with your hangover," Mark answered Luna. "It's just watching by the water and looked intelligent enough to be tamed, so we did."

Luna could only stare at Mark in silence. Shaking her head, Luna just decided to accept it. Mark and his members were absurd people, after all.

In any case, it seemed that Mark intended to make the pets pull carts for them. No one knew where or when, but there were actually several black-colored metal carts now waiting for them to load their supplies and equipment.

Everyone was sure it was Mark's doing again and began to accept whatever his antics were.

Soon, everyone was ready to depart. The isolated camp actually finished faster than the main camp. Considering the difference in population, it was not surprising.

At this time, Mark looked at the direction of the main camp again. His eyes fell on several soldiers seemingly waiting at the border of the main camp. The troublesome General Mark encountered in the market was also there, with another fat man with the same rank as their similar uniforms showed.

"What are those people doing?"

General Wijaya noticed what Mark was staring at and voiced out.

"They were waiting for us."

Mark said with a rather playful smile.

"Us?"

General Wijaya was confused.

"Yep," Mark replied with a nod. "I mean... No one told them we are going somewhere else, right?"

"Ah..."

It was not only General Wijaya who reacted but everyone who heard their conversation.

That was right. No one informed the main camp of their plans.

However, that did not explain why those soldiers were waiting there.

It was when Mark explained.

"They had someone watching us, you see. So, they definitely knew we had a party last night and had a lot of food and other supplies. They should be thinking of making demands to let us follow them."

"But those food came from you."

General Wijaya was incensed.

"Well, they don't know and probably won't care even if they did."

Mark replied, and General Wijaya had no way to refute that.

The young General himself experienced how much of a hoodlum those people were.

"Just don't bother with them. What can they do, anyway? Point guns at us? For what? To make us come with them? Or to force us to cough up our supplies?

We still have a long journey ahead of us. Let's focus on that."

Mark said, making everyone agree.

And the preparations were done. The isolated camp began to move.

The group of soldiers looked smug as they saw the isolated camp begin to move.

But to their utter disbelief, the isolated camp began moving in the complete opposite direction they were.

"What is going on?"

A soldier voiced out.

In the end, the soldiers moved, trying to catch up to the people of the isolated camp.