278 Loss and Death, The Fall of the Death Valleys Emperor (1/2)

Day 41 – 7:00 PM – Apostles of Contemporary Times Monastery, Barangay Anoling, General Nakar, Quezon

Mark jumped down from the roof of the monastery and entered the intact part of the monastery away from the battle. Staying on the roof started to feel uncomfortable due to the rain. Although he could maintain his body temperature due to being able to control his blood, it was not the case for the unconscious girl he brought away from the battlefield.

He laid the girl down on a bed inside one of the rooms in the second floor and went back to the already decimated side of the monastery building. After finding a rather good area where he could see the whole fight to death of the criminals of Death Valley Settlement, he sat down casually. He did not even bother hiding and was really sitting in the open. However, no one was able to notice him as he watched the show. They were all busy fending for themselves and trying their best to survive the dangerous situation.

With the unnatural darkness of the night, it was quite hard to see. If not for the fact that his sight was enhanced before, Mark would find it hard to see the current situation. As for the people below, they used the headlights of their vehicles to light up the front and see their enemies. If they did not do that, not only that they would look like blind people but the flashes from their guns would disorient their vision.

Adrik steeled his mind and flew towards the whale to distract it while the others try to damage the already injured whale.

Mark watched the transformed Adrik. He noticed that even though the father and son had the similar abilities, they also had differences. The Dragonified Drake was red in color while Adrik's was black. The differences were not only in color but also characteristics and abilities.

In Drake's case, the scales in his body were large and looked like pointed metal or gravel. The most apparent thing in Drake's transformation was his glowing mouth which indicated his ability to breathe fire. Drake was also more oriented with strength and defense.

On the other hand, the Emperor's scales were small and lined neatly. Unlike Drake, Adrik's transformation was more oriented with speed. The shape of his scales seemed to aid him to be able to fly with less air resistance. It seemed to be the reason he personally went to distract the whale. With this speed, the whale would have no way to catch him at all. If it came to worse, this speed could also help him escape.

If Drake had this speed, Mark was sure he would have a harder time to catch him and he might even have been able to escape. Still, Mark wondered what happened to him though. It was because the twisted arm he had was too obvious even after he transformed. That arm was dangling oddly and was bent in the wrong direction and place.

BAM!

”Grah!”

One of the fighters in front let out a painful yell as a Mutated Infected with stone like muscles bashed both its robust arms onto his body. It was too sudden that he was unable to dodge. Normally, although the infected would attack in different patterns, their main priority was to bite others. This Mutated Infected however was behaving differently from others and was attacking everything like a madman.

The Mutator that was hit by the rock like muscles of the Mutated Infected was pushed back a few meters and hit other people behind him. Those people behind soon stood back up but the man that was directly hit did not as his chest was severely caved in. It seemed that he already breathe his last.

Their line of defense was being pushed back. Almost everyone was already out of their wits and their hearts were being slowly filled with fear. Despite their guns and abilities as a either a Mutator or an Evolver, they were not able to push the threat back and rather, they were the ones being pushed into a corner.

”GAHAH!!! AHHH! HELP!”

Another man yelled for help as he was pulled by the infected and became a living feast for them. He struggled to escape and because of that, the fingers of the infected that grabbed on his body pierced his stomach and tore his flesh. Feeling the pain, the man fell down spilling blood on the muddy ground.

Then, a scene that grabbed Mark's attention happened.

A Mutator holding a machete in his right hand hacked one of the infected without any shred of mercy. Mark knew that the man was a Mutator since he was using his other hand that had long nails to pierce the eyes and destroy the brain of the infected. Due to the muddy ground and the dark environment however, he slipped. The moment he felt down, an infected jumped towards him and managed to take a bite on his neck.

He managed to kill the infected but it was already too late.

Following the routine, he would become an infected with that bite. However, this was the first time Mark was able to see what would happen to a Mutator after being bitten.

Finally, the sight unfolded. Screaming loud, the man really started to turn. However, unlike normal infected, some changes happened to his body. His already long nails became longer, stronger and even sharper. Not only that but his hair also started to grow and started to look like sharp metal.

Even with the changes, the man obviously became a high tiered Mutated Infected.

The Mutator that became infected lunged towards the middle of the battlefield. Carnage ensued as he mowed down his former comrades with his inhumane strength and speed.

”I see, so that is what happens.”

Mark murmured. It seemed that the abilities of the Mutator would improve almost instantly after being bitten by the infected once more. However, they would really turn into a true infected.

He had a question in his mind though. Mark was wondering if a Mutator still had a chance to retain becoming a Mutator after the second bite. If that was the case, it would be a good way to improve once abilities further though it would be quite a life and death gamble.

The men below fell in a bitter struggle even further as more and more of their comrades joined the ranks of the infected. Furthermore, each of the Mutators that were bitten became stronger Mutated Infected which was difficult to fight due to various reasons.

Mark's sight left the people below and faced the direction where the whale was. He noticed some people running from the north. It seemed that the reinforcements came already. They took too long however since they were on foot. As for the vehicles they should have used, all of those had been crushed by the whale already during the time it rampaged inside the settlement.

Ignoring the reinforcements, Mark turned to the sky.

”Time's up, I guess.”

He murmured.

With those words, Mark vanished from the second floor of the Monastery building.

Unexpectedly, Mark appeared about a meter away above the back of the whale.

He then started at Adrik who was dumbfounded to his sudden appearance. Adrik then heard his voice.

”Fall.”

Mark's eyes glowed brightly as he stared at Adrik. With those glowing eyes as cue, Adrik froze mid-air as he felt a sudden burst of pain in his head. The pain burst forth from the inside which only not made him unable to react and endure but also disabled his senses immediately.