406 The Worst Punishment, Screams of Fright by Sunrise and Yells of Cheers by Sunse (1/2)

Day 69 - 6:18 AM - 2nd Floor, Maryhill Retreat House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal

The soldiers tended to their duties early while most of the other people were already preparing for departure.

It was when the scream of a man was heard.

Everyone was disturbed by the sudden scream that echoed across the whole building.

The other night, everyone heard a woman's scream. This morning, it was a man's.

Nevertheless, because the soldiers disclosed the truth to everyone about the previous instance, everyone went into their alert mode as this happened.

However, it was not the end of it.

”AAHHHHH!!!”

”KYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

Frightened shrieks of two women followed the man's scream.

The soldiers, armed with their guns, rushed towards where the screams came from.

Unexpectedly, the screams came from where the survivors they rescued from the Municipal Hall of Taytay were resting.

The soldiers kicked the door open and rushed in as they thought that it was an emergency situation. As the soldiers entered, however, they saw that the survivors seemed to be safe.

Still, the situation seemed to be quite odd.

Aside from the two women, who seemed to be the ones that screamed and were now huddled in a corner, frightened, everyone else stood facing a particular direction. All their faces were unsightly and even looked disgusted.

”What happened here?”

Lieutenant Baller came in and questioned Harold, who was among the survivors.

Among everyone else, his face had the most unsightly expression. It was as if a large part of his plans fell out of its algorithm.

As for the question of the lieutenant, there was no need for anyone to answer. Since everyone was looking in the same direction, he reflexively turned his head towards what they were looking at.

There, the injured Prince was on his bed. He was asleep, no, by the manner his eyes were opened wide and rolled up, it was more like he fainted.

However, that was not the most pressing issue. Everyone knew that the person was Prince, but no one could recognize him anymore. At least, not by his facial appearance.

His face... was unrecognizable.

Parts of it were swelling, some places were putrefying, and the broader areas were actually rotting.

The handsome face he was proud of was awfully destroyed.

***

Mark entered through the window being welcomed back by Mei and the little girls.

Turning towards the window, stretched his back while he looked outside the window that faced the steep side of the hill. Even if the city was already devoid of people, the scenery from his place was something to admire. No, perhaps, the lack of people was the element that made it look this way.

The girls were already preparing to leave like the others. That was when most satisfying screams he had not heard for some time echoed throughout the building.

”Gege, those screams...”

Mei asked as she saw Mark's satisfied expression.

”Don't mind them,” Mark replied. ”Someone annoying just received a punishment he deserved.”

”Okay.”

Mei nodded with a smile. Of course, she realized whose voice that scream was. And she was also glad. It seemed Mark made a move to get rid of the disgusting stare being aimed at them. She was sensitive to those kinds of stares aimed at her. It was impossible for her to not notice, and she was already feeling very uncomfortable.

As Mark started to help to move their things out of the room, his mood was quite lighter than before.

Releasing his annoyance and anger last night was worth it.

***

While some of the soldiers stayed on their lookout duties and everyone else rested, he slipped into the room of the survivors on the second floor.

Using his [Shadow Mist Movement] and [Optical Camouflage], unless someone around was sensitive to temperature, sounds, or smell, he was undetectable.

Without anyone able to notice, he stood in front of the bed where Prince was resting.

Because it was still the duty of the soldiers to watch over these survivors, the medics already tended to Prince's injuries. His arms were splinted and bandaged while his back was covered with cold press. He also had other wounds he got from being smashed on the ground hard.

The soldiers actually wanted to use a bottle of [Regeneration Medicine] that Bay City successfully replicated from the research Mark delivered. However, Mark forbade them to do it.

When they asked for the reason. Mark replied with a logical thing they could not refute.

”It was better to reserve the medicine for the soldiers in fighting in the frontlines. Giving it to a survivor that is only being protected is just a waste.”

What he said was right in a sense, and the soldiers could only agree. While Prince was a Mutator that might be of help, they were still survivors that they rescued. Instead of making them fight, the soldiers rather put them in protection. Making them participate in the battles were just a last resort.

As such, Prince did not receive any treatment more than he deserved.

It was not like these survivors knew about the medicine either.

When Mark saw Prince, he was disgusted.

Beside Prince on the bed, two women slept soundly. It seemed that this narcissist already managed to seduce these to on becoming his women. Unfortunately, his heaven turned into hell last night.

One by one, Mark touched the heads of everyone in the room.

Harold seemed to have felt some danger and woke up a bit. He returned to sleep almost immediately after seeing nothing. That allowed Mark to touch his head too.

In every touch, Mark released the same surge of Miasma he used to make Vem, the Mutator of Lust, sleep. This ensured that no one would disturb him as he punished the annoying fly.

The worst punishment that a narcissist like him could receive.

To destroy his handsome face to the point of no return.