Mutagen

Day 365 - 1:12 PM - West Coastal Area, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

The tyrant group, The Reapers, shoved people aside. They intended to pass through the opened path without even talking to the robed stranger who opened it.

It was quite the arrogance they had. They thought everyone in Muria Sacred Fortress knew of them and had to make way when they demanded it.

But to everyone's surprise, the tyrant group froze in their tracks. They seemed to be struggling. Nonetheless, to their utter disbelief, their feet refused to move forward.

It was only then they noticed. The robed stranger was looking at them. Although the hood he wore prevented anyone from seeing his face clearly, they could see his red glowing eyes staring at them.

"Y-You! Wh-what d-did y-you d-do to u-us!!!"

The member of the Reapers leading their group did his best to speak despite the noisy clattering of his teeth.

Unfortunately for them, the stranger showed no intention of answering the paralyzed group as he shifted his stare back to the members of the 94th Satellite Settlement.

"Pass already. We don't have much time. Or are all of you waiting for death?"

The stranger's words were quite harsh, but he was right. They did not have much time.

"QUICK! MOVE! MOVE!"

Silver and the other members of the Bladeshifters began ushering the residents of their settlement through the opened path.

And considering the awful reputation of the Reapers, even their own people did not bother with them. The people present who did not belong to the 94th Satellite Settlement showed worry and dissatisfaction. Most of them decided not to follow the stupidity of the Reapers and stayed put.

But, of course, not all of them. Some people tried to mix themselves with the residents of the 94th Sattelite Settlement, trying to slip through.

Those people did not succeed. They found themselves in the same state as the members of the Reapers, frozen in place, unable to move forward. They could only tear up in dismay. They were afraid and desperate. They only wanted to flee this hell on earth as soon as possible.

But as if some consideration had been given to them, the hooded stranger spoke.

"Those with children. Pass through with the 94th. As for the others, wait your turn. Any more annoyance and I'm leaving."

Those words gave relief to many people. The families with children hurried forward, and the members of the Bladeshifters also helped them.

The stranger eyed the frozen members of the Reapers. They were all glaring at him. They were not willing to take a single step back.

And since they were not reflecting at all, the stranger did something.

Everyone was surprised as all the members of the Reapers fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding through their orifices.

But not willing to offend the robed stranger, no one went to check the unconscious members of the Reapers.

The people hurried up as much as they could. However, the next disturbance struck.

"Wha?!!!"

Voices of surprise and fear echoed among the people. And the cause was the sudden darkness that enveloped the surroundings.

The day suddenly turned into night. It induced more terror to the hearts already filled with fear.

With the already low visibility getting even lower, the people became more scared and fearful as they traversed the road.

From time to time, the people tried looking at the robed stranger helping them. However, they noticed him looking at the peak of the erupting Mount Muria.

There, the strange lights clashed several times. The darkness of the surroundings only caused those lights to be seen more clearly.

But then, another light appeared. There were three lights now moving and hovering in the ash-covered sky.

And then, the lights vanished as if they never existed. The darkness ended, and the meager light of the day returned. The fear and confusion continued. Nonetheless, those emotions were overwhelmed by the people's will to survive this catastrophe.

RUMBLE!

Unfortunately, Mount Muria was not one to show mercy.

An earthquake stronger than the ones before arrived. The ground around Mount Muria showed cracks, slowly forming chasms. One of such cracks appeared at the rear area where the stranded people gathered. The affected people tried to flee. However, the earthquake still continued, causing many of them to lose balance and ability to stand.

To the dismay of the witnesses, more than a dozen people fell into the bottomless chasm. Their horrified screams as they fell to their deaths echoed into the ears of the witnesses. Such a scene prompted the refugees to travel faster, even if they had to be more reckless.

The earthquake stopped soon enough, but the fear everyone had only intensified. What if another earthquake came? What if the cracks open under them next?

"TSK!"

An audible click of his tongue was heard from the robed stranger. He moved his hand, followed by the floating crystals. The lava flow he was stopping already accumulated more than he could stop. Thus, he tried diverting it in a different direction. Nonetheless, such a solution would not last as lava continued to flow down the mountain.

"Faster! Move faster!"

People began shouting. Fortunately, no stampede happened, as the robed stranger was still present.

RUMBLE!

Another earthquake right after the previous one. It was not as strong, but it caused the already-opened cracks to widen considerably.

Even though they were unsteady on their feet due to the shaking, the refugees persevered. They moved as fast as they could, even if they had to fall a few times.

CRACK!

An audible glass-like cracking entered everyone's ears. It was such a mysterious sound. What could create such a sound in the middle of this mess?

Nonetheless, everyone felt it. The tenser atmosphere after the sound entered their ears.

BOOOM!!!

A stronger eruption began. Mount Muria released more lava, ash, and molten rock. Many people screamed in horror as meteorite-like rocks began falling from the sky after being spewed out from the erupting volcano.

"MOVE! MOVE! QUICK! FIND COVER IF YOU CAN!"

It was not just the members of Blade Shifters. The other survivor groups leading other settlements began to cooperate to evacuate the people faster.

Finding cover was a good call. The rain of molten rocks was coming, and there was no way to face such an event other than hiding.

However, where would they find a place to hide in this situation? The forest was burning, and there was lava blocking the roadside.

There was no place to hide at all.

"I should have brought Spera," Some nearby heard the robed stranger mutter. "But she's also busy with the evacuation on the other side."

"Oh well..."

Those were the last words they heard from the robed stranger as black, ethereal wings sprouted from his back.

Of course, that scene shocked the witnesses. The robed stranger then soared to the sky, facing the incoming rain of molten rocks.

***

Seeing the incoming danger, Mark racked his brain. This was the first time he would need to handle this kind of situation. The rocks were of different sizes, but the danger came from the fact that the rocks spewed by the eruption had high temperatures. Regular volcanic eruptions would not result in this kind of danger.

However, the amount of lava exiting Mount Muria this time was far too much for its dormant craters to spew, causing a larger eruption due to accumulated pressure. This rain of high-temperature rocks should be the result of the craters widening during the eruption.

"What should I do with this?"

Mark murmured with a frown. It would have been easier if there were no people to protect below.

Marking the big rocks explode into pieces was a no-go. The rocks might end up in smaller pieces, but they were still at high enough temperatures to severely harm people.

Then, the only way was to divert the rain of rocks.

Mark concentrated as the same crystals he used to part the lava flow earlier floated in front of his right hand.

One was the [Wing Manipulation Mental Crystal], and the other was his new toy. The [Telekinesis Mental Crystal]. It was obvious where this new toy came from. It was the [Mental Crystal] containing the [Telekinetic] powers of the late General Piliang.

How did Mark get it? There was no way Mark would approach the dead General's body and close his eyes just for sympathy. The moment he closed the dead General's open eyes, he slipped the crystal into the corpse's mouth, even concealing it with a bit of [Miasma]. Mark even stood in place, hiding the corpse behind him while inside the cathedral.

He also behaved in a way where the attention of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice would be distributed only between him and Luna's group.

Before leaving, Mark successfully acquired the crystal without letting the enemy notice it all.

The Deity of Soul Sacrifice would definitely be furious that Mark did not only cause the Night Goddess to go berserk. Mark also stole the ability he gave General Piliang.

As the two [Mental Crystals] glowed brightly, Mark created a wall of wind and invisible energy. He used the two in tandem to divert the direction of the incoming rain of molten rocks.

After waving his hand in motion towards the north, the rocks were blown away in that direction.

The people below were surprised to see such a miracle unfold. They momentarily froze in their steps in both awe and relief.

"If you all are just going to stand there instead of moving, I'm leaving."

Mark's voice entered everyone's ears, making them snap from stupor.

Although Mark's only goal here was to save Limabela's younger brother and his group, saving a few more people would not hurt. It would even make the military owe him more by bringing them to safety. Of course, he would not be bothered to save everyone, especially the troublesome ones.

In fact, the evacuating people thought the same now, as they all left the unconscious members of the Reapers behind. They would rather abandon the unscrupulous group than offend their current savior.

Soon, the survivors left the area filled with lava flow. With Mark opening the path for them, although the road was still filled with dangers, the casualties were kept to a minimum.

What about the Reapers? They were gone. None of them woke up, even after the lava flow Mark diverted flowed back and swallowed the unconscious group to ashes.

Maybe... some of them woke up while being melted by the lava. Unfortunately, no one was left there to hear their final screams.

After a few hours, the last residents of Muria Sacred Fortress reached the Kudus outpost, now covered in flames.

The worst thing to happen in the current state of Indonesia was a volcanic eruption. Since most of mainland Indonesia was covered in flora, the flames caused by the volcanic eruption continued to spread throughout Java.

Just in several hours, the flames had already spread several kilometers away from Mount Muria, and it was still spreading fast.

It would not be surprising if Indonesia's current Green Hell transformed into a burnt wasteland in the span of several days. Not to mention that no one would know how long it would take before Mount Muria stopped spewing lava.

Several more hours passed. The people Mark escorted were all tired, but none of them complained. They were still inside the danger zone of the volcanic eruption. None of them wanted to rest until they reached safety.

They all persevered as they followed the cleared road until they noticed vehicles approaching in the distance.

The military had come to rescue the last survivors of the fortress.

With this, Mark's work here was done. He left before anyone noticed him.

As the rescue began, some people looked for their savior. Unfortunately, no one found him. It was as if he never existed in the first place.

Some began to wonder who the stranger was. Considering that he had wings, some began thinking that he was an angel. Or maybe a demon. But whatever he was, they were thankful.

But while most of them wondered, only the members of the 94th Sattelite Settlement had a clue. The stranger said he was there because of Silver's sister. Then, they would see him again if they went with Silver.