Mutagen

Day ▋▋ - ▋▋:▋▋ ▋▋ - Underground Crystal Basin, Unknown Dimension

The way Alana blurted that out made everyone direct a strange glare towards her. Even Bathala was the same. What he said was mostly a joke that an Old Man like him could say. But this girl totally bit it.

"Uhm... Sorry..."

Alana said with all awkwardness. It was just her Otaku's way of thinking. After all, there were anime characters that ended up having gods or goddesses as their life partners. She thought that it might be interesting, well, if she met a male that was not like that blue thing.

Furthermore, she was single and was without any open suitor. There was nothing wrong with being excited at that the thought that Bathala gave them.

To thwart the awkwardness, Mark, who was the only one that understood Alana's train of thought, decided to get back to the topic.

"About the voice, do you know who it is?"

Mark asked. After all, he understood the other voices that he heard before in his head, aside from that single one. But even so, the person felt very familiar.

"That should be the voice of your ancestor. The founder of blood demons."

Bathala replied, which made Mark felt even stranger. The Old Man then continued.

"You should have heard about the end of the Blood Demons already, am I right? It was not just a typical war among the Upper Dimension, Heaven, and the Lower Dimension, Hell. That happened with the manipulation of the Observer. The beings that led both the Angels and the Devils in that war are, Eyes, sent by him."

They already heard about the war and how it was nothing but an event that instigated the Spirit Races and Demon Races to participate. Still, the truth that it was a war led by Angels and Devils had quite an impact to hear.

"Wait," Karlene interjected. "Don't the Eyes have those disgusting features, how would Angels and Demons follow them?"

Bathala did not reply immediately. Instead, he waved his staff, indicating the change of the scene around them.

Looking around, it was, without a doubt, the Spirit Dimension. However, the sky was colored red instead of its bright blue color. Furthermore, they were in an area near the sea. A kilometer away from the shore, the seawater was gone, however. There was an impossibly bottomless chasm where the water flowed into.

From the sky and from that chasm, two forces emerged to fight. At the center of the battlefield, however, was the innocent Blood Demons.

From the sky, and the land, a man with three pairs of white wings, wearing white armor with golden ornaments, was leading the forces. He wielded a pair of silver shield and sword on his hands and a bright halo shined above his head.

On the other hand, the forces that rose from the chasm was led by another man. His skin was red and was filled with demonic markings. He had enormous wings of a bat, and on his forehead, he two remarkably large horns of a ram.

As the two forces charged towards each other, Bathala pointed at the two.

"Those two are the Eyes sent to instigate both forces. And to succeed in their missions, they had to have the same appearance as the others. If you remember that giant earlier, it also looked nothing but a mutated creature, it was until it was almost defeated. That is only when they would show their true appearance."

While Bathala spoke, Mark was not looking at him. Mark was watching the Blood Demons below, especially a particular individual.

Seeing Mark's behavior, Bathala Smiled.

"That is your ancestor. The very same owner of the voice you are hearing in your mind. He was the leader of the race and the very first Blood Demon."

Mark did not speak. Even Mei, the little girls, and Alana were emersed at the scene for some reason they could not fathom.

With their reaction, Bathala decided to not speak too much and let them watch. Of course, at specific points, he explained things.

It was like what Pefile and Amihan had told Mark and the others. The Blood Demons were the gatekeepers of the connection between the surface and the underworld.

Unexpectedly, the man looked like an angel. However, he had the wings and horns of a devil. Without a doubt, he was a mixed breed, the result of an Angel's and a Devil's sin. As a being that should not exist, he developed a trait unique to him after he was born.

He was a Unique being that should not exist, a monster that broke fate itself.

And of course, someone that was close to being a god as he could create his own legion despite its constraints.

The new Observer would not like something like that to exist.

And thus, using the Eyes, he started the war to stealthily remove this race from existence. Along the way, it also reduced the number of races living in the Spirit Dimension.

However, it did not go well.

The Ancestor of Blood Demons managed to hold back both the Eyes from the Angels and Devils, even to the point of defeating them.

Still, while the prowess of the Ancestor was displayed, it did not hide the tragic happenings around him. One by one, the Blood Demons had fallen. The Ancestor fought with his grief until he was the only one left. Fueled by his anger, he almost killed both the two Eyes.

It all happened while the forces of Angels and Surface Dwellers and Devils and Demons were enveloped in their own battles.

Many died. It was a helpless and brutal conflict.

But then, when the two were at their defeat before their allies could help them, their bodies burst out into a disgusting mass of eyes. The two helplessly ganged up on the Ancestor, who finally realized the truth in this war.

Not only him, but the whole battlefield was also frozen when the two revealed their real forms.

They realized that they were being used as they knew that appearance that the two turned into.

Both forces lost their moral. Some even tried to help the Ancestor of the Blood Demons, not minding whether they were an Angel or a Devil. It was the same for the Spirit Races and Demons that realized their mistake.

However, those two Eyes were not someone that anyone could just contend on a whim. The two were at the level of Higher Deities. It was already amazing that the Ancestor of Blood Demons lasted that long.

In the end, pierced by two beams of light on his chest, the Ancestor had fallen.

At his death, with a very weak voice, he declared with a fearless smile.

"In the future, we will return. When that time comes, you better clean your neck, you meddlesome impostor."

Bathala translated, as Mark and the others could not understand what he had said. However, even with the language barrier, they could feel his grievance and hate. At the time that the Ancestor's body disintegrated into dust, Bathala waved his staff as there was nothing else to see. All that happened next was what they knew. Both Angels and Devils retreated back to their realms without fixing the mess that they created.

Mark and the others felt heavy. Alana even had tears at the corner of her eyes.

"What you are hearing is the call for the revenge that your Ancestor had been waiting. Furthermore, the blood of a Blood Demon that ran inside you was directly from him. You are one of his direct descendants. Although it took me time to confirm, I can assure you that what I'm saying is true."

Bathla then added further.

"You surely have a heavy load on your shoulders."

The Old Man sighed.

Mark looked down with a serious expression. Bathala was straight on point with those words. He had his promise to Freed. Now, he had an even heavier load to carry.

"Can't we just ignore it?"

Mei asked. She did not want Mark to have a heavier burden and the worst, endangering himself. What they were talking about here was something that even Bathala and the others at their peak could not contend against. And yet, what the Ancestor wanted was to kill the very same being.

"Sure, you all can ignore it." Bathala nodded, but his expression was very serious. "But even if you let it go, that being that is watching from above will not. You all are not just descendants of a race that he tried to erase. Two of you even had the potential to step into Godhood despite the current state of Earth. He definitely would not like that."

The atmosphere became heavy. Furthermore, Mark felt like he put Mei and the little girls to danger now that he turned them into one of his kin.

"What do we have to do?"

Mark asked Bathala. He could not think of anything right now.

However, the answer he received made everyone gawk at Bathala.

"Nothing."

That was what the Old Man said. He even said it with a nonchalant expression.

Still, Mark nodded with a serious expression. There was nothing they needed to do. And what Bathala meant for that was there was nothing for them to change. They could just follow what they had been doing up until now.

And if that Observer sent another thing to hinder them, just destroy it like every obstacle they faced and would face in the future.

Bathala looked at Mark with a pleasant expression. It was good that Mark understood what he meant.

While Mark was in contemplation, Bathala spoke.

"You also have another kind of crystal, right? The one that could harness Psychic Abilities."

Hearing that, Mark looked at Bathala with confusion.

"Lend me two and give me thirty of the ones with pure energy."

This time, everyone was confused. This was not extortion, was it not?

On the other hand, Mark could tell that it was not. Rather, it seemed that Bathala wanted to give them a big gift. And thus, he handed the things the Old Man asked for. It was not hard for him to take out since he had just dealt with the Infected Sylphs yesterday.

Upon receiving the crystals, Bathala immediately absorbed the energy from all thirty [Energy Crystals]. As for the two [Mental Crystals], the Old Man held both on his right hand.

When the last [Energy Crystal] turned to dust, everyone covered their eyes. It was because the two [Mental Crystals] that Bathala held shot out blinding light everywhere.

It did not take long, and they also recovered their sight.

And there, both the two supposedly empty [Mental Crystals] on Bathala's hand had glowing orbs inside them. Without waiting for any question, the Old Man handed the two crystals back to Mark.

"I can't do anything much at my current state. And I absolutely can't directly lend a hand to your group. Still, I'm a former God of Creation in this country. I can at least do something like this. It consumes a lot of energy, though."

Mark received the two crystals. Although he was not that surprised, it was still unexpected to receive a gift like this.

"The one with red color is for this Lady here that want to have a God as her lover." Bathala jokingly said which made Alana blush. "It will allow her to release an energy impact from her hands. This can also be used with weapons. It is perfect for her, considering that her blood had some strengthening properties."

Then, pointing at the other crystal, Bathala looked at Mark.

"This one is for you. This will make your mind and body more adaptive to Psychic changes. It is very crucial right now that you will not lose your Psychic abilities every time you gain a new one."

Hearing that, Mark absentmindedly nodded. But then, he realized...

"How did you know?"

Mark asked. After all, it was very unlikely for Bathala to know that as it was not something that the Old Man asked permission to read from their minds.

"Oh, my encounter with your wife is a coincidence. But ours is not. Since you arrived in Mount Malabito in your crazed state, I already know you. I already said earlier, it took time to confirm that you're a direct descendant of the Ancestor of Blood Demons."

Everyone, even Mark, was surprised. Did it mean that he was under the watch of a god all this time?

Understanding the genuine look on Mark's face, Bathala hurriedly spoke.

"Ah, no. I'm not watching you all the time. Only at times that you are fighting or doing something interesting. Like that battle with that Formless Demon or your battle with the Flame Demon. I was there watching."

Bathala said with a mischievous smile. He was really a God, without a doubt. Gods were bored beings and they observe things and people they found interesting.