Mutagen

Day 131 - 1:32 PM - Logan Square, Franklyntown, Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Mark glanced at Roan and Felicia as they hurriedly looked for something to restrain the Blade Girl.

But suddenly, he jumped to the side.

BAM!

A crater appeared on the ground where he stood just a moment ago.

Too much dust was flying around as the road east of the fountain got riddled with large craters.

Of course, the culprit was none other than the Infected King that Mark could not even see properly anymore.

Mark might have been monitoring the fight of everyone since he decided to do that spontaneously. However, it did not mean that he was free himself.

In fact, he was only able to do that because he could not get a proper angle to attack the Infected King.

And just like the Infected King's mutation, a locust, he was jumping around in insane speed.

BOOM!

Mark did not like the sound of that.

Along with that loud sound, the dust flying around was suddenly swept towards another direction.

Without further ado, the [Wind Manipulation Crystal] shined, and the wind aided him to get out of the way.

BAM!

A larger crater appeared on where he stood before, once again. It was even a foot deep at the center.

That first boom was not an attack. It was the sound created as the Infected King moved beyond the sound barrier.

"This is getting annoying."

Mark muttered as he jumped away once again.

BAM!

"If this continued, I will have no other choice but to kill this guy."

Mark could not help but frown.

Since the start, Mark already had the thought to capture the Infected King. After all, even though he already had one back in the base, that one was more or less artificially mutated. It mutated because of the Miasma he released during his fight with Gar'Vlam in Bay City.

This guy he was facing now, however, was totally different. It was a natural mutation, and its abilities were all in physical aspects. If this guy was studied further, there might be a chance to know what was the difference between the [Monarch Types] and the other types of infected.

Of course not, you jest.

Mark was a hoarder, both in reality and video games. He just could not help the urge to collect things. It was more apparent towards unique items and creatures. There was also the thought that keeping them might help in the future.

He was the type of gamer that would collect potions for the end boss fight but ended up not using any.

And there, the game ended, with more than a quarter of his storage containing different kinds of potions.

Actually, if not for the fact that Mark was a person who was struggling for money back in the days, his room would be filled with tons of collectible items.

Now, however, money did not mean anything anymore. Mark could just take anything he wanted as long as he saw it. It would be harder to collect things, especially otaku stuff, these days, but Mark would definitely bring them home if he found one.

And because of the outbreak, Mark had a lot of things to collect. Strange infected, evolved animals, Mutator Abilities, and other things that popped out after the end of the world started.

Of course, his thirst could not be satisfied by just that.

Unfortunately, not everything could be taken back home just like that. Like the first [King Type] he encountered, he needed to amputate its limbs to capture it. He had to make do with a broken collectible, which frustrated him a little.

Thus, he wanted to capture this guy in pristine condition. Unfortunately, it was even more impossible. Not to mention trying to cut off the Infected King's limbs, Mark could not even aim at this guy with the speed that he could not follow.

"Ah, right!"

Mark had an idea.

Using the [Wind Manipulation Crystal], he set up a trap.

As Mark jumped away again, he controlled the wind around his previous position and then trap the Infected King in place.

BAM!

A crater appeared in that place, and Mark immediately controlled the wind.

BOOM!

The wind trap was scattered without being able to capture the Infected King.

"Darn, I guess... It won't work."

Mark grumbled as he evaded the next attack.

Inside the vehicle, Mei and the others watched Mark avoid the attacks being thrown at him. It was really amazing how he was able to evade even though no one here was able to see the movements of the Infected King.

Mark was only able to do this by following the mental fluctuations of the Infected King. This time, he was using his mind more than his eyes.

Unknown to most of them, someone was able to see the movements of the Infected King to some degree.

Mark's ring vibrated, making him smile. Then, the only thing he needed to do was to find the right timing.

***

While Mark was planning to catch the Infected King and Roan's and Felicia's battles ended, the others were still facing their current opponents.

Above the Logan Square, Mariella soared, evading the relentless pursuit of the Blood Hawk. Mariella was not someone gifted with high athletic abilities. Because of that, she could only fly away while shooting her gun. Unfortunately, the Blood Hawk was able to evade bullets that were about to hit its head.

Despite that, the Blood Hawk had a large body and wide wingspan. It was a big moving target, and most of the bullets Mariella shot already tore holes on the hawk's body.

However, unlike the other generals, the Blood Hawk was a Mutated Eater. It was capable of flight because of it having a higher level of mutation. Nevertheless, it was still an Eater variant. It was an infected with a dead body. It could not feel pain. And because its body was large, the small bullets of the assault rifle could not tear its wings.

Right now, Mariella was in a tight position.

***

Next was Sandie.

Among the currently occurring battles, she was the nearest to the vehicle. Right now, she was contending with the Metal Lizard in terms of strength. However, the two were at a stalemate.

Both of them were specialized in defense, and their attacking power was lacking. Even if the two fought here for several days straight, it would be questionable who would be the winner.

Or maybe, the infected would win if that really happened. It was because Sandie was still a human that needed to rest and eat.

On the north side of the fountain, Arnold was fighting the Old Kid. And like Mariella and Sandie, he was also having a hard time.

Arnold's mutation was most likely to be an Opposum. It could be distinguished by the color of his fur, his beady eyes, and a rat tail. As such, he was a close-quarters combatant. In fact, with his slightly muscular body, he preferred using his hands than guns. That, however, was a bad match up with his current opponent.

Opossums have poor eyesight and hearing. In exchange, it had a stronger sense of smell.

The Old Kid's body was releasing greenish slime on his skin that had a very repulsive smell. For Arnold, who was keen to fight in close-quarters... He was not able to do that because of the opponent's ability.

Furthermore, Mark gave Arnold a warning. It was that that green slime would absorb the liquid from anything it had contact with. Mark even said that while showing his dried-up palm after throwing the Old Kid in this direction.

Arnold tried to get a metal bar from the debris to use, but the smell still prevented him from making continuous attacks towards the Old Kid.

Last was Ernst that was battling with the Earthworm Lady.

Ernst's ability was his highly acidic saliva. Normally, he would be able to finish his enemy as soon as his saliva made contact with the infected's head. However, his ability to launch his saliva from his mouth was limited. He still needed to approach the enemy to a certain distance.

However, it was pretty much impossible in his current situation, where he was forced to dodge ten whips of elongated earthworm fingers. The Earthworm Lady was using her fingers that was able to stretch out to seven meters and use the wriggling fingers as whips to constrict her prey.

Ernst was doing a good job dodging and using his saliva to counter-attack by melting the disgusting fingers. It was despite the fact that a scientist like him was less athletic compared to the others here.

The problem, however, was that the Earthworm Lady was able to regenerate her melted fingers and continue attacking.

With the current situation of the four of them, their chances of winning were quite slim.

Roan and Felicia, who already finished their battles, wanted to help. However, Mark divided the enemies for them to overcome by themselves. In the least, what they could do was give support if necessary. It was like how Roan saved Felicia when she made a mistake.

Thus, Roan and Felicia could only watch for now.

"That guy is really amazing, isn't he?"

Roan suddenly spoke.

"Who?"

Felicia asked.

"Boss."

"Sir Mark?"

"Yeah." Roan nodded. "Do you understand why he divided the enemies to all of us? Well, I'm just an extra. It was more specific to you guys."

"Huh?" Felicia was confused. "Isn't it just because he wanted us to fight?"

"There's that, but that's not the main reason," Roan replied. "What did you realize when you are fighting this girl?"

Roan pointed at the tightly tied Blade Girl.

"I think..." Felicia pondered. "I lacked fighting experience and techniques."

That reply made Roan nod in agreement.

And there, Felicia realized.

"Don't tell me. Sir Mark wanted us to discern our weaknesses?"

"That's right," Roan affirmed. "That was why I said that he's amazing. When these infected attacked, Mark observed and discerned their abilities and chose a proper enemy for all of you. He did all that in a short period to achieve several goals in one go."

Felicia totally understood now. Mark did not want them to only fight but learn while fighting. Furthermore, while Mark had his own fight, he was actually supporting the others to not make it too dangerous.

It might be hard to notice while fighting, but now that Roan and Felicia were watching, they realized that the fatal attacks of the enemies would fail for some reason. Every time that happened, one of the crystals floating around Mark's arm would glow.

They could not understand how Mark was doing that, but it was really odd if it was just a coincidence.

***

Mark jumped around, using the [Wind Manipulation Crystal] to aid the speed of his movements. He was waiting for the right timing. He needed to create an opening to attack the Infected King.

While he was doing that, though, he would also control the wind to aid Arnold and the others. They had quite a number of close calls, after all. He needed to help them in one way or another, like making the wind blow harder to redirect the fingers of the Earthworm Lade, or by manipulating the airflow above to make the Blood Hawk lose balance for a bit.

Roan was right in his assumption. Mark wanted to make the members of his group learn their weaknesses. This way, they would know what they needed to improve on their own. It was an effective way as Mark also had to prepare his people for the next wave of the outbreak.

And then, the timing finally came.

Instead of landing on flat ground, Mark jumped towards a deeper crater, causing the next attack of the Infected King to be in that same place.

BAM!

The Infected King landed a kick on that same crater and almost lost balance due to the uneven ground. As he regained his balance, however, he looked for Mark to continue attacking.

Nevertheless, Mark was gone.

But then, it noticed a fluctuation of energy nearby, making it face the direction it was coming from. As the Infected King did that, he was already facing away from the vehicle.

And there, the Infected King was caught off guard.

BANG!

The sound of a sniper rifle echoed. The Infected King froze and staggered as he felt the pain on his leg. As he looked down, he noticed the hole made by a bullet that passed through his flesh.

"KRYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

The Infected Kings painful and furious howl echoed across the Center City.