Mutagen

Day 365 - 11:39 AM - Spring Lake, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

"Squad 1, we're storming in. The rest will stay. Secure the area and tend to the injured. Don't let anyone in or out of this place."

"Yes!"

General Wijaya ordered his soldiers, and they replied without hesitation.

The gunfight did not last too long after Mark began interfering with the enemies. Of course, no one other than Mark knew of this.

And as one would expect from the person in cahoots with the [Face Wearers], all the soldiers accompanying General Piliant turned to ash upon death.

Although General Wijaya's soldiers received some injuries, none of them died. Those who got injuries deemed fatal were helped by Mark with his supply of [Regeneration Medicine]. The soldiers were surprised to see such a miraculous kind of concoction. It was thanks to it that there were no deaths on their side.

After the battle, General Wijaya and Mark would lead the way into the church with a few select elites. Unfortunately, the saying "the more the merrier" was not always the correct approach in these kinds of missions.

The next part of the mission would be inside the church and possibly its secret underground locations. Having a large number of people in such a small area would be detrimental in many ways.

With the situation outside the church handled, General Wijaya and Mark led the elite soldiers into the church.

Normally, the soldiers would be far more careful and wary while initiating an infiltration mission into unfamiliar territory. However, with Mark in the lead, an [Empath] capable of detecting the living, they could relax more and hurry to chase after the enemy general who fled.

After entering the church with guns ready, everyone felt strange.

The church was small and dilapidated. It could barely fit a hundred or so people inside. The roof had holes, the walls were on the verge of crumbling, and the pews were barely holding on. Anyone who would enter this place without knowing anything would think it was just another abandoned location in the middle of nowhere.

It made them question how no one ever questioned how the Muria Religion managed to conduct their worship and congregations in a place like this. Why did the military not know of this? More and more questions came about as they delved deeper into the Muria Religion and its connection with the [Face Wearers].

Surprisingly, while the church was small and dilapidated, not even the shadow of General Piliang could be found.

Just as the soldiers thought of beginning the extensive search of the place, they saw Mark walking up to the podium.

Like most religious churches, the podium contained some shrine or altar. In Muria Religion's case, the altar had a statue of a woman with three sets of wings.

But as Mark looked at the statue, he could not help but frown.

"This is surprising. This statue does not seem to depict a true god. However..."

Magwayen's voice suddenly spoke into Mark's head.

"It contained divinity, right?"

Mark finished the Goddess' words, and Magwayen agreed in silence.

Considering Mark's encounters since the apocalypse began, Mark became more than just familiar with this presence. It was the presence that would make most mortals feel weak, a presence looking down on beings below them.

Magwayen had such a presence, especially when Mark first met her. Even the [Eyes] emitted this similar presence. Even Amihan, in her awakening and Sinogo, had similar, albeit weaker, presence.

However, the presence of divinity, which was similar to godly beings, emanated from the statue of a likely nonexistent god. It was a strange and unsettling thing.

"Can I absorb this divinity thing with my [Miasma]?"

Mark asked Magwayen, eager to try if he could.

Unfortunately, there was a negative reply.

"You cannot. Divinity isn't just some magical energy. It is tied to the soul and existence of a higher being. You need to be in contact with that being's soul and existence to try absorbing it. And even if you could, I would advise against it. Even as a Demon, you are still a being of a mortal plane.

Taking in divinity without the body and soul at a level of a Deity or higher could result in great repercussions."

"I see."

Mark shrugged as he turned away from the statue. He then faced the lectern, which was made of stone.

With his back facing the six-winged statue and his front facing the lectern, Mark began tapping the floor with his right foot while following a rhythm.

The taps Mark made echoed loudly within the small church. It did not take long, and Mark stopped, but the sounds of the taps of his foot were replaced by the sound of mechanisms moving.

Alert, the soldiers slowly approached Mark and were surprised to see a stone staircase appear in front of Mark. It was a hidden staircase at the center of the podium, between the lectern and the statue. It could only be opened using a rhythm, which Mark performed just now while stepping on a specific location on the floor.

Confused and suspicious, the elite soldiers could not help but look at Mark before turning to General Wijaya in askance. After all, how was he able to find and open a supposedly secret passage of the enemies?

General Wijaya just gave a stare at his soldiers, telling them not to question anything.

"Let's go."

Mark called out to General Wijaya and the soldiers.

From there, the group carefully entered a winding staircase leading underneath the dilapidated church.

***

Day 365 - 11:42 AM - Underground Cathedral, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

"Well, well... This is quite the surprise."

A hooded figure said as he stood in front of the statue of the fake god while watching a large mirror floating before him. Although his expression could not be seen, the tone of his voice depicted his genuine surprise.

Within the mirror, the scene of Mark opening the secret passage played clearly. It was something that only the founder of the cult, a few elite creations, and General Piliang knew. Yet, the man named Mark managed to open it in one try while using the perfect code.

It was unfathomable as to how Mark was able to know of it.

While the hooded man wondered, hurried steps echoed within the underground cathedral. He did not turn his head to face the sound at all, but he knew who it was.

"You fled the fight rather quickly."

The hooded man criticized the person who arrived.

On the other hand, the person who arrived, General Piliang, walked closer to the man while clutching the right lower area of his chest.

"It can't be helped," General Piliang gritted his teeth. "If it's only Wijaya and his soldiers, I can handle them. But they brought an enigma."

After hearing the word, the hooded man nodded in agreement. That man named Mark sure was an enigma.

The hooded man then turned to face General Piliang.

"You better prepare. The enemies are arriving in a few minutes."

"Impossible," General Piliang did not take the hooded man's words seriously. "I will take them a long while to find the passage. And even if they did, it would not open. Even explosives could not break that magically protected door."

The hooded man did not reply and just showed General Piliang the scene he was watching in its reflection.

General Piliang's eyes could not help but widen as he saw General Wijaya's group already traversing the stairwell.

"How?"

General Piliang frowned after seeing the scene.

But instead of an answer to his question...

"And they are not the only ones."

The hooded man spoke as he waved his hand, changing the scene in the mirror.

After the first scene vanished, it was replaced by the scene of a large group of people traversing a cave. That scene made General Piliang even more agitated.

It was the scene of the leaders of the Moon Chasers, along with their allied leaders, traversing a familiar cave.

"It seemed that it was not only me who failed."

General Piliang mocked. His job was only to stop General Wijaya. In the other passages, the hooded man and his minions were the ones supposed to stop intruders.

"The carriers of ancient blood might have been the bane of my creations, but we already knew of their capabilities. But some unaccounted variables appeared."

The hooded man said as the intruders encountered several powerful [Face Wearers].

General Piliang watched as the group effortlessly eliminated the [Face Wearers]. And he immediately noticed the issue.

"Where did they get those weapons?"

General Piliang could only ask, but no one here knew the answer.

"Those magical weapons were the least of our problems," The hooded man replied. "The keris is a [Cursed Divine Weapon]. There are also the unfamiliar members. And that [Sylph]... fascinating."

"What are you being fascinated about the enemies?" General Piliang frowned. "It is just a large insect."

"A large insect, huh?" The hooded man smirked. "I guess... It's too much for a mere human like you to understand."

General Piliang could not help but feel insulted. But before he could lash out, the hooded man spoke the reason.

"That thing you called a large insect? She's an incarnation of a Goddess. A true Goddess. Do you understand now?"

"Is that a joke?"

General Piliang felt his IQ was being insulted. As someone who never believed in Gods and religion, he found the hooded man's statement quite ridiculous.

The hooded man did not answer and just stared at General Piliang with disdain. It sure was nice to be a stupid and clueless mortal.

Turning back to the mirror, the hooded man smiled.

"It would have been better if I can get my hands on that [Sylph]. But that would be impossible..." He murmured with a helpless tone. "The carriers of ancient blood, a female Demon with the [Body of Void], a male Demon surrounded with [Aura of Death], and a Goddess' Incarnation. It is quite the gathering we have here."

"It might be premature, but things outside my calculations began happening. There is no other choice."

"Did you say something?"

General Piliang picked up on the hooded man's murmurs but was unable to hear the words clearly.

But instead of answering, the hooded man took out a vial from his robes and threw it to the injured General.

"What is this?"

General Piliang asked after catching the vial with his telekinetic powers.

"Drink that to heal your injuries. It will also temporarily increase the power of your psychic ability. You can't face the enemies in your current state." The hooded man answered. "I'll be preparing on my side."

The hooded man then vanished without a trace, leaving General Piliang alone inside the cathedral.

"That creepy bastard."

General Piliang remarked, seeing the hooded man was gone in the blink of an eye. Nonetheless, he did not think too much as he grabbed the vial suspended midair. Even so, he did not drink it immediately. He never trusted that creepy man in the first place.

Instead, General Piliang took out a small metal case. Opening it showed a small vial and a syringe. He then injected the contents of the vial into his body, alleviating the pain of his broken ribs. With this, he could still fight without drinking the suspicious vial the hooded man gave him.

Unknown to General Piliang, his movements were already within the hooded man's calculations.

"Unfortunately, you will have no choice but to drink that."

The hooded man laughed, knowing what General Piliang did.

Then, the hooded man looked in front of him affectionately.

After vanishing from the underground cathedral, the hooded man, the [Deity of Soul Sacrifice], appeared in the deeper area of the caves under the church.

In front of the man was a human-sized laboratory tank. It was similar to those laboratory tanks and chambers in sci-fi movies. However, it was not powered and created by futuristic technology but by lost magic and runes.

And inside the liquid-filled tank was a woman with six wings, sleeping with her wings covering her body.

"It is time to wake up, my beautiful creation."

The [Deity of Soul Sacrifice] said in a maniacal tone.