Mutagen

Day 370 - 9:21 AM - Bogorejo Subdistrict, Blora Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

In the former rice fields of Bogorejo, an enormous turtle carrying a small mountain on its shell was currently resting. It was not because the giant turtle was tired, as [Infected] creatures never showed tiredness, and it was still unknown if they could ever feel it.

The gigantic turtle only tucked its legs and head into its shell to allow the people staying on the mountain to partake in some on-field activities.

It was because the Blora Regency had some of the most intact ruins in Central Java. Looking at it, it seemed that the counterpart of this place within the [Spirit Dimension] was several hectares of flat land with only a few clusters of trees here and there. It caused the place to receive less damage during the [Fusion of Dimensions] compared to the surrounding mountainous areas.

Unfortunately, due to the very same fact, this place had been where most scavengers went during the earlier days when the temperature and radiation of Earth finally stabilized. It was not wrong to assume that these ruins had already been looted thoroughly by the military and the scavengers.

It was not like the people riding the giant turtle were here to look for food and other supplies. If anything, they wanted the ruins themselves. To be exact, the building materials, especially the metal rebars embedded inside the walls and foundations of the structures. The weathered concrete walls might be unusable, but the rebars could still be melted and reforged into usable ones.

Mark sat down on a cliff overlooking the nearby ruins of a town. From here, he could watch everyone working to retrieve usable materials from the ruins. As for the others, they were not just busy with gathering materials. They also had to prepare for lunch early since they had many people to cook for.

It was already a day and a half after the fight against the Deities and the Night Goddess. And, of course, the previous day was not just spent idling around and resting.

Mark shrugged as he recalled the events after the fight.

***

After defeating the Night Goddess, Mark immediately asked Magwayen to tell everyone. That way, they would have more morale to deal with the next part, eliminating the [Flesh Creatures]. As tiring as it would be, they would need to push through and eliminate all possible remnants of the Night Goddess' body.

Unfortunately, the rest of the group could not continue after another few hours of continuous battle, leaving the night-long fight in the hands of Mark, Luna, and Edge.

Things became more chaotic when the [Infected] hordes came in droves. It was nice that the [Flesh Creatures] and the [Infected] did not see each other as allies and tried to eliminate, or in this case, eat the other side.

Fortunately, in the last two hours of the night, Amihan and Kana woke up. With the help of the meagerly recovered energy of the two, the fight finished shortly before dawn.

Once the [Flesh Creatures] and the horde of [Infected] that came after were all cleaned up, Mark returned to everyone after making sure he returned to his usual appearance. He could not return in front of everyone since he would end up stark naked after dispelling the materialization of the [Aura of Death] that made the battle dress he was wearing.

After all, his armor and clothes were either burned or melted because of the Great One.

After that, nothing much happened. Everyone gathered, but no one was in the mood to ask questions and stuff. They just all want to rest. Besides, most of their people were still unconscious. The one who woke up last was even asleep until noon the next day.

That was why questions and other details were left for another day when everyone had fully recovered. It was what everyone decided since it was already confirmed that there would be no urgent issues for now.

Mark also checked on Azra. However, she was in the same sleeping state she entered after the battle with the Deities. It was not surprising, to say the least. After all, Azra did not only try to defeat the enemy but also liberated the souls that suffered in the enemy's hands. Opening the gate to the afterlife would definitely come with a great price.

It was already lucky that Azra only entered this weakened state instead of her soul dissipating as the price.

The most important thing was Azra's appearance. While the form Mark had turned into during the possession was the appearance of an adult woman, Azra's actual appearance was more or less a little girl around five or six years old. Remembering the childlike laughter that occurred first in the earlier moments of the possession, it actually made sense.

Furthermore, as Mark racked into the memory fragments he acquired from the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, Azra's life ended at the same age after she could not endure the experiments any longer.

***

"Hah..."

Mark sighed after recalling the memories of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.

While Mark was sure he was not a good person, even evil at certain times, he was still miles behind the atrocities the Deity of Soul Sacrifice committed.

No wonder there was an odd lack of magical creatures since they arrived here in Indonesia. It was also strange that the [Face Wearers] could infiltrate the survivors in Mount Muria without suspicion.

It was because the remaining survivors of Indonesia likely never had any encounter with magical creatures and races, even after the two dimensions had already fused together.

The reason... It was because all magical creatures and races in Java, Indonesia, had gone extinct long ago.

With the Deity of Soul Sacrifice's bloody hands alone, he erased many species of creatures. Through his mad pursuit of his goals, he hunted countless creatures. Whether it was sentient or just a mere beast, as long as they bore magic and magical energy in their bodies, they became the target of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice's experimentation.

But why was that? Why was the Deity of Soul Sacrifice targetting such creatures with specific traits?

It was because...

Mark shrugged once again.

Although he reached the level of a Deity, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice, no, the so-called Alchemist Shirkhratala, was simply a [Pure Human].

***

Shirkhratala was among the [Pure Humans] who were born just in time to witness the arrival of Gods in this world. He was there watching the world enter the Lost Era. With eyes shining in fascination and awe, he bore witness to the miracles and magic blessed by the Gods and Deities.

Furthermore, he had long wished to be chosen by the Gods and receive their blessings. He wanted to go beyond what a human could do and achieve.

But that fascination turned into envy when the truth came to light. Those humans who received the blessings were people who carried special bloodlines created by the Gods. And a [Pure Human], like Shirkhratala, had no chance of being blessed. It would be impossible for him to experience such miracles.

Even so, Shirkhratala's envy at that time was not strong enough to veer him from the common lives of people back then. And even as a [Pure Human], he was smart and innovative enough to lead his tribe as the next chieftain.

And it came true.

Shirkhratala led his tribe to prosperity after becoming the next chieftain. He might not be as strong as other warriors of their tribe, but he was able to lead them using his wits and creativity. He was respected as the most intelligent chieftain ever since their tribe was formed.

But just like in most cases, a villain was not born but was created.

The prosperous tribe Shirkhratala led fell into ruin before his very eyes.

It should have been impossible. Because of Shirkhratala, his tribe developed weapons, armor, and defenses that far exceeded other tribes. A normal confrontation between tribes should have led them to victory.

Yet, Shirkhratala could only watch his tribesmen, his wife, and his two children all die before his very eyes.

It was all because the leader of the enemy tribe that attacked them was a [Blessed One]. That leader was bestowed overwhelming strength to uproot trees and throw boulders with bare hands, and his body could not be pierced with spears and arrows. He might have looked odd with four arms and blackened skin, but it just added to the fear he could inflict on his enemies.

Worse, there was no reason for the attack but envy. The blessed leader of the other tribe could not make his tribe as prosperous as Shirkhratala. As such, it led him to want to destroy something he could not achieve.

The result of it was the fall of Shirkhratala's tribe. There was not even the intent to capture people. Everyone was just killed and left in the middle of a burning village.

Even Shirkhratala fell after an arrow pierced his chest.

But by luck or miracle, Shirkhratala woke up feeling the raindrops falling onto his body.

With the arrow still lodged in his chest, Shirkhratala walked around his destroyed village under a strong downpour. With buildings mostly burned and the corpses of his people all over the place, the eyes of Shirkhratala finally lost their light as he vowed.

Shirkhratala promised to avenge his people, not only to the bastards that destroyed his village and killed his people but also to the God that bestowed that bastard his blessing.

It was the birth of the Alchemist Shirkhratala. A person who, despite being a [Pure Human], achieved Deityhood.

Unfortunately, it took a long time before he reached that point. And even as a Deity, he would be no match for a God. And to his dismay, the God that bestowed the blessing to that bastard who destroyed his tribe had long been gone to who knows where. Even the blessed bastard had already succumbed to old age and was dead long ago.

But the missing enemies did not stop the Alchemist Shirkhratala from executing his revenge.

As the ceremony to his Deityhood, Shirkhratala razed that very same tribe to the ground. He even hunted down every other person or tribe in close ties with the tribe of the blessed bastard.

And since Shirkhratala had been gone for at least a few hundred years, the number of tribes he razed numbered more than a dozen, and the people he captured went past a thousand.

The pleas and cries of those people failed to enter his ears. No matter what their gender or age, he gathered them all in one place.

That place was a huge altar. An altar to sacrifice souls.

On that very day, the Alchemist Shirkhratala formally stepped into Deityhood, soon known as the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.

The Deity of Soul Sacrifice gobbled up their souls to empower his body and used their bodies for his creations. He wasted nothing in his revenge.

Unfortunately, the anger never subsided. In the first place, the mind of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice had already been twisted into an irredeemable degree.

However, a crazed person would never notice how crazy they were. The Deity of Soul Sacrifice only thought that his anger would only subside if he managed to find that God and kill him.

Thus, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice decided to aim to become a God.

Unfortunately, he soon learned that it was impossible. Achieving Deityhood was already a miracle. It was not an issue with the physique. It was a problem due to his bloodline and soul.

Unable to achieve what he wanted, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice became crazier and crazier. He started hating all Gods and those related to them.

And then, the day came when the Deity of Soul Sacrifice began his most elaborate project. To create a God for him to control. And in the process of this project, he killed and killed and killed. He experimented on his victims, either devoured or sacrificed their souls, and used their bodies to create abominations.

The Night Goddess project caused the entire species and races of magical creatures in Java, Indonesia. It also caused entire human bloodlines to go extinct as he targeted every living thing that bore magic.

***

A bubbly voice entered Mark's ears. Glancing at the source of the voice, he saw the blue-haired girl with a bubbly personality as she played tag with the children.

Kana, the Priestess of the Sea-Dweller Tribe and the last member of their bloodline. Furthermore, she was likely to be a member of a different and hidden branch of the tribe.

It was because the main branch of the Sea-Dweller Tribe was among the victims of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice.

If Kana had been born from the main branch, there was no way she would exist now. It was because the Sea-Dweller Tribe was all captured and killed a few hundred years ago.

Fortunately, it seemed that the traditions and blessings of the tribe were passed on properly and ended up on Kana.

With those thoughts in mind, Mark stood up and stretched his body. The fragmented memories of the Deity of Soul Sacrifice sure made Mark a bit gloomy. However, there was no point in moping around with these troublesome memories.

Instead, Mark decided to focus on other things. Specifically, creating his new armor and weapon. After all, the previous battle caused him all that precious stuff. Mei also needed a new gun since her sniper rifle fell apart from overuse during their fight with the Night Goddess.

"Geez... There's a lot to do... At least I want to play a video game or watch anime."

Mark grumbled. Nonetheless, he did not veer from his initial thought and soon started designing the new weapons and armor in their tent.