Mutagen

Day 364 - 6:48 PM - North Area, 38th Satellite Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Hiding within the forest north of the 38th Settlement, a group of three so-called [Face Wearers] began to move.

The three infiltrating groups of [Face Wearers] had orders and plans to follow, and the start of their plans was when the Moon Chasers began the full-blown defense against the [Infected] they released.

Each of the teams of [Face Wearers] had a different mission.

As for this group...

"It's time."

The leader of this group of three said as the defensive battle of the Moon Chasers grew intense.

In this group, all of the members were [Face Wearers] with a thin body. To their species, the shape of their bodies showed the physical power they had.

This particular group of thin [Face Wearers] were the fast-moving ones capable of turning their arms into sharp blades. They were the assassins of their kind, melding into the darkness as they killed their victims.

"The only target is that General. Slip into that place, kill, and leave. No unnecessary business. This place is not somewhere we should linger for too long."

The leaders briefed their orders one last time before they began to move.

There was a reason why there was no [Face Wearers] in the 38th Settlement. It was because it was a place too repulsive for them to stay.

For the more powerful [Face Wearers], their repulsion to the 38th Satellite Settlement could still be tolerated. As for the normal ones, however... Living in this place might literally kill them.

That was why not a single [Face Wearer] would want to take residence in this place. They also avoided disguising themselves as anyone directly affiliated with this place as much as possible.

As for what reason the 38th Satellite Settlement had such an effect on them, it was not actually the place itself, but something... or someone else's involuntary work.

The three [Face Wearers] moved to the border of the forest to the clearing bordering the north side of the 38th Satellite Settlement. It was one of the planned farming fields of the Moon Chasers but was stopped due to being close to the walls. From time to time, some [Evolved Animals] would jump over the walls.

If something was planted in this field, it would suffer damages over and over without proper results.

Passing through this clearing, this group of [Face Wearers] would only need to slip through a few guards left guarding the 38th Satellite Settlement's flimsy walls. Then, go to where General Wijaya was, who was on the balcony of the Moon Chaser's base.

How did they know where the General was? If one were to see the eyes of the leader of this group, his had a different color than the others. He could also see differently, as his eyes could show the life force of people, even through walls. As such, he could see the familiar appearance of General Wijaya's life force, who was together with all the people watching the battle with him.

But with a frown, the Thin Leader could not help but notice three distinct life forces around the General. They seemed to be children, but their life force was clearly different from humans.

"Remember, do not linger longer than necessary."

The leader said to his two members once more, insisting on the danger of their mission.

But all of a sudden, the leader noticed several life forces jumping over the wall. It was not long, and the other two also saw who the figures were.

Two young women and three of the rumored beasts that recently appeared in the 38th Satellite Settlement. A dragon, a [Ground Hunter], and a golden dog. It was unexpected, but even the dragon shared a similar life force to the three children near the General, making the Thin Leader even more confused about this peculiarity.

The group of [Face Wearers] were unsure why the group before them appeared. Were they discovered?

But it did not matter.

The three [Face Wearers] stepped out of the forest, and their bodies melded into the shadows. They were literally invisible in this darkness of the night. Bypassing this uncanny group should be a piece of cake. Besides, the two women did not seem to know what they were looking for at all.

As expected, the three [Face Wearers] remained undetected even after arriving just a few meters past the group of beasts. They could go around, but the group of assassins were quite confident about their stealth that even [Evolved Animals] would have a hard time detecting them.

Following the lead of the Thin Leader, the three ran past the group of two young women and three beasts.

But the situation the three did not expect was that they would be unable to run past the group at all.

Just as they were about to run past the group, they were greeted by a pair of large tails swinging unto their faces.

The Thin Leader managed to jump backward and retreat, avoiding the tail sweep of the [Ground Hunter]. On the other hand, the two members were unfortunate, receiving the brunt of the more powerful tail sweep of the dragon.

Nonetheless, it would take far more than a tail sweep to end these [Face Wearer] assassins. The two got thrown by the impact of the attack they received, but they still landed on their feet and regrouped with their leader.

Only then did they notice that the younger one of the two women was staring at them, even though they should not be visible in the dark.

***

"Sorry, there's no entry on this side!"

Annica declared loudly, trying to fight her nervousness. This would be the first time she would lead a battle. Her nervousness was reasonable.

"Annica..." Hannah sighed. "I know you're nervous, but they won't understand anything if you speak Tagalog. At least, use English."

"Huh? Uhhh..."

It seemed that Annica did not realize it herself.

Unfortunately, there was no time for chit-chat. Whether the enemy understood or not, they had already begun to move and eliminate the threat.

Annica stood behind the three beasts. Her eyes could not see the enemies in a normal sense of sight. However, her ability was far more than just being able to connect with intelligent animals.

"Queen!"

At Annica's command, the [Ground Hunter], whom she named Queen, began following the invisible enemies' movements.

Queen's and other [Ground Hunters'] eyes had a mutated thermal vision. While the [Face Weaers] could mask their appearance, noise, and smell, changing their temperature was definitely not in their skill set. And everything Queen was seeing was being transmitted to Annica in real-time.

However, that was not all of it for Annica.

Just as Queen and Annica followed the movements of the invisible enemies, Chaflar and Laelaps began to do the same. Through her established mental connections, Annica was relaying the same sight to the other two beasts.

The three enemies moved separately. But to their surprise, they ended up facing the dragon and the golden dog.

"Alright!" Annica yelled. "Attack!"

At Annica's command, Laelaps faced one enemy, while Chaflar faced the other member and the leader. Queen, who was maintaining their thermal vision, was staying still, standing in front of Annica and Hannah.

Laelaps, at the current regular dog size, was not too threatening. She made her enemy angry since it looked like he was being looked down on. What could a small dog do, anyway?

As such, Laelaps' enemy just charged forward as he changed his arms into blades, aiming to end it instantly by beheading the gaudy-looking dog.

CLANG!

To the [Face Wearer's] surprise, Laelaps blocked his attack using her horn. The sharp blades they were proud of could not slash through the small horn of a mutated dog.

The assassin slashed with his other arm, but Laelaps suddenly jumped and kicked his body with all her four paws, causing him to slide several meters across the clearing.

And if that was not enough, Annica yelled.

"Laelaps! Supersize!"

At that command, the [Face Wearer] could only stare incredulously as the small dog in front of him turned into a three-meter-tall monster.

On the other side, Chaflar was doing better.

Chaflar was no mere winged lizard. It was not even just a lizard that mutated into a dragon-like creature.

The reddish-black scaled Chaflar was a [Blood Demon Dragon]. A kin and pet of the only remaining noble blood of [Blood Demons].

All the attacks of the enemies could barely scratch Chaflar's scales. Worse, Chaflar was fighting at an equal speed while using the [Blood Demon's] racial ability they inherited from Mark, [Blood Enhancement]. Everyone could see veins under Chaflar's scales glowing as it moved faster than one would expect from a creature of his size.

"We can't use flames. So..." Annica muttered before yelling. "Chaflar! Sky Toss!"

Hannah shrugged as she watched Annica. Mark did say to fight like a pocket monster trainer, and she was fighting like so. Furthermore, she was pretty sure Annica did not teach the moves she was yelling right now. If not for her connection with them, this kind of fighting style would not work as well as it was.

Annica's connection with the beasts allowed [Sense Sharing] and [Mental Communication]. There was no need to shout since Annica could share her thoughts with the animals she was connected to, and they would understand it. However, she was really nervous to do such with high concentration. As such, using vocal cues allowed her to have a much clearer visualization of her mental commands.

And following Annica's command, Chaflar followed.

Chaflar tried to grab onto the Thin Leader with his mouth. Unfortunately, the leader was faster at dodging. However, it caused the other member to be caught off guard and was grabbed instead.

And with a loud flap of wings and a strong gust of wind, Chaflar took flight with the enemy held in its mouth. The enemy clearly felt scared as he lost his invisibility while madly trying to pierce Chaflar's scales with his blade arms.

Unfortunately to the enemy, all his struggles were in vain as Chaflar flew up to the sky to the point that the people below were dots before charging downwards.

BOOM!

The explosion of air sounded as Chaflar broke through the sound barrier.

The speed of descent made the enemy feel his bones cracking. He was unable to continue his struggle as he faced the overwhelming wind resistance.

And just before landing, Chalfar whipped his neck and released the enemy from his hold. The dragon then did a swing by and avoided crashing to the ground before trying to swoop onto the leader. The leader who was about to attack Annica and Hannah could only evade, unable to continue with his attack.

As for the member Chaflar tossed?

BOOOM!

With an explosion-like sound, the enemy crashed into the ground. Dust and soil scattered, engulfing the enemy in its violent embrace.

Chaflar's swing by as he tried attacking the leader again created a gust of wind to blow away the dust and soil. However, all that was left there was a small crater and a figure in the middle of turning into ash.

One down.

No.

Two down.

The Thin Leader could only watch as the giant golden dog toyed with his other member before crushing him with her giant paws.

Speed-wise, the assassins should be winning. However, even if they turn invisible or into a blur, the beasts know where they moved. It was as if they had a full 360-degree view of their surroundings, which was impossible.

Unless...

The leader turned to Annica. She was the one issuing commands to the beasts. It must be her entire fault.

Safety and stealth were not of his concern anymore. The Thin Leader focused all of his might on this attempt.

The Thin Leader's figure suddenly disappeared. It was not through invisibility and stealth but pure speed. Even Queen could not keep up with the leader's speed anymore. And without Queen's sight, Annical could not do anything either.

Annica felt danger.

But then, Annica heard a sigh.

Annica then turned to her side and looked at Hannah.

Annica was surprised and could not help but step back as the Thin Leader fell dead behind her with a slit through his neck.

"This is what assassins are good for. Ambushes." Hannah said as she retracted her left arm, with her hand holding a sci-fi-looking blade. "If you get caught in a stealth mission, it's over. And worse, don't show your intent to enemies. Because assassins, even with cards in hand, only had one goal. That goal is pretty easy to predict one compromised, after all.

Especially in front of another assassin."

Hannah then turned to Annica with a smile.

"That's what Aunt Odelina taught me."

"I understand what you are saying, but you're being scary right now," Annica said as she glanced at the enemy by her foot, who had already begun turning to ash. "But I guess we're done here?"

"Yes," Hannah nodded. "There was a bit of danger in the end, but we won."

"Alright! Let's go back!" Annica said as she suddenly fell to her knees. "Please carry me. Now it's over... I suddenly lost my strength."

Hannah almost laughed as she helped Annica onto the back of Chaflar before they returned to the settlement.