Mutagen

Day 365 - 11:19 AM - Spring Lake, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

The two generals clashed in an unusual battle. It was normal for people of their position to fight while standing behind their armies. They were supposed to be commanding from the back, leading their soldiers using their experience as veteran soldiers.

However, General Wijaya and General Piliang seemed far from those norms.

The two generals fought alongside their soldiers when needed. They were not afraid to be the frontline of the frontlines.

If there were differences between the two, it was their dispositions, experience, and skills.

General Piliang could shift between being in the front and in the back. He had enough experience and courage to do both things. Unfortunately, he was ambitious and scheming. It was what led to the current happenings.

On the other hand, General Wijaya was an unripe soldier to befit his current position in the military. However, while he might lack the experience to command, he had the courage, honor, and ideals to make up for it.

And now, those two generals were fighting for their ideals.

"Piliang!" General Wijaya shouted as he threw a punch. "Why are you doing this?! To defend a cult that took the lives of thousands of people. Are you out of your mind?"

"Out of my mind, huh?" General Piliang replied, seemingly tired of the farce, as he blocked the incoming punch with his supernatural ability. "I might be."

BOOM!

General Piliang swiftly waved his right hand, with his palm facing General Wijaya's abdomen. It caused a strong force to erupt, pushing the latter flying several meters away.

"But, you see... I don't find anything wrong with purging the weak."

General Piliang declared as he suddenly made a beckoning motion with his left arm, causing the barely stable General Wijaya to suddenly fly forward.

As General Wijaya was suspended in the air and struggling in front of him, General Piliang continued.

"There are all kinds of people. There are those who cannot fight but are pushing forward in their own ways. They are brave. They are strong in their own way."

"BUT THESE PARASITES!"

BAM!

With a strong push, General Wijaya was sent flying in the air.

BOOM!

With a forceful pull, General Wijaya crashed into the damp ground, sinking his invincible body half a foot.

"They can't move on their own. Rather than step forward, they decided to enter some cult with a non-existent god. They would choose to worship a god they never knew instead of being useful, unlike the others who were fighting to survive."

"JUST LIKE A BUNCH OF PARASITIC WEAK COWARDS!"

BAM!

General Piliang kicked the recovering General Wijaya. The kick, accompanied by his supernatural power, caused the latter to fly away and crash towards the HuNovelFireee, which he alighted from.

"Whether they are alive or not, it did not matter," General Piliang glared at General Wijaya. "They contribute nothing to this already crumbling country. And with their absence, we can allocate the freed resources to those who are actually deserving of it."

"That's..." General Wijaya stood up from his fall. "That's no reason to throw away innocent lives!"

General Wijaya charged forward once more, with a speed faster than before.

Although General Piliang tried to block the charge, he struggled and could not stop his opponent.

BOOM!

Another punch was thrown at the old general. It was blocked again, but he was thrown a few meters away, with his arms feeling numb from the pain. Closely looking at it, blood could be seen trickling from the corner of General Piliang's mouth.

The last punch was able to break through the old general's supernatural defenses.

"I understand what you are saying..." General Piliang stood as he wiped off the blood on the corner of his lips. "All lives are important, right?"

Then, the old general snickered.

"Who said so? Some political activist? Or maybe your local religious pastor?"

"If anything... humans are the least deserving to say such a phrase."

"Because humans killed the most in this world, more than any creatures living."

"I'm just adhering to that standard. The rules of nature, per se?"

"And my goal... you asked, right? I want to lead this country forward."

"WITHOUT ANY USELESS WEIGHTS DRAGGING ME FROM BEHIND!"

BOOOM!

The surroundings shook as General Piliang's energy flared violently. His military uniform fluttered, and his short silver hair waved weightlessly.

And as General Piliang raised his hand, a military car behind him began floating.

"And I will start with you!"

General Piliang waved his hand. The floating military car was thrown at General Wijaya with incredible force.

BAM!

"UGH!" With a frown and a groan, General Wijaya blocked the incoming military car with both hands. "RAAAAAAHHH!!!"

General Wijaya resisted the impact, but he was being pushed back with his shoes being dragged across the damp ground. Unfortunately, he could not just dodge. If he could not stop this military vehicle, it would clearly crush a few soldiers behind him.

Nonetheless, the military car was not stopping. General Piliang continued to push it with full force.

In the end, General Wijaya could only look behind him.

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

The soldiers fighting against the forces of General Piliang heard the shout and immediately moved. They also dragged the injured soldiers away as fast as possible.

"GAH!"

In the end, General Wijaya failed, and the military car slipped away from his hands. It flew towards two military trucks his soldiers used as cover during the shootout.

Then, the military car pushed the two trucks forward, pushing them off the mountain slope and falling into the cliff at the roadside.

BAM! CRASH!

The three cars fell, crashing trees down the cliff and bursting into flames.

Unfortunately, General Piliang was not finished, as he picked up another vehicle from behind him with his supernatural ability.

By the looks of it, this battle would be extremely difficult for the [Titanium Clad General] alone.

***

"Ideals, huh..." Mark murmured as he watched the two. "If he's not a prideful *sshole and there's no Luna to think of, I'll probably side with him in this one."

"You..."

The secretary shooting a pistol beside Mark could not help but hear his murmurs.

Mark only gave the secretary a shrug and did not say anything else. Instead, he took out an assault rifle from his ring.

"It's been a while since I fought with a gun."

Mark commented as he started shooting.

While the two generals were fighting it out, the soldiers and the disguised [Face Wearers] were having their own battle. A shootout, of course.

Both sides were getting injuries. Fortunately, there were still no casualties from the side of General Wijaya, while there were already a few deaths on General Piliang's side.

Why?

It was a problem with expertise.

The [Face Wearers] could perfectly copy their target's appearance, voice, behavior, and probably, memories. However, if one were to look at the records of already confirmed [Face Wearers], there was no case of [Face Wearers] disguised as [Mutators].

It was clear the [Face Wearers] could not copy mutations. The same could be said for a person's skills, albeit to a different degree.

A good example would be a [Face Wearer] disguised as a soldier. They might be able to copy the soldier's knowledge about guns. However, the experience of actually handling guns would be different.

The limited effect of the [Face Wearer's] disguises was shown in this gunfight.

In fact, Mark knew that the only humans on General Piliang's side were the snipers. Snipers might just be another gun to regular people, but they require an entirely different level of skill and expertise. It was something that the [Face Wearers] would not be able to handle too soon.

Well, Mark was keeping quiet about the snipers he killed, however. There was no need to let General Wijaya know that he probably killed ten elite soldiers.

Because of the limited skills the inexperienced [Face Wearers] had, they were definitely on the losing side in this gunfight despite their higher numbers.

General Piliang should have realized that now. That was why he began including the soldiers in the range of his attacks.

"RAHHH!"

General Wijaya caught another vehicle. As he exerted more power, it turned into a stalemate. But if he let go, it was possible that this vehicle would cause more destruction to his soldiers.

"I'll help a little, I guess."

Mark said as she shifted his aim from the [Face Wearers] to General Piliang.

RATATAT!

Mark fired three bullets with a single burst of his M4 Assault Rifle.

General Piliang felt the danger and immediately moved his right arm to block the incoming bullets.

The bullets hit an invisible force, which caused small ripples in the air. The bullets failed to hit their target but served their purpose.

"HAH!"

With the force pushing the vehicle reduced to half, General Wijaya shifted the direction of the vehicle and threw it into the lake, possibly away from General Piliang's control.

And without stopping, General Wijaya charged at General Piliang once again.

BOOOM!

General Piliang blocked the punch by raising one hand. He then tried to use his other hand to push the opponent away.

However...

RATATAT!

There was another audible burst of gunshots, accompanied by another surge of killing intent.

General Piliang immediately stopped his intended actions, and his eyes panned around, trying to find the bullets.

However, he actually failed to do so.

"Wher-"

General Piliang murmured before he felt an impact on his left shoulder while facing a different direction.

"GAH!"

General Piliang was sent flying with his shoulder dislocated.

On the other hand, General Wijaya was surprised as his second punch connected without resistance.

"DAMN IT!"

General Piliang roared as he caused a wall of dirt to form and block General Wijaya, who was about to make a follow-up attack.

With his left shoulder dislocated and possibly broken, General Piliang lost proper control of his left arm. It also caused his strength to drop sharply. It was because his power had certain conditions to activate. Those conditions were the movements of his body should correspond to the action he wanted with his supernatural ability.

Unfortunately, General Wijaya was no idiot. He was actually aiming for the opponent's arms and legs all this time. And now, the effort paid off.

Behind the Humvee, Mark snickered.

That burst of gunshots was from him, obviously. However, he actually fired the shots at the [Face Wearers] while sending the killing intent to General Piliang.

Not only did Mark kill two [Face Wearers] in those three shots, but he also effectively disturbed General Piliang's concentration in his battle.

"Piliang..." General Wijaya stood in front of General Piliang, who had yet to stand up. "Just surrender."

Unfortunately, General Wijaya wished not to unnecessarily shed blood. If General Piliang surrendered, he would take him alive.

Nonetheless, those words were replied with a glare.

A gale of dirt and wind threw themselves at General Wijaya, causing him to take a few steps back. When he recovered, he noticed General Piliang running away with inhuman speed.

Seeing the escaping General, Mark fired several shots of his gun. Unfortunately, even with half his power, General Piliang could still block bullets with his ability.

And with the [Face Wearers] still in the way, General Piliang successfully retreated into the church of Muria Religion.

Mark shrugged, unperturbed by what happened. Unlike back in Japan, Mark did not intend anyone to run away anymore. And if General Piliang thought he succeeded in escaping, he was mistaken, as there was an invisible surge of black mist tailing closely behind him as he ran away.

Besides, it was not like only General Wijaya and his side were on the move.

It was because there were other people already charging into the other three exits the Muria Religion had.

"Let's kill these ones and follow him."

Mark said as he suddenly appeared behind General Wijaya, who was facing bullets from the [Face Wearers].

"Are you using me as a shield?"

General Wijaya could not help but ask Mark.

"Not really."

Mark shrugged before moving, charging at the enemies with his gun and shooting on the move.

Unfortunately for the enemies, even though Mark was charging forward into the crossfire, no bullets were hitting him. And if one were to look at his figure closely, they could see his body flickering in and out of reality.

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