"You!" Frederick shouted in anger at Kyoji's words, but Kyoji ignored him completely, only offering a mocking
"Fine, let's go," Frederick mumbled after a moment of simmering silence. He wouldn't back down, not after being called a coward.
"Hold on," Kyoji called out, hurrying away.
Nearby, buried under rubble and boulders, was the spot where Major Gareth had left a pile of weapons. Kyoji heaved the debris aside before selecting three heavy throwing spears, each weighing around 25 to 30 kilograms. He then found a nearby corpse, using its clothes as makeshift straps to secure the spears to his back.
Frederick watched in horror.
"Have you no respect for the dead?" he burst out.
Kyoji showed no emotion, no remorse, as he stripped the body bare. Even though Frederick had been trained for brutality since childhood, he knew there were lines you didn't cross. The corpse likely belonged to one of the youths who had undergone the Blessing Ritual earlier. Although crushed and mangled beyond recognition, the simple clothing suggested it wasn't someone dressed for battle.
"What? He or she don't need them anymore," Kyoji replied casually, deliberately using both "he" and "she" since the body was too deformed to determine gender.
Frederick started to speak, then stopped, realizing it was pointless. Nothing he said would matter to Kyoji.
"Alright, I'm ready," Kyoji announced, settling the heavy weapons into their makeshift carrier. The spears were short, about 30 inches long, fitting perfectly within the improvised quiver.
"This better work," Frederick said coldly.
Kyoji smiled but said nothing as they moved towards the frog mutant's location, sticking to the edges of the battlefield to avoid the ongoing chaos. The heavy spears slowed their progress, but they eventually got close.
Knowing the mutant's power, they didn't dare approach directly. Finding a vantage point, they peeked out to observe. The creature, unaware of their presence, continued to lumber around, greedily devouring any corpses in its path.
Time stretched on, seconds turning into minutes, then ten minutes, with no change in the mutant's behavior. It was clearly trying to gather enough energy for its breakthrough.
Kyoji understood this process well. After all, he had experimented extensively on mutants in his past life. Many believed that when chaos energy consumed a living being, transforming them into a mutant, their consciousness vanished, leaving only a beast driven by primal chaos. While partially true, it wasn't entirely accurate.
The truth was, the chaos energy corrupted the being, twisting its body and filling its mind with the desire for destruction. However, the original consciousness remained, albeit suppressed by the chaos energy. And this sliver of their former self fixated on anything containing faith energy – weapons, the temple, statues of gods, and most importantly, Chosen's. They believed this energy held the key to restoring them, to reclaiming that lost piece of their past.
But this belief, too, was flawed. They overlooked the most crucial element – the chaos energy itself.
Although faith energy could theoretically purge the chaos energy, there was no realistic way for them to consume enough. You see, chaos energy and faith energy were like oil and water – impossible to mix. They would always repel each other, and that's exactly what happened when a mutant consumed something imbued with faith energy.
Their body absorbed it, but the chaos energy within would immediately react, trying to suppress and neutralize it. This process converted the faith energy, perversely, into fuel that strengthened the mutant even further.
This internal struggle was an immensely painful experience for the creature. If, however, a mutant was stubborn (or foolish) enough to consume a massive amount of faith energy at once, the two forces could reach equilibrium – a catastrophic event that would result in the mutant's immediate death.
This principle was precisely what Kyoji had reverse-engineered in his previous life to create the power serum. He had found a way to convert chaos energy into a usable form, stripped of its volatile and corrupting nature.
'Wait a minute... why can't I remember the process?' Kyoji muttered, furrowing his brow. Now that he thought about it, the specific steps for creating the serum eluded him.
He could recall everything else about his past life – the power project, his experiences, every single detail – except for this crucial piece of information. It was incredibly strange.
"Hey, are we planning on standing around all day?" Frederick's voice broke through Kyoji's thoughts.
'I'll worry about that later, after I've dealt with this beast,'Kyoji mumbled to himself, turning back to Frederick.
"If you're scared, you can always run away. You are a chicken, aren't you?" he taunted.
"You!" Frederick shouted, anger flaring.
Ignoring him, Kyoji returned his attention to the mutant. It was now tearing into the giant corpse of another mutant, devouring flesh and bone with terrifying speed. Within seconds, nothing remained.
Strangely, however, instead of growing more agitated, the creature began to retreat further into the recesses of the temple.
"Come on, let's go," Kyoji beckoned to Frederick, and they cautiously followed the mutant.
"Do you notice something strange?" Kyoji asked suddenly.
Frederick frowned, turning to him.
"No, I don't think so."
"Don't you find it odd that the beast's aura seems to be weakening instead of getting stronger?"
Frederick's brows furrowed deeper, and he turned back to observe the mutant with a puzzled expression. After a moment, his eyes widened in realization.
"This… how is this possible? Shouldn't it be getting stronger, especially after consuming so many corpses?" He paused, a thought dawning on him.
"Wait… don't tell me it's dying?"
"That's not it," Kyoji said, a hint of worry in his voice.
"It's not dying. It's getting stronger."
Frederick stared at him in confusion. The creature was clearly getting weaker. Why would Kyoji say that? Then, it hit him.
"Wait… do you mean…?"
"Yes," Kyoji interrupted, his voice grim.
"It's breaking through."
Panic surged through Frederick. The mutant was already a Twisted level mutant, incredibly dangerous. Breaking through meant it was about to become a Corrupted level mutant.
"We have to warn everyone!" Frederick exclaimed, his voice tight with urgency.
"And you think they'll believe us?" Kyoji countered, his expression serious.
"Two kids who just underwent their Blessing Ritual and know nothing about beasts? Besides, there's no time. They're already struggling to hold their own against the other Corrupted level mutant."
Frederick knew Kyoji was right. They didn't have proof, and time was running out. No one knew when reinforcements would arrive, and a second Corrupted level mutant appearing now would be a disaster. Many would die. Even with his barrier ability, he wasn't sure he could survive it.
"Then what do we do?" he asked, desperation creeping into his voice.
"People will die if we don't stop this!"
Kyoji chuckled, but it was a humorless sound.
"I know. That's why we're going to kill it before it breaks through."