Mutagen

Day 365 - 11:14 AM - Spring Lake, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

One gunshot prematurely started the gunfight. No one thought that the prideful General Piliang would steep this low. But then again, this was not a battle for honor and pride.

Despite both sides being soldiers serving the same country, it was a fight to eliminate the other side.

It was not for honor or to serve the country.

It was to pave the way for their own ideals.

That was why General Piliang set up the sniper. It was because General Wijaya was the worst threat to his ideals.

However, General Piliang could only frown as the sniper bullet failed to kill its target. Instead, it was the stranger. Someone that he barely considered a threat.

It was a waste of such a precious bullet. It was no regular bullet but a specialized one. It was given to General Piliang, and there was no way to manufacture one. As such, they only had one specialized bullet to use to kill General Wijaya.

Yet, the bullet did not even hit the target.

It was a dismay.

That was what General Piliang had in mind as he raised his hand to block the bullets shot at him in the other side's retaliation.

The air in front of General Piliang rippled as each bullet stopped and hovered motionlessly.

Seeing the bizarre sight, the soldiers on the other side could not help but stop their shooting in absolute confusion.

***

On the other side, General Wijaya dragged Mark to safety behind the HuNovelFireee with the gunfire as cover. The General's secretary, Staff Sergeant Cahya, also jumped out of the vehicle, joining the General to check on Mark's condition.

"Urk..."

The two could not help but frown and groan as they saw the hole in Mark's left temple. Looking at the hole, they could see the butt of the sniper bullet. It seemed that it did not penetrate too deep. However, they could see that the long bullet tip also damaged Mark's left eye as it penetrated downward.

And to the two's dismay, Mark's left eye was open wide, with the eyeball twisted at a supposedly impossible angle.

Nonetheless, it should not be fatal. It was the only good thing in this situation. Even so, Mark should be brought away to be treated immediately. Not only blood loss would be a problem, but there could also be other hidden complications.

But Staff Sergeant Cahya noticed something odd.

"General... Why is there no blood?"

It was only then the General noticed the oddity.

Considering the possible damage, Mark should be bleeding from the temple and through his left eye.

Yet, not a single drop of blood had been shed from him.

"Yeah, bleeding to death is impossible for me unless I wanted to."

A sudden voice made General Wijaya and Staff Sergeant Cahya flinch. The secretary even took out her pistol and pointed it in the direction of the voice. Pointing it At Mark.

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A frown appeared on Mark's eyebrows as his right eye looked at the secretary.

"I already got shot. You want to shoot me again?"

"Ah!"

The secretary immediately shifted her pistol away.

"Sir Mark! Are you okay? Wait! Don't sit up."

General Wijaya asked with concern, especially when he saw Mark trying to lift his body up.

"I'm fine," Mark answered as he lifted his back without problem but ended up twitching his face a bit. "I can't close my left eye. Did a nerve get hit?"

Mark was trying to close his left eye as he could feel the wind hitting his damaged eyeball. However, it was not working as his left eye kept open.

On the other hand, the two around Mark were flabbergasted at his actions.

"A-are you really okay, Sir?"

Staff Sergeant Cahya asked.

"Yeah?" Mark replied with his own question. "I mean, I can't see with my left eye, and it hurts bad. But I'm okay, otherwise. I only fell down because I got a little dizzy from the impact."

However, Mark did not seem to be in pain at all. It was much more surprising that he only got dizzy from receiving a sniper bullet to his temple.

"You shouldn't have done that," General Wijaya reprimanded Mark. "I can step forward and talk with the enemy because I'm not afraid of bullets."

General Susila Wijaya. He was also known for two titles the people gave him. The [Invincible Soldier] and the [Titanium Clad General]. It was because of his [Mutator] ability, allowing him to strengthen his skin and muscles stronger than steel. Regular bullets had no effect on him, while armor-piercing bullets could only leave a slight dent in his body.

Due to this ability, General Wijaya could step in front of his soldiers, not afraid of any sneak attacks and schemes.

Of course, Mark knew about this, too, since he did some investigation himself. And no one in the Fortress did not know about General Wijaya's abilities.

"I know," Mark shrugged. "But it's no regular bullet, you see."

Mark said as he suddenly reached for the bullet inside his temple, pulling it with his bare left hand.

"DON'T!"

The two reacted, but it was late. With the slight sound of his own flesh being smudged by his fingers, Mark pulled out the long sniper bullet.

Showing it to General Wijaya, the bullet shape was not different from an ordinary armor-piercing 7.62x51mm bullet. However, at a closer look at the bullet, one could see some strange symbols engraved on it.

"[Enchanted Bullet]," Mark explained. "It should have other effects than just penetration. I disabled it, though."

General Wijaya and Staff Sergeant Cahya could not care about the bullet anymore. They were far more flabbergasted at Mark's absurd actions.

It was when they noticed it. The moment the bullet was taken out, the hole in Mark's temple began to close. Even his eyeball was shifting back into position on its own.

"Don't worry about this," Mark pointed at his eye. "This small injury won't last long."

The two were surprised at Mark's inhuman abilities. Nonetheless, they were relieved he was fine.

It was when...

"GENERAL! OUR BULLETS ARE DOING NOTHING!"

A soldier called out to General Wijaya after General Piliang stopped the bullets in an absurd way.

Now that he knew Mark was okay, General Wijaya finally paid attention to the other side, only to see the bullets falling to the ground after the gunfire stopped.

"Looks like I'm not the only one not afraid of bullets."

General Wijaya commented.

"Looks like it," Mark agreed as he also stood up. "Anyway. Aside from catching this bullet, I don't think I'm really needed here."

"What do you mean?"

General Wijaya asked.

"I'm here to prevent unnecessary casualties, right?" Mark smirked. "But you guys already fired the guns."

General Wijaya could only respond with a bitter look. Because of what happened, he ordered to open fire without thinking further.

"Well, you should just continue shooting," Mark shrugged. "There's no point in stopping it if only the leader is human on the other side, right?"

"Huh?"

General Wijaya was confused at first until Mark's words sunk into his mind. He immediately turned his head at the enemies. What Mark meant by his words was aside from General Piliang, all the soldiers on the opposite side were not human.

***

General Piliang had a smile when he stopped the bullets. However, his smile turned into a frown upon seeing Mark, who was still fine after getting hit with the specialized bullet meant for General Wijaya.

'What is going on? Is it defective?'

General Piliang began thinking of reasons as to why Mark was still up and about.

But then, General Piliang shook his head.

It did not matter. All that mattered was to eliminate the enemies in front of him.

General Piliang raised his hand. His soldiers finally aimed their guns at the enemy forces.

And as General Piliang made a chopping motion with his hand, the gunfires ensued.

***

General Wijaya's troops took cover and returned fire. This time, the aim was not only the supposedly exposed General Piliang. The soldiers on his side also became targets.

After learning that the soldiers General Piliang was commanding were not human, there was no need to hesitate anymore. He immediately relayed the information to his troops, and the soldiers became even more eager to eliminate the enemies.

If the soldiers around General Piliang were not human yet had human appearance, it only meant one thing for them. The enemies were [Face Wearers]. And if these were [Face wearers], they should be annihilated.

General Wijaya clenched his fist. He wanted to punch the hell out of that General Piliang. He was familiar with some of the faces of the soldiers on the enemy's side. But if those were [Face Wearers], then the original ones might have already been part of the horde the previous night.

If not for Mark stopping General Wijaya from charging in, he would have already run straight to the enemies, ignoring the crossfire. However, the threat of the [Enchated Bullet] was not zero. Running at the enemies blindly might cause his death.

"Wait a bit," Mark said to General Wijaya as he took a Sniper Rifle out of nowhere. "Let me get rid of the snipers first."

Then, Mark began shooting in strange directions.

And at every shot Mark made, General Piliang's expression grew more and more unsightly.

After fifteen shots, Mark eliminated the ten snipers posted around the area. Although Mark killed the first six with single shots, the others noticed what was happening and began moving around, which made Mark need a few more bullets to neutralize them.

"Yeap," Mark's right eye left the scope of his sniper rifle. "All down. You're free to go. Just be careful since we don't know if their other guns can also fire these [Enchanted Bullets]."

General Wijaya nodded as his skin slowly showed a metallic sheen. And there... The [Titanium Clad General] began showing his prowess on the battlefield.

With General Wijaya coming out of the cover, he immediately garnered the attention of the enemy shooters. Several shots were immediately aimed at him.

CLANG! CLANG!

General Wijaya slightly covered his face as he walked forward. With his arm bent in front of his eyes and taking a running posture, he began to increase his speed.

The [Titanium Clad General] was now running in the middle of the crossfire.

Bullets pelted General Wijaya's body. His uniform got torn in many parts, causing his toned body to show its appearance.

But General Wijaya's speed only got faster and faster.

Soon, General Wijaya and General Piliang clashed with each other.

"YOU OLD SCHEMING COOT!"

With the activation of his skill and accumulated frustration with the unfair treatment over the past months, General Wijaya erased all pretense and roared.

General Wijaya raised his arm and punched straight at the old General. With the strength of a [Mutator], the weight of the metallic body, and the speed of the charge, it would not be surprising if General Piliang died after receiving this punch.

However, General Piliang stood unfazed as he stared at the incoming enemy.

In response to the punch, the old General raised his right hand.

WONG!

The strong punch of General Wijaya and the mysterious force from General Piliang's mystical power clashed.

General Wijaya's punch froze midswing.

Surprisingly, General Piliang stopped the powerful punch.

Ripples in the air could be felt as the strength of the two Generals met.

Following the block, General Piliang motioned his hands as if he were pushing forward. It caused General Wijaya to fly backward before skidding his feet across the damp grass on the ground.

But General Wijaya did not let what happened to hinder him as he kicked the ground and charged forward.

Another punch was coming toward General Piliang.

With the same motion as before, General Piliang blocked the punch and tried to push his opponent back once again.

However, before the old General could make the push again, General Wijaya unleashed another punch. The old General could only cancel the push as he blocked the second attack.

This time, General Piliang's foot was the one that left skid marks on the ground.

BOOM!

The strength of the two collided even more, causing an impact on each other as they both flew backward a few steps.