Mutagen

Day 149 - 9:03 AM - Carorian Settlement, Barangay Carorian, Municipality of Bato, Catanduanes

In the middle of the mountains, there was a small village. Although a lot of homes were built with concrete, the structures were small. It was an example of a countryside village in modern times.

Now, it was turned into a settlement surrounded by walls made of wood from the forest and scrap building materials. The walls were topped by rolls of barbed wires to stop anyone from climbing it.

Unfortunately, the walls were there, and it was not to stop anyone from coming into the settlement but from going out without permission. It was to avoid their livestock from escaping.

In terms of defense, these walls would not help a lot. However, there was no need to make this place a man-made fortress. Aside from the southern side of the village, the other sides were surrounded by forest-covered mountains. The whole place was already a nature-made fortress against attackers.

This settlement in the mountains of the Municipality of Bato was the very place governed by Demons.

The population of Demons on the island of Catanduanes was not that large. It was just around two hundred individuals. Before the outbreak, that number was all scattered throughout the island hiding from human sight. Now that they were gathered together, it would not be long for them to stand up against humans.

In this settlement, the majority of the Demons were either Aswangs or Manananggals. There were also the occasional rarer ones like Sigbins and Andudunos and other Demon races here and there.

In this place, humans had no rights. They were treated as livestock. The only exceptions were Mangkukulams and Mambabarangs were gifted dark abilities akin to Demons. Furthermore, these two kinds of witches were held in regard as even Demons would have a hard time once they received their ire.

In the largest house at the center of the settlement, a cloud of fog floated and entered the building.

The cloud of fog then formed a humanoid shape that humbly bowed before a handsome muscular man having his late breakfast on the dining table.

That cloud of fog then materialized, showing a handsome-looking Demon. He just stood to the side, watching the muscular man eat.

And what was the food on the table?

It was the limbless and headless torso of a young virgin woman with her stomach slit open while the man used his knife and fork as he feasted on her raw innards. The woman's decapitated head was also served on a plate at the side with her fully preserved expression of horror when the Demons cut her alive.

The handsome Demon patiently waited. It was until the muscular man used his fork to pierce and scoop out the woman's eye and munched on it with a delightful smile.

"What is your business here, Muggur? Shouldn't you be in the north, guarding the border? You should watch out for those pesky Spirits and Elementals since they had been messing with our people whenever they got a chance."

The man's deep muscular voice that could make women bow down echoed into the ears of the handsome Demon called Muggur.

"Lord Seis," Mugguraddressed the muscular man. "A seemingly family of unfamiliar Demons entered our jurisdiction. They came with a group of about a hundred humans. It appeared that they were ushering humans somewhere."

"Unfamiliar Demons, you say?" Lord Seis used his fork to pluck out the dead woman's kidney with a bloody snap. "What actions did you take?"

"As per rules, we blocked their way and told them to go back."

Muggur replied.

"Good. We can't just let anyone enter our territory. If the intruders were humans, capture them. But since those humans had Demons with them, it is better not to gain their ire too much. We are not the only Demon Clans in the world. We can't afford a war with other clans right now."

"But Lord Seis."

Muggur interjected.

"What is it?"

"Ogon gave out conditions on his own volition."

"That Ogon..." Lord Seis was exasperated. "Where is that bastard now?"

"He's dead, Lord Seis."

Muggur replied, making Lord Seis put down his knife and fork down with a frown.

"What happened?"

Lord Seis sternly asked. That Ogon might look unsightly and had a rebellious behavior. However, that Aswang still had enough strength to kill more than a dozen armed soldiers with his bare hands.

As the Lord finally asked, Muggur recalled the encounter about an hour ago.

Learning about what happened, Lord Seis did not seem to be agitated. Instead, he started to mull over the situation.

"So, they said that they were only passing by, and you said that the one who appeared to be the leader killed Ogon in a blink of an eye. Did you determine what kind of Demons they were?"

Lord Seis asked.

"I'm sorry, Lord Seis." Muggur bowed one more. "They sure have a Demonic Aura. Even the giant winged lizard with them shared the same. However, it was the first time I encountered such aura."

"Demons of unknown race and origin, was it?" Lord Seis nodded. "Keep an eye on them, but don't make any rash movements. They might be high members of other Demon Clans. We can't afford distractions while we increase our numbers."

"As you command, Lord Seis."

Muggur bowed one last time before turning into a cloud of fog that flew out of the building.

"Someone, take this away!"

Hearing what happened made Lord Seis' mood worse. He lost the appetite.

As Lord Seis shouted, several women entered the room to start cleaning the table. While the servants cleaned, however, they all had sticky stares towards the dead woman's body. The smell of human flesh and blood definitely stimulated their hunger.

Lord Seis left the dining room and entered another room. Standing at the center of the room, he closed his eyes and spoke.

"You heard Muggur, right? What are your thoughts about it?"

At first glance, no one was present in the room. But then, at a closer look, there was a man sitting on one of the chairs in the corner of the room.

"I'll give you a warning." The man spoke. "Don't mess with those people. Though by how it sounded like, they will come to create trouble later on."

"What do you mean, Austin?" Lord Seis turned to the man. "Do you know them?"

"Not personally," Austin replied. "Those Demons did not belong to any clan. But it did not mean that they are easy pickings. You definitely felt the explosion of magical energy the other day. That came from their leader."

Hearing that, Lord Seis frowned deeply.

"But why would they make trouble with us? Is it because of what Ogon did? No, the threat was said before Ogon offended them. Then why?"

"Don't ask me." Austin shrugged. "I'm not them. That's beyond my scope of information gathering. But it's likely that your Demons offended them before in some way. The Rebel Base in Viga got destroyed yesterday. It might have some connection with that."

Hearing all those threatening warnings made Lord Seis' mood worsened even more.

"In any case, you better prepare."

Austin suggested.

Without saying anything else, Lord Seis walked out of the room, slamming the door closed.

"Seriously, he always tries to make a calm face, but his actions do otherwise." Austin shrugged. "But seriously, what is that courier planning, making a ruckus around the island."

With those words, Austin sat comfortably while playing with a fist-sized cockroach on the wall beside him.

***

Day 149 - 9:12 AM - Catanduanes Circumferential Road, Guinobatan, Municipality of Bato, Catanduanes

After the encounter with the two Demons that blocked their way, everyone had been cautious of their surroundings. However, it was not because they might possibly encounter danger. There was definitely danger around them.

Since arriving in the Municipality of Bato, there was an eerie aura lingering in the surroundings. Even Amihan kept hiding inside Mark's bag.

It was the aura that marked the Demon's territory. This aura covered the surroundings with an unexplainable gloomy and uncomfortable atmosphere that even the densest human alive would feel that something was odd.

To spirits, this kind of aura was suffocating to some extent. It was the worst for elementals. Fortunately, they were just walking at the border and not at the center of the Demon territory. That was why Amihan could still handle it.

"Amihan, you okay there?"

Mark whispered behind him.

"I'm still okay, Master..."

Amihan replied with less energy than usual.

It was better if Amihan stayed inside the bag as the sight of her would definitely irk the Demons in the surroundings. Still, she was suffering. Sylphs were elementals, after all.

That was when the idea entered Mark's mind and his eyes fell on Mei.

"Mei'er, can you carry my bag for a bit?"

Mark asked Mei.

Mei tilted her head in confusion. Still, she nodded and took Mark's backpack.

The backpack was not heavy. It only contained a few clothes and served as a disguise. Their things were inside their rings, after all.

When Mei wore the backpack, Mark opened the zipper a bit and peeked inside.

"Feeling better?"

Mark asked Amihan.

"I am! How?!"

Amihan was confused and peeked her head out of the bag.

"Just stay inside. We are still in the Demon territory."

Mark warned.

"Okay~!"

Amihan replied as she immediately hid.

Mark shrugged, seeing Amihan suddenly energetic again. Mei also smiled.

Mei was not affected by the aura in the surroundings because of her unique physique. And now that Mei wore the backpack where Amihan was hiding, the Sylph was shielded by the ominous aura.

Continuing on the road, the feeling worsened. It was not because they were moving towards the center of the Demon territory. In fact, the road they were taking was moving further away from the center.

What made them feel wary and jumpy was the things obviously watching everyone from the surroundings.

At almost every corner, they could see animals. Not evolved animals but normal-sized ones. Cats, dogs, pigs, and even carabaos and cows. However, all of them were black in color while having red glowing eyes.

For the people that grew up on this island, there was no way that they could not recognize these animals even if they did not want to.

Aswangs, those were these creatures. They were Demons that prey on humans while being capable of transforming into the aforementioned animals.

"Gege, aren't they being careless?" Mei whispered. "Aren't they supposed to be hiding their involvement in this area? Why are they letting themselves seen by us?"

"They probably think that these people behind us are our prisoners. Since we are Demons too, they might think that it's fine."

That could possibly be why. These Demons, after all, did not know that Mark's was escorting these people to the Military Settlement. Once that happened, the existence of these Demons would be revealed to the Military.

Well, it was not like it would be believed immediately.

On Chaflar's back, the little girls sat. It was when Emika's eyes locked onto a boar that was looking at her like a tasty treat. The green-haired girl stiffened and suddenly jumped off Chaflar's back before running to Mark and hugging his arm.

"Scared?"

Mark teased.

"I'm not!"

Emika retorted.

But then, her eyes locked into another black animal giving her goosebumps.

"Uwaa!!! No fair!"

Suddenly, someone shouted.

It was Miracle pointing at Emika that was holding her Papa's hand. She immediately followed suit and jumped off Chaflar's back. She rushed unto Mark's free hand.

Unfortunately, her steps were small, and could not properly keep up with the adults.

With a sigh, Mark could only pick her up.

Not far from behind, the calm Abbygale would not take a loss. However, since both Mark's hands were occupied, she took their Mama's instead. Mei could not help but smile. Iola sighed on Chaflar's back. But when Mei called her, she happily followed suit.

The eerie atmosphere was suddenly broken. The workers following behind could not help but look at Mark's group with warm eyes. Some had jealousy but not in a bad way.

As for the Demons in the surroundings, there was only one question they wanted to shout while watching Mark's group.

"Are we a joke to you people?!"