Chapter 1155: Mark's Unusual Return, The Beginning of the Final Stretch of the Battle Against the Night Goddess

Day 368 - 6:22 PM - Mountain Back, Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

"Gege?"

That single familiar word from Mei caused everyone quite a stir.

The woman before them, who resembled the Night Goddess in her humanoid form, was Mark, according to Mei.

While the Indonesian survivors might be a bit more baffled, the members of Evernight would not doubt Mei in the slightest. Among them, Mei would not mistake Mark for anything else. Moreover, it was not just Mei. Some members, like the little girls and Chaflar, even noticed it.

The person in front of them might have some unexpected appearance, but she was, without a doubt, Mark.

With a shrug, Mark approached everyone. Of course, it made the Indonesian survivors flinch by reflex. They had yet to believe that it was really Mark.

But before anyone else could react, the fastest of everyone present appeared in front of Mark. Abbygale, who had already left her [Valkyrie Armor], rushed towards Mark and jumped into his arms.

Mark caught the little girl without any problem and hugged the little girl. But, unexpectedly, Abbygale pulled away while he carried her. She then stared at his chest with a frown.

"Is it uncomfortable?"

Mark asked.

"I can't hear it."

Abbygale complained while patting Mark's chest.

"So, that's why."

Mark said as he patted Abbygale's head.

Since the day Mark found Abbygale, she showed how she really liked to be in Mark's embrace. Sometimes, she would even fall asleep in his arms. While one reason was that Mark's [Spirit Healing] would make anyone in his embrace feel comfortable, Abbygale had another reason. She really liked listening to the sound of Mark's heartbeat. The sound makes her feel secure.

Unfortunately, with Mark's current appearance, the above-average size of Azra's chest was in the way for Abbygale to comfortably listen to his heartbeat.

The scene of Abbygale patting a beautiful woman's chest made Edge, General Wijaya, and Louis awkward as they looked away by reflex.

"Do you guys really have time to feel awkward?" Mark complained. "We are still surrounded, no?"

That was right. The [Flesh Creatures] were still everywhere. The surprise from Mark's sudden arrival with such an appearance sure took them out of their concentration on the ongoing battle.

But then, they all realized. The [Flesh Creatures] were also silent after Mark arrived. As they looked around, the [Flesh Creatures] only stood in place for some reason.

"What happened?"

Luna asked in confusion.

"It should be because of Sir Mark."

Nelia voiced her assumption.

"Yep," Mark affirmed with a nod. "I mean, anyone would freak out if you saw someone who looks exactly like you, right?"

Everyone immediately understood what Mark implied. Since Mark's current appearance was the same as the Night Goddess, she must have fallen into a confusion-induced stupor along with her minions.

"So, these things are really controlled by her?"

Edge once again asked the question before Mark' appeared.

"I already answered," Mark shrugged. "Yes and no."

Mark then conjured a ball of black flame and chucked it towards one of the [Flesh Creatures].

And then...

KRYYYAAAAAA!!!

The familiar screech was heard, surprising everyone.

That [Flesh Creature] wriggled while wrapped in black flames. Then, a shadow emerged from the creature, which fled into the darkness.

And when the shadow escaped, the [Flesh Creatures] resumed their rampage, which had been temporarily halted by Mark's arrival.

Furthermore, the intensity of their movements felt more aggressive than before.

"These creatures are under the Night Goddess' control to some extent, but most of their actions are by instinct. So, yes and no."

Mark explained.

"Wha-!!!" Edge exclaimed as he raised his shield to block an incoming attack. "You should have given us a warning!"

"It's not like anything changed."

Mark shrugged off the complaint and approached Mei and the others.

"Mei'er, are you okay?"

Mark asked as he glanced at the armor she was wearing. Since she had Oracle out and turned into her armor, it only meant that her usual armor got damaged. And for an armor that could withstand bullets to get damaged, it could only be caused by a powerful attack.

"I'm fine," Mei replied as she stared at Mark's face and then at his body. "But what's with that appearance?"

Mei's voice carried a bit of an interrogative tone.

"Don't worry. I can return to normal anytime," Mark patted Mei's head. "It's just..."

"Why are you asking?"

Luna asked back, not understanding Mark's question.

"I mean, since one of the goals of Auraboros is to create chaos among humans, why would he choose now when there's barely any human left? Also, there are more souls to sacrifice back then than now. So, why now?"

Luna and Edge fell silent, not knowing the answer.

"The answer is that he was unable to finish the Night Goddess' creation back then. The most crucial material to perfect the Night Goddess only arrived after the apocalypse came."

""Mutagen?""

Luna and Edge's voice overlapped once again as they realized the answer.

"Yup," Mark nodded. "Mutagen had both positive and negative properties, after all. So, while utilizing the properties of Mutagen, the body of the Night Goddess was finally finished. That is why the Night Goddess is created only then."

"Unfortunately," Mark looked down at the [Flesh Creatures] below. "The Night Goddess' body also contained Mutagen's most devastating effect."

"Turning corpses into [Infected]."

Mark added.

""Ah!""

Luna and Edge finally understood.

The [Flesh Creatures] were not just parts of the Night Goddess' body. Each individual was a [Infected] corpse that was reanimated after being freed from the structure and control of the Night Goddess' body.

"But even though they were now just [Infected], they can't be left alone," Mark continued to explain. "As you two saw earlier, these creatures are still under the influence of the Night Goddess. Each of these creatures contained a tinge of her soul.

It meant that even if we managed to destroy the largest part of the soul that we saw earlier, it is still possible for her to resurrect after some time if we let even just one of these creatures escape."

It was a bad piece of news. A really bad one.

"Fortunately," Mark smiled. "These creatures are [Infected]. They won't run away from us if we do not run away from them first. So, I will deal with the soul. You two go deal with the creatures first."

Luna and Edge looked at each other and then at Mark before nodding.

As Mark had said, there was no plan. They only need to eradicate these [Flesh Creatures] in any way they could.

"I'll deal with the ones in the sky first."

Luna volunteered.

"Then, I'll go with the ones on the ground."

Edge then went with the flow.

There, Edge patted the mane of his mount.

"Gaar. Let's do that thing."

"Ruff!"

Gaardenalia excitedly answered Edge.

And then, Edge jumped off from the back of Gaardenalia, allowing him to free fall from the sky.

Mark watched in askance as to what Edge was doing. It was when the Moonlight Guardian chased after the falling Edge before turning into a surge of light and entering Edge's body, transferring to glow to him.

With the glow covering his body, Edge's appearance began changing to a wolf-like form.

It was not wrong to say that Edge was turning into a [Werewolf]. However, it was not completely correct, either.

"Then, let's add this!"

Edge excitedly exclaimed, now also causing confusion to Luna.

To Luna, who now had the memories of the Goddess of Moonlight, she knew that Edge would be able to transform using the Moonlight Guardian's power. But, as Edge continued to transform further, she could not help but feel surprised and confused.

Adding to the silver [Werewolf] appearance he now sported, Edge's body grew larger. His claws became thicker than a wolf's, and his wolf-like ears began growing rounded.

BOOOM!

A large crater appeared in the middle of the sea of [Flesh Creatures]. The impact smashed a few dozen enemies in one go.

And at the center of the crater, Edge stood with the weapons Mark gave him hanging on his back.

Looking at Edge's current appearance, he looked like a humanoid fusion of a wolf and a bear. His silver color and thick mane gave him a regal appearance. Nonetheless, the ferocity of his presence intensified a hundredfold.

ROOOAR!!

Edge roared. A shockwave shook the air, causing damage to the unstable creatures.

While Mark was surprised by the [Werewolf] transformation, Luna was surprised by the [Werebear] side.

It was because the [Werebear] transformation was the second mutation Mark gave Edge. Who would have thought Edge would use it this way?

In any case, it would give Edge more power to deal with the enemies below.

Leaving the sight of Edge in the middle of countless enemies, Mark turned to the forest on the shell of Mountain Back.

"Unfortunately, you can't hide from me."

Mark murmured as he flew towards the forest, leaving Luna to deal with the enemies in the sky.