Before all the events previously narrated took place, TRX and the rest were still facing the two artificial monsters—or mutants.

Each had different abilities, but they were simple: one had a flower for a head with an eye in the center, shooting rays from it. It was fast, despite wearing long robes, and it scattered what seemed like poisonous pollen. The second one, in contrast, attacked by placing its hands on the ground, summoning tentacles or something from its own body, striking from a distance. It moved much slower and seemed heavier. The strength of its tentacles made it look capable of breaking metal. That’s how strong it was, yet it was still weaker than the wind and pressure of Jackeline. Its skin wasn’t weak either; it was made of wood, and Blocky’s spears couldn’t pierce it.

Pointy noticed something else—these two creatures no longer had consciousness. They were dead inside, following orders without question.

TRX and Blocky were battling both at the same time, wielding long spears made of ice, while Pointy dashed in to damage them with explosions, kicking up dust to confuse or distract them, only to be returned by Mat using his PSI Creations. Though Mat… his focus was more on Samantha than the others.

TRX could dodge the rays from the flower-head creature with some ease, while Blocky slid on the ice to avoid them. They both skillfully evaded the tentacles/roots/branches shooting up from the ground beneath them, sensing their presence since they felt similar to their user.

Even though they were supposedly weaker than Jackeline or the pastor when he turned into a monster/mutant, TRX, Blocky, and Pointy weren’t doing much damage to them. That was because their attacks dealt percentage-based damage, as I mentioned a long time ago. Which… well, it’s both useful and useless, depending on how you see it. Think about it yourselves.

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“I mean...” Alaya said. “Ah, I get it now.”

“I don’t...” Eliah added.

“What? Never mind, let’s continue.”

I said, and resumed narrating.

Stolen story; please report.

||||||

TRX and the others, except for Roundy, kept fighting the mutants.

Now, TRX had planned to use the electricity ability they had used earlier, but… couldn’t because Roundy wasn’t with them.

“Damn...” TRX thought, standing in front of the flower-head creature.

The creature quickly began charging its shot, but Mathias rushed TRX to a spot near Blocky. Even so, the creature fired at TRX, hitting them. But Blocky reacted, creating a thick ice barrier. It didn’t melt or get pierced.

Pointy threw themselves against the tentacle creature and blew its legs off with an explosion.

Mathias retrieved the pieces of Pointy’s body and took them to a safe spot for regeneration.

TRX and Blocky took advantage of the opening to attack the creature together with their ice weapons. At the end, Blocky tried to create ice spikes for… well, you know why, but...

“Wow!” Blocky exclaimed.

“No way…” TRX said.

The creature had retreated, using its roots/branches/whatever, clinging to the flower creature’s back. Now, together, they were attacking in better coordination than before, making it harder for TRX and the others to dodge.

Mat was struggling with this. He was getting more exhausted, as the battle was getting more complicated on this side, and he also had to keep an eye on Samantha. His focus slipped, so to speak, and...

“S-SAM!” Mat cried out. You already know what happened.

The monsters got distracted by this, so TRX, Blocky, and Pointy attacked. But the branch creature refocused on them, suddenly spinning its index finger and shooting multiple water blades at the group. They dodged gracefully.

Pointy exploded the flower creature’s legs, but was left destroyed on the ground because Mat was now more focused on Samantha…

Despite that, TRX and Blocky attacked the two mutants, now lying on the ground, and after a few more blows, they defeated them while they were stunned.

“Phew.” TRX sighed.

Now, on the other side,

As Jackeline was mutating like the pastor, with limbs sprouting from her left eye and ribs, something happened to Mathias. His mark was glowing at that moment.

He quickly rushed toward her, leaving Aelin behind the barrier, pushing himself with his PSI Creations.

He placed himself in front of Jackeline, who was still on the ground, with the orb nearby. Out of nowhere, he created a yellow PSI knife and…

“Mat!?” Samantha exclaimed.

“Ugh…” Mat groaned.

He had cut the vein in his left hand, and the blood dripped into Jackeline’s mouth. For some reason, she swallowed it, and then...

“Agh!”

“Mat!” Samantha cried out, terrified.

What had happened was that Jackeline’s mutation had disappeared (she passed out again, by the way). It was as if it had never happened, but... now Mat was suffering it instead.

“Agh! Ah! Ack!”

“Roundy, come here, help him!” Samantha shouted.

Roundy rushed over, but couldn’t heal him.

“Ah… Ah…” Roundy was frightened.

“N-no way… Mat!” Samantha cried out.

The others were heading toward Mat’s location.

“AGH!”

Mat was enduring all of Jackeline’s mutations, even hearing voices in his head, and it hurt, but…

“Huh?” Samantha gasped.

“Ah…”

Mathias fell to his knees.

“Agh... It’s over...” he sighed after saying that. “Phew…”

The mutation had stopped. Mathias was fine.

TRX and the others, including Aelin, had now gathered around Jackeline, who was unconscious.