Mutagen

Day 365 - 11:40 AM - Deep Caves, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

"GRA!"

The wail of a two-meter-tall [Face Wearer] echoed across the cave as it fell to the ground. With the sword stabbed through his neck from the back pulled away, his body crumbled and turned to ash.

"Last one..."

Edge said, staring at the remains of his kill. He then turned to the rest of the group, preparing to continue this dangerous adventure.

While Mark joined General Wijaya's forces to attack the church, the others had a different mission.

It was to infiltrate the source of the [Infected] that attacked the previous night. It was an urgent mission as they had no idea if that horde was the last of the [Infected] victims. Knowing that even just a single [Infected] could pop out in the open within the confines of the fortress, there was no way they could leave it alone.

A single [Infected] causing chaos in a supposedly secure location, this event happened many times more than they could imagine.

In this mission, the participants were mostly the leaders of the three allied settlements. Edge, Luna, Limabela, Bajing, and Ellie for the Moon Chasers, Farel of the Fire Fighters, and the three leaders of the 3rd Wave, Estia, Kela, and Kana, were the members of Muria Fortress present. And from the Evernight group, it was only Mei, Amihan, and Spera.

Some of the members not present were waiting outside the cave, while most were left back in the 38th Settlement. More people actually wanted to accompany the group to venture into the cave. However, having too many people inside a limited space would be more of a disadvantage than an advantage.

In this case, the most powerful members of the groups decided to enter the cave. This decision was risky in many ways, but going in with this group was also their best option.

Was finding the cave easy? Not exactly. If not for the fact that they could trace where the horde came from, it would be hard even to deduce the correct direction.

Another struggle was the cave being hidden deep within the mountain, taking them more than an hour to reach safely. Far from paths, hidden under a cliff, and seemingly covered in vines, no wonder people did not find it before.

Did this cave exist before the outbreak, or was it formed during the earthquake? No one knew the answer.

After preparations, the group entered the cave before ten in the morning.

The first thirty minutes in the cave were pretty uneventful. It was to the point that they began doubting if they found the right cave. However, as they encountered the first group of [Face Wearers], they knew the group understood they found it.

Fighting in the cave had both advantages and disadvantages.

The first and foremost noticeable disadvantage was the darkness of the cave. It was a given since light from outside would not reach the deeper parts of the cave. They had to rely on the light sources they brought, the senses they developed after becoming mutants, and the light provided by the new weapons wielded by Luna's group.

On the other hand, it seemed that the [Face Wearers] were also having difficulties of their own. The speed that made it difficult to fight them was not suitable in tight spaces, either. There were only two ways to go within the caves. It was forward and back. Both directions were not suitable for evading guns and ranged attacks raining on them.

Worse, larger-bodied [Face Wearers] struggled to release their strength within the caves. There was barely any space for them to swing their large arms, and the uneven walls of the cave system would even make them stuck from time to time.

Seeing what was happening to the enemies made them wonder how Wahyu, with his gigantic form, managed to pass through this cave.

The cave system itself was not too complicated. There were a few small branches here and there, but those were obviously not their destination, considering the narrowness of the branching paths.

Nonetheless, it was too farfetched to call the cave system to be simple, either. While there was mostly just a single path, this path had a lot of twists and turns, many blind spots, and pointy rock formations were everywhere. Some of the stalagmites were even covered in blood, indicating the [Infected] passing through this area.

If they were not careful, the terrain would kill them first before the enemies could.

Unfortunately, there was something they did not expect at all.

"How long is this cave?" Kana grumbled with her arms dangling in exhaustion. "We're not lost, right?"

"We only followed one path," Estia replied. "There's no way we would be lost."

"But..." Kana, devoid of her usual bubbly demeanor, continued to complain while making the digital clock on her wrist glow. "We've been walking for almost two hours already."

"Already?" Edge was pretty surprised. "It felt like it was just around half an hour since we entered."

Walking inside an unfamiliar and dark cave devoid of anything but stone walls and occasional rock formations, most people would lose their sense of time and direction.

"We should be fine," Mei interjected after whispering words with Spera. "We've been into some strange turns, but the direction we are moving toward is mostly northwest."

"Northwest..." Luna chimed in. "So, we're moving towards the center of the mountain?"

Everyone stiffened after realizing the fact. From the meeting the group had the previous night, aside from Luna and her niece being the target of the [Face Wearers], the group discussed many other important things. One of those things was that Mount Muria was a dormant volcano and was not as sacred as everyone thought.

It was clear that a cave leading to the center of the volcano would be anything but safe.

"We're already here. Let's push forward," Ellie encouraged everything before turning to Spera. "If something happens, we're counting on you!"

Spera nodded in response.

To motivate everyone for this mission, Mark decided to let Spera show her ability this morning while they were planning things. Unexplored caves might be dangerous, but with Spera's portals, they could immediately retreat to safety.

Of course, everyone was surprised that such a convenient ability existed. But to the smarter ones, they now realized why Mark called their group tourists.

It was not that they were here before the outbreak. If that was the case, Mark's group was no different than other foreign survivors trapped in this country.

Mark's group arrived in this country after the outbreak. That was what they surmised.

The cave exploring group continued following the cave. The encounters with the [Face Wearers] were far too few in between. It made them question where the supposedly missing few thousand [Face Wearers] were.

Past twelve in the noon...

Half past twelve...

"Everyone, look!"

Kela called out, pointing in front.

At almost an hour past noon, the group finally found a change.

In front of them seemed to be the end of the cave. They could see a bright light coming from that direction.

Nonetheless, no one rejoiced.

Instead, they gripped their weapons tighter.

Carefully, the group approached the bright end of the tunnel. It led to a large space that made everyone stop in their steps.

"What the hell is this place?"

Limabela voiced out the question everyone currently had.

What lay before them was not a cave but a giant, ancient-looking facility.

The group was currently inside the facility. They could not help but look behind, and they could see the cave they exited from. However, their current surroundings did not feel underground at all.

In front of them were rows of laboratory-like chambers. There were probably nearly a thousand of these vertical capsule-like things. Each chamber had nothing but yellowish liquid inside, filling it all from bottom to top.

However, there was one strange thing.

There was not a single soul inside this strange facility.

"Don't touch anything carelessly."

Farel warned everyone, and no one had complaints. Even the lively Ellie and the bubbly Kana knew that it was not the time to play around.

As the group carefully walked to the center of the facility, everyone took a closer look at the chambers.

There were quite a number of varieties of chambers. Most were the size of an average human, but there were also some which were either taller or wider. The most eye-catching ones were the three large chambers at the back, which could probably fit the giant Wahyu. Furthermore, the metal parts of the chambers had glowing runes on them.

They tried to read the runes, but it was obviously not a language they knew.

The group reached the center. Strange enough, there was a statue of a woman with six wings at the center of the facility. In some sci-fi scenarios, the thing at the center should be the power source of the entire facility. However, the facility and the chambers did not have even a single wiring attached. It made them wonder how in the world these things were powered.

"Do you guys think this is where the horde came from?"

Estia asked everyone.

There was actually no need to ask. Everyone had the same thought after seeing the scale of the place.

"There's a door there," Limabela pointed in the opposite direction of the cave exit. "Are we going to continue?"

"Let's go," Luna replied with resolution. "There's no one here to answer our questions and nothing but empty chambers to give us information."

There was no choice for Luna but to push forward. Since she and her niece were the targets of the [Face Wearers], she would not have her peace until this end.

After deciding on the next step, the group pushed on. They carefully traversed the rest of the facility and reached the door, which turned out to be a metal double door about three meters tall and four meters wide.

Standing in formation with their weapons ready, Farel and Bajing slowly and carefully pushed the door open from both sides. The door opened without problems. Furthermore, it was actually lighter than the two expected.

But everyone froze as they saw what lay behind the door.

Beyond the door was a large cathedral. The entire cathedral was illuminated by several chandeliers with glowing crystals. Under those chandeliers were nearly five hundred to six hundred pews.

Each and all seats of the pews were currently occupied by a person.

If a single pew could fit around fourteen to fifteen people, then this gigantic underground cathedral should have around eight thousand four hundred to nine thousand people at this very moment.

One thing was for sure. All of these individuals were [Face Wearers]. They were not even in disguise, as the group could see their charcoal-colored skins and gaudy-looking accessories.

Still...

Face with such an overwhelming number, the group could not help but feel fear.

Farel immediately raised his right hand, telling everyone to hold. He then moved his hand downward with an open palm, telling everyone to lay low.

"No one noticed us," Farel whispered. "Or rather, no one really paid attention to the door opening."

The group observed the [Face Wearers]. All of them sat down in silence, with their heads lowered and eyes closed.

"Are all of them praying?"

Bajing asked.

"Looks like it..."

Luna thought the same.

"I don't think we can handle this much..." Edge voiced out his worry. "Let's retreat before anyone notices us."

Everyone was in agreement with Edge's suggestion. Trying hard not to alert the praying [Face Wearers], they all got up and silently walked back.

It was supposed to be a silent retreat.

Unfortunately...

SLIP!

Kana accidentally stepped on a puddle of yellowish liquid, likely leaked from a nearby chamber.

She slipped and fell.

Kana tried her best to regain balance. However, she ended up slamming her hands on whatever was in front of her.

BANG!

The sound of the metal door banging echoed across the entire cathedral and the facility.

Everyone in the group froze as they turned their eyes beyond the door once again slammed open.

Nine thousand pairs of eyes were now staring at them.

"Oh... Shet..."

Kana could only voice those words in fear and apology as she slowly backed away.

But as everyone was about to get ready for battle...

BOOOM!

A loud explosion-like sound echoed on the opposite side of the cathedral. It caused the door on that side to fly across the room, crushing everything in its path.

As the group was in a stupor, just like all the [Face Wearers], they saw figures emerge from the door.

One was retreating into the cathedral with white skin and two pairs of bat-like wings. The other was a man whose body gleamed with a metallic sheen.

Seeing the second man, Luna, and the others felt a little relieved.

As it turned out, the two missions ended up in the same location.

And the other group arrived just in time.