Roland nodded and turned back to command the royal guard to head toward the engine, preparing to retake control of the train.
Saying he could stop him one more time, but David himself had no confidence.
He'd already played all his cards. The next time the opponent attacked, he'd definitely be on guard against his three arms' abilities.
Now what he could rely on was only his life energy that absolutely exceeded the enemy's imagination.
Reaching over three hundred and ten thousand life energy had already produced a qualitative change. This made his body incredibly solid and hard. Ordinary attacks could barely leave wounds on his body surface.
And while not seriously injured, he could recover health at nearly one percent per minute efficiency—equivalent to recovering several thousand health per minute...
Before long, he'd be perfectly fine. The only thing ruined on him was that blood-stained black formal wear.
"Listen, David."
The prince looked at him seriously and said: "If possible, don't kill Montaigne directly. To restrain him, you can only cripple his hands and feet and prevent him from committing suicide. Otherwise, he'll return at full strength every time..."
"Your Highness, I can't do that..." David helplessly shook his head, frankly admitting he simply didn't have a way to do that.
That hunter's mind was very strong. The Heretic's Arm could only control him for an extremely short time. That brief instant was only enough for him to throw the enemy out of the carriage.
After hearing this answer, Roland was silent for a while. Finally, as if making some decision, he slowly sighed.
Just then, a royal guard from ahead rushed over to report.
"Your Highness, our train has somehow entered thick fog. We can't see ahead from the engine..."
The soldier said while showing a terrified expression.
"...And we seem to be trapped. The train keeps moving along a repeating section of track..."
...
Fog had completely enveloped the train and tracks. Standing by the window, David noticed that after a certain interval, they could see the same boundary marker by the tracks.
Just as the guard said, the train was trapped on a section of track. No matter how they moved forward, they couldn't leave this stretch—this was obviously some kind of mysterious power the enemy had deployed.
Roland sat back in his seat expressionlessly and rubbed his brow.
"Continue the alert..."
He waved away everyone else in the carriage, leaving only David.
"David Frank, you're the only existence on this train that can stop a fifth-tier hunter." Roland's azure eyes looked at him, his expression somewhat weary but still composed.
"Your Highness, I'm not as remarkable as you think..." David really wanted him to recognize reality.
"I know..." His Highness smiled. "You might not be that strong, but in the enemy's eyes, you're not that weak either."
David fell silent.
"This is a cornered beast's fight. You must become a threat to the enemy..." Roland said while casually undoing the collar button of his shirt. "And I can create an opportunity for you."
As he spoke, a mysterious light appeared in David's eyes, making him slowly widen them.
It was a gemstone necklace worn on the prince's chest—the light came from that "giant" gem half the size of a palm.
It radiated red and blue light, like an ocean flowing in that radiance. The surging life force made even David, this "monster," feel somewhat small.
That was the aura from a higher-tier mysterious existence...
"This is a forbidden object, the Star of Goliath, also called the 'Star of Duality.'" Roland held the gem in his palm and looked down as he spoke.
"Forbidden object?"
"That's right. It can release nearly infinite life energy in an extremely short time to protect my safety..."
So that's it. This was why Prince Roland was so bold—a forbidden object that could save his life... David nodded to himself.
"But as a forbidden object, it naturally has significant side effects. Though these don't really matter to me anymore."
David had heard plenty about so-called forbidden objects. Many of them carried extreme danger, which is why they were called "forbidden."
But correspondingly, many forbidden objects also possessed inexplicably terrifying powers, so almost every major family in the capital would privately collect forbidden objects.
Roland sighed and looked up. "I'll use it to create one opportunity for you. Remember, only one chance."
This made David somewhat hesitant. This Highness looked like he was going to bet his life...
He turned to raise another question: "Your Highness, is there any chance to dispel the fog outside? Maybe we can escape this situation?"
"That's an extremely wide-ranging ritual. We're inside it with no way to dispel it. The core of the ritual is very likely the Undying Montaigne himself." Roland shook his head slightly.
"Someone in the capital doesn't want me to return... Heh, it's just my brothers. They know me very well. To trap me, they probably completed this setup outside my control a year ago.
The only thing I didn't expect was that they'd release the fallen one from the death prison. They really found a good candidate."
David looked somewhat puzzled at Prince Roland showing a self-mocking smile.
"David, you know what? Those who truly step onto the path of the supernatural don't actually care about power and wealth. Worldly benefits simply can't drive them—the only thing they pursue is 'power'... just like you."
David instantly understood Roland's meaning. "Then what made the Undying obey them?"
"Simple. They just needed to tell him I had what he wanted—the Star of Goliath."
Roland shrugged. "The Undying Montaigne long ago fell and became a follower of the Death Goddess. He's always craved to go further, wanting to complete the sixth-tier advancement ritual. This gem is one of the ritual materials, and also something the Death Goddess wants."
"So Montaigne's real target isn't to kill you, but to seize this gem?"
"You could say that. Though I'm very certain that with no obstacles, he'd be happy to kill me along the way." Prince Roland calmly gripped the Star of Goliath.
David pondered thoughtfully. He looked at Roland and found those deep eyes slowly turning, thinking about something.
Whoosh—!
The rear door of the carriage was suddenly pulled open. No knock, no warning. The Undying Montaigne's tall figure appeared in their line of sight again.
Under the filthy old hunter's hat, the face full of wrinkles and uneven teeth made his smile look exceptionally ferocious.
Again!
David flashed to block in front of the prince. In the blink of an eye, Montaigne had already closed in. He raised the short gun in his hand to point at David's forehead. David noticed he'd somehow already switched guns.
This short gun had a larger caliber, looking like some kind of shotgun. Its close-range impact would undoubtedly be even greater!
The monster claw thrust out, the palm firmly blocking the gun barrel—bang!
Roaring explosion, blood light burst, an absolute impact force blasted David away.
Nothing stood before Roland now. The saw blade swung down, unstoppably slashing toward the prince's neck.
Cling!
Suddenly, a dazzling light erupted from the prince. The instant the saw blade touched Roland's neck, a massive energy gushed from the Star of Goliath, forcibly pushing the hunter's saw blade back.
That blade had originally already struck the prince's fragile neck, the sharp serrations even tearing open a bloody gash, but under that layer of solid energy covering, the wound instantly healed!
"The Star of Goliath! Found it!!!"
Montaigne's eyes were shrouded by that dazzling light, but his pupils stared fixedly at the gem on the prince's chest, unwilling to look away no matter what.
He'd finally found what he'd been dreaming of...
"Now!"
The prince suddenly roared. That surging life energy seemed to form a small-range force field, enveloping half of Montaigne's body and firmly fixing him in place!
This was the opportunity Roland mentioned...
The blasted David whooshed up, the Hand of Monster swinging out afterimages.
The trapped Montaigne first startled, then immediately turned to raise his gun with his unrestrained hand to shoot.
However, his gun-gripping wrist flew off first—the monster claw had already severed his arm!