Back at Carriage 7, in the meantime;
Ayush paced near the window, with his fists clenching and unclenching. The frustration on his face was obvious; his body practically buzzed with the urge to move, to strike, to help someone, anyone in the same carriage. But Isolde's voice echoed in his mind: Don't engage. Don't provoke unnecessary casualties.
He forced himself still.
On the opposite side of the cabin, Arceus sat unmoving, legs crossed, head slightly bowed. He might have stopped himself because of Isolde's reminder of casualties, but he hasn't given up. His eyes were closed in what looked like meditation, but his posture was too sharp, too prepared, like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
Isolde stayed close to Elysia, her arms around her sister in a protective half-embrace. Elysia's trembling had subsided, but fear still lingered in every inch of her posture. She kept casting anxious glances at the door.
And Xerx…
Xerx had barely shifted since the hijack began.
He sat beside the window, as if he were almost detached by the scene. His expression remained blank. Just like always.
The silence was broken when the cabin door slammed open with a violent bang, one more time.
The masked bandit from earlier, the one who had shot Isolde, stood in the doorway, breathing hard, sweat glistening on his forehead despite the cool air from the vents. His gaze swept over the five of them before locking onto Elysia.
"Well now…" His tone dripped with malicious amusement. "Looks like the pretty one missed me."
He leaned forward to grab Elysia's wrist, once again, while hissing out aloud. "Come with me, elf. My boss seemed to be interested in you."
Just then, Isolde acted. This time, she didn't let him take her hostage. She shoved him back with her palm. "Touch her again, and I'll take your hand." She growled as the man struck his back to the wall.
The man blinked in surprise at first before he growled in response. "Boys, come here..."
Two more men stormed into the doorway in the instant he called out; this time, they were armed with steel daggers rather than the cannons, which were merely hanging behind their backs.
"Sir?"
"Kill this one..." the leader ordered. "These damned elves need to be taught a lesson."
Isolde didn't hesitate to defend. Her hand moved to her waist, and a thin blade flashed into her grip. She stepped forward to intercept the first attacker.
*Ting*
Their blades clanged, sparks flying.
The second lunged immediately.
Right then, Ayush made his move.
He didn't have a weapon in his hand, but he didn't need one. He ducked under a slash, pivoted, and drove a solid punch into the attacker's jaw. The man crashed into the wall with a growl, but he wasn't down yet.
A dagger then grazed Isolde's shoulder, wounding her. She hissed and retaliated with a clean slash to her opponent's thigh, forcing him back. At the same time, her instant healing closed the wound.
Elysia backed toward the wall, panic stealing her breath.
Just as the leader took the opportunity to attack Ayush, Xerx thought in his head as his finger clicked on the Pet inventory that opened before him.
"Come out, Micro..."
*Screech*
A screech filled the cabin out of nowhere before a Microraptor materialized above Xerx.
It was the size of an adult, barely around 40cm big, with a slim body, and had four wings-feathers on both arms and legs, making it look like a flying squirrel with extra wings at one glance. Opening its small snout rather than a beak, the flying reptile showed its sharp teeth as it screeched again, releasing a sonic wave and striking the leader without any warning.
The leader blasted away and crashed into the wall once again
Ayush and Isolde both turned, widening their eyes in surprise...
But before they came out of this surprise, Arceus stood. And then turned into a blur.
Two daggers left his hands at impossible speeds. The first struck the leader's wrist, slicing deep enough to force his fingers open. The second buried itself in the man's other hand, knocking his dagger away.
The leaders staggered back, screaming in pain and fury.
"You..."
Arceus's figure blurred again.
Before the man could react, Arceus grabbed his head and dragged the dagger across his throat with a clean, brutal stroke.
Blood sprayed across the cabin wall in an arc.
Everyone froze.
Isolde's blade paused mid-swing.
The two other attackers also faltered.
Ayush's eyes widened.
Even Xerx, though still expressionless, focused more sharply.
Arceus didn't stop, though.
His voice dropped to a whisper, "Soulbinding: Abyss Echo."
Dark smoke then erupted from the daggers, swirling like living shadows. A ghostly violet aura enveloped the blade, and for a brief moment, a distorted silhouette, a spirit-like form, rose behind Arceus.
Xerx thought, "That should be Ifrit."
The remaining attackers panicked.
"Run..." One of them said. They tried to get away, but Arceus didn't let them get away. With a motion of his hand, the silhouette behind him shot out chains of dark energy and grabbed the two bandits. And then he proceeded to cut their throats one after another.
Silence engulfed the cabin.
Blood pooled near the door, spreading toward their feet. Elysia collapsed back onto the seat, trembling uncontrollably. Isolde's breaths came fast and shallow, her eyes locked on Arceus in wariness. She grabbed her sister in reflex.
Ayush stared at the bodies scattered across the floor, then at Arceus, who calmly wiped his daggers clean on a fallen attacker's shirt.
"What the hell was that?" Isolde whispered, trying not to scream. "This isn't your first kill, right?"
Arceus didn't answer.
He sheathed his daggers and then walked toward the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" Isolde called after him.
Arceus didn't even turn fully but replied. "To kill the ringleader."
Ayush's eyes narrowed. "This boy… he killed them like they were nothing. And that power, what was that?"
Xerx stayed seated the entire time, watching Arceus's back as he left the cabin. He didn't react much, except for dismissing his summon and sending it back to his pet inventory.
However, one thing became clear for Xerx. This Arceus surely is someone worthy to befriend.
*
Outside the Train;
Captain Wave Rider shifted his attention to the youngest of the group, "Link, you stick with me. Every time I use the sound wave, you shall amplify it and focus on compressing its range to focus on just the leader."
"Understood."
"Klaus, you have the most important job. Once we secure the targets, you leave with them." "You can leave it to me, Cap."
The captain then turned toward the bubbly-looking woman, "And Slimey, in case the villain tries to act against the targets, I need you to protect them."
Slime Queen replied, "I will cover them with my body, adding a layer of security before our 'Blink Nexus' teleports us away."
"Good," nodded the team leader before finally shifting his attention to an old man, "Master Andre, I'll leave the mana barrier to you."
The old man, aged 65, with freckles and scars all over his body, turned his head to look at the barrier placed all over the train. "The thickness isn't much. I can cut it with my sword."
"How about separating the carriage by cutting the joints to other carriages?" The woman in a jumpsuit suggested. "I can create a boulder and then push it away."
The captain grabbed his chin to think for a bit and shook his head, "We need to keep public property damage to a minimum. Not to mention, you have to capture the bandits in case they flee. Even if it is not our mission, we can still score some bonuses for the service."
"Okay…"
*Clap* Clap*
"Okay, get ready to move. We only have one try. So, don't mess up, guys."
Mary was the first to act, placing her hands on the ground.
After a few seconds of concentration, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake was created on a large scale, affecting the train, media personnel, policemen, and others in the tent.
Inside the train, as Luther Brain, who had just returned to the cabin of the royal siblings of Divinia, the train shook for a while, throwing him off balance.
By the time he fell to the floor, a portal appeared right above the cabin, and five heroes jumped out of it.
The old man swung the sword in his hand, using all the mana stored in his body.
The giant arc of energy released from the sword clashed with the barrier, not only cutting it like tofu but also going on to cleave the entire carriages into two halves. It almost injured one of the students in the adjacent cabin of the siblings of Moonstone House.
"You damn crooks…" The villain roared in anger as he saw a hole was made on the top of the carriage, revealing five of them.
Following the plan, Slime Queen turned into a large slimy creature and enveloped the siblings, Blink Nexus created a portal to send them away, and Captain Wave Rider released a sonic wave from his palms while Link tried to compress its path to concentrate on one person.
Everything would have gone perfectly as they envisioned, but Luther Brain's timely reflexes caused the sonic wave to hit Slime Queen instead, breaking up the siblings and forcing her to choose one of them randomly.
The boy and Slime Queen were teleported away, along with Blink Nexus; the old man, emptying his reserves, fell to the floor and sprained his back.
"Dammit, we fuc*ed up…" Captain Wave rider let out a curse of frustration and hurriedly passed the orders, "Link, Master Andre, take the girl away. I'll clear the way."
Raising his left hand with his palm facing the window, the captain mumbled, "Sonic Beam."
As mana was concentrated on his palm, Luther Brain, who got up on his feet, acted fast by turning his body into steel and throwing out a punch at the hero.
Captain Wave Rider took a glance to the right and raised his other hand, pointing his palm toward him, shooting out spheres of concentrated mana.
However, those spheres couldn't do any damage to Luther, and the punch successfully connected to the side of his abdomen before he finished with the skill.
The A-class Hero flew a bit and crashed into the wooden wall, making a hole and falling into the adjacent cabin.
Luther didn't pursue him. Instead, he shifted his attention to the other two. With a swift punch to both of them, he defeated the B-class heroes and grabbed the girl of the Qin family.
Captain Wave Rider got out and saw that the girl's throat was grabbed by the villain, and she was flapping her legs as she was raised high. He spoke in a threatening tone, "Leave her now, Brain."
"I knew that this girl was important. My senses are always top-notch." Luther let out a grin filled with malice as he increased his grip on her neck. "Do you surrender, or do you want me to crush her… Huh?"
Luther Brain's grip on the young girl's throat loosened abruptly. His fingers twitched, then went limp as if drained of strength, and he collapsed to his knees with a strangled gasp. His eyes bulged, veins pushing against the skin of his forehead as he clawed at the air desperately.
"What… is… this…?" he wheezed, voice trembling.
The same thing began happening throughout the hijacked train. Across multiple carriages, his subordinates were suddenly brought low. They dropped where they stood with their muscles spasming and their bodies shaking uncontrollably as if suffocating under an invisible weight.
Some tried to stand. Their limbs refused them. Others dug their nails into the floor, desperate to crawl. Their breaths came fractured and shallow, each inhale a losing battle.
Captain Wave Rider, halfway through clearing Carriage Four with his team, froze mid-strike. The hero had seen demonic pressure, magical suppression fields, and even cursed relics, but this felt different. He steadied himself, jaw tight, scanning the shifting shadows.
"What in the world…" he muttered as the air thickened around him like dense fog.
Something oppressive, immense and ancient pressed against the carriage. Like the atmosphere itself had turned into iron.
Then a sound echoed softly down the corridor.
A slow, steady rhythm.
Tch… Tch… Tch…
High-heeled boots.
They struck the metal floor with cold confidence, each step resonating with a sense of inevitability. The heroes, the villains, even the trembling passengers, all felt something primal coil inside their chests.
An instinctual fear.
And then she appeared.
The carriage door pushed inward with a faint creak, allowing a figure to step through, slender, graceful, and utterly terrifying. She wore a long white military coat, the hem stained with ash and dried blood, as though she had walked through hell to arrive here.
Her face was concealed behind a demon mask, smooth, pale ceramic, crowned by sculpted horns.
She did not speak.
She did not need to.
Her very presence suffocated the carriage.
One of Luther's men, shaking violently on the floor, tried to lift himself by digging his fingers into the metal. His arms trembled under the pressure, his entire body flattening again as the unseen force crushed him back down.
"H-Help…" he gasped, voice cracking.
Luther stared at her with wide, horrified eyes. "W-Who… are you?"
Her reply was soft, calm, cold, and final. "Justice doesn't need introductions."
She lifted a single hand, fingers gliding through the air. A ripple of distorted space shimmered beside her.
From that distortion, a massive obsidian scythe materialized, its form growing from shadow and steel like a summoned nightmare. The weapon was nearly twice the height of a grown man, curved with perfect, lethal elegance.
The energy radiating from it felt wrong, too ancient, too heavy, too hungry.
One of the subordinates screamed, scrambling backward on his elbows. "No, please!"
The scythe moved.
A single silent arc.
A clean slice of air.
Then a head hit the floor with a dull thud, rolling until it stopped at Wave Rider's feet. Blood pooled beneath it in a widening circle.
The masked woman did not pause.
Her voice came again, whisper-soft.
"No surrender."
What followed was not a battle.
It was execution.
She moved with inhuman precision, each step a blur, each swing of the scythe perfectly measured. The blade cleaved through bone and armor with no resistance. Bodies fell faster than Luther's men could scream, their limbs scattering across the cabin floor. Blood sprayed along the walls, dripping down in red streaks.
Within seconds, the hijackers were nothing more than torn bodies scattered like broken dolls.
Only Luther remained.
He trembled violently, his knees sinking further into the blood-slick floor. His voice shook so much he could barely form words.
"W–Wait!" he begged. "I surrender! I surrender! Please, don't kill me! I, I'll talk, I'll cooperate, I, "
Slowly, almost gently, she turned her masked face toward him.
The scythe lifted.
"I do not accept your surrender."
The blade fell.
A wet, heavy sound filled the cabin.
Silence followed.
A deep, suffocating silence filled with the metallic scent of death.
Then a soft click sounded behind her.
The masked woman's head tilted slightly, feeling a presence linger at the doorway.
Half-shadowed by the flickering emergency lights, Arceus stood with his dual daggers lowered at his sides. The violet aura had faded, but the blades still carried faint traces of the dark mist, a residue of something unholy that clung to them.
His expression stayed unreadable.
Calm. Controlled.
But his gaze drifted across the carnage, over Luther's headless corpse, and finally toward the massive scythe dripping with fresh blood.
He said nothing and simply turned around to walk away as if he had no use staying there.
Meanwhile, the masked woman tilted her head slightly, gaze lowering not toward his face, but toward the daggers in his hands.
A faint whisper escaped her mask.
"Interesting."
Her fingertips brushed the scythe's shaft, as if sensing the dark energy lingering in the air between them. "There is another weapon in this world," she murmured, "that carries death energy akin to mine…"
Her voice softened, almost curious. "Now that is fascinating."
Meanwhile, while returning to his cabin, Arceus tightened his grip over his blood-soaked daggers and murmured. "The scythe in that woman's hands smelled the same as my daggers."