At dusk, in the wide fields of Alster, the steam train that had just left the station was slowly accelerating forward.
Inside a first-class carriage, in a compartment that swayed slightly as the train moved, a pale-skinned arm reached out from within the solid wall of the compartment, extending towards the password briefcase calmly placed on the sofa.
Just as the arm was about to touch the briefcase, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed in the corridor outside the compartment, and then the compartment door was abruptly pulled open.
"Who is it!"
Sodod appeared at the doorway, holding a pistol pointed inside the compartment and shouting. However, everything in the compartment was normal; there was no sign of anyone or any abnormality. Seeing this scene, Sodod's brow furrowed slightly.
"No one... Was it really just a hallucination?"
Frowning, Sodod walked forward, picked up the password briefcase from the sofa again, then exited the compartment and headed towards the dining car.
And after his figure disappeared at the end of the carriage corridor, a pair of eyes silently opened on the sheet metal roof of the carriage, looking indifferently in the direction Sodod had disappeared.
After finishing his meal in the dining car, Sodod didn't stay for a moment longer. Carrying his briefcase, he returned to his own compartment, then sat on a separate chair, placed the briefcase on the table in front of him, and just sat there quietly, watching the briefcase and the figures rapidly passing by outside the window, without moving.
Gradually, dusk and the evening glow faded, and night slowly arrived. The light, both outside and inside the train windows, gradually dimmed.
Seeing the light dim, Sodod turned on the gas lamp provided on the compartment table, then took out a book from his pocket and quietly read it by the light of the gas lamp.
As the night deepened, Sodod seemed to feel a hint of drowsiness. He began to close the book on top of the briefcase, closed his eyes, and started to doze in his chair.
And just as he had started dozing off for a short while, a patch of shadow suddenly appeared out of thin air on the floor behind him. From within this shadow, a figure dressed in black, wearing a black mask, slowly rose, standing behind Sodod.
Then, this humanoid figure reached out towards the briefcase on the table, wanting to remove the book covering it so he could take the briefcase. And just as he picked up the book, a small bell that had been pressed down by the book rolled to the side, falling to the floor and emitting a crisp jingling sound.
Then, Sodod suddenly opened his eyes. He immediately stood up from his seat and drew his gun, pointing it behind him.
"Don't move!"
Looking behind him, Sodod said loudly. However, his originally vigilant expression turned to shock, as there was no one behind him at all. And by his feet, the briefcase that had just been picked up was currently lying on the ground.
'An Extraordinary... an Extraordinary with some kind of concealment ability!'
Seeing this scene, Sodod realized that he had been targeted by other Extraordinary individuals. The opponent possessed Extraordinary abilities that allowed him to conceal himself quickly!
Realizing this, Sodod began to concentrate. Gradually, a faint halo began to appear around the edges of his pupils. The scene within the compartment became incredibly clear, and his focus increased significantly.
Sodod was a Student-level "Light" Extraordinary, a very senior Illuminator. Therefore, he knew that the current situation was definitely due to another Extraordinary causing trouble, and it was very likely a Shadow. Thus, he wanted to use the "Light"'s Extraordinary detection vision to find the opponent!
A Student-level "Light" possesses excellent vision and can maintain a state of high concentration at all times. After consuming Spirituality, he can activate Extraordinary vision, which allows him to see objects up to a kilometer away. At close range within eight meters, he can see the Extraordinary traces of people or objects and can distinguish whether a person is ordinary or an Extraordinary.
Concentrating and activating Extraordinary vision, Sodod began to scan the compartment, attempting to find the hidden Extraordinary. However, he searched for a long time but found no trace.
Just then, behind Sodod, a patch of shadow appeared on the compartment wall. Subsequently, a black-clothed figure emerged from the wall, holding a dagger and stabbing towards Sodod. And because of the "Light"'s high concentration, Sodod sensed the movement behind him and quickly pointed his gun in the direction the black figure was attacking from.
However, the speed of the black-clothed figure was clearly much faster than Sodod's. Facing the pointed gun, the sharp dagger quickly sliced off the fingers of his gun-holding right hand. The pistol, which hadn't even fired yet, dropped directly to the ground, and Sodod cried out in pain.
"Originally, I wasn't planning to kill and cause trouble, but you brought this upon yourself."
Muttering, the black-clothed figure tightened his grip on the dagger in his hand again and lunged towards Sodod's vital points. Sodod's eyes widened, and then his left thumb wiped a ring he was wearing on his left index finger.
Inside the ring, a delicate small mechanism was triggered. It contained a "Cup" Spirituality storage and a small piece of concentrated micro-written Raw Consumption Symbol. After the mechanism was triggered, the storage and the symbol were simultaneously imprinted onto Sodod's finger, and Sodod thus activated Life Devour.
After activating Life Devour, Sodod's physical ability instantly increased severalfold. He quickly dodged the dagger aimed at his vital points. Although he successfully avoided being hit in a vital spot, a cut was still opened on his chest and abdomen, and blood immediately gushed out.
"Ugh!"
Covering his wound with his injured hand, Sodod wanted to swing his other hand to counterattack the black-clothed figure. However, the opponent's speed was simply too fast. After successfully landing a blow, he vanished into another wall along with the shadow.
The space inside this train carriage was cramped, and the distance between walls was not wide. For an Extraordinary who could phase into walls, this was an extremely advantageous terrain. In this kind of terrain, Sodod had no chance of winning.
His counterattack failed. After witnessing the opponent's ability firsthand, Sodod realized that danger could come from any direction. He then decisively pulled something from his waist and threw it onto the ground.
This was not some Extraordinary item, but a smoke bomb.
With a "bang," thick white smoke instantly spread throughout the entire space and even billowed out into the corridor. The compartment was filled with dense smoke for a moment, making it impossible to see anything.
Sodod knew that only by blocking the opponent's vision, making it impossible for him to find a target when he emerged from the wall, would he have a chance to escape.
Taking advantage of the thick smoke, and covering his wound, Sodod immediately escaped from his compartment, then used the stamina from Life Devour to sprint down the smoke-filled corridor, finally hiding in the train's restroom.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Closing the restroom door, Sodod, covering his wound, leaned against the wall and looked at the mirror in front of the washbasin. In the mirror, his face was already starting to turn purple. He was beginning to feel dizzy. He tore open his clothes, took out the trauma medicine and bandages he carried with him to try and stop the bleeding, but found that the blood flowing out was somewhat black.
'The knife... was poisoned...'
Understanding his condition, Sodod immediately felt a wave of despair. He knew then that he probably wouldn't survive.
The fact that he could still move now instead of collapsing on the ground waiting to die was basically entirely due to the "Cup" of Life Devour strengthening his body and keeping him alive.
His Life Devour was specially made; it could last a bit longer than usual, but not for much longer. Once the effect of Life Devour wore off, he estimated he would be gone.
'Damn it... the thing... I can't just let that guy have it... Even if I die, I have to take a piece of him with me!'
At this moment, Sodod's heart was filled with resentment. Now, he wanted to make one last struggle against the Extraordinary who was clearly of a higher level than himself.
And to fight him desperately, he had to find his location!
With his weakened strength, Sodod pulled out a piece of straw paper symbol from his clothes. Drawn on this symbol was the symbol of "Light".
Sticking the symbol onto himself, Sodod used his Spirituality to activate the symbol. Instantly, his sensory ability spread out, transcending physical barriers!
Area Illumination Symbol, this was the name of this type of symbol. It could ignore physical isolation and forcefully detect all Extraordinary traces within a fifty-meter radius of the user, whether they were people or objects!
Sodod closed his eyes and began to detect, consuming his "Light". However, he didn't detect anything. Sodod knew this was normal. "Shadow" Extraordinary individuals could consume accumulated "Shadow" Spirituality to resist Extraordinary detection. This was a common ability among all main "Shadow" Extraordinary individuals. To detect them, their Spirituality had to be forced dry.
And so, Sodod, who was already a dying man, began to desperately invest more of his "Light", intending to break through the opponent's concealment. However, it seemed completely useless. Sodod still couldn't detect anything at all. The opponent's Spirituality seemed even more abundant.
But Sodod did not give up. He invested more Light into the detection. Finally... after consuming an unknown amount of "Light", he finally detected an Extraordinary trace within his sensory range.
However, to his surprise, this trace... didn't seem to belong to a "Shadow".