章節 103: Aboard
"FUG?" Dan raised a brow, posing himself to react at a moment's notice.
The rest of the team also went on edge. Novick, in particular felt his fists heat up with a flaring red shinsu while XiaXia mobilized the lighthouses under her control.
To the side, Beta began to growl at the man, his green eyes glowing eerily, a flaming hand- the size of a car- appearing at his back.
Ran stared at his hand with a blank expression.
He contemplated his words for a bit before he opened his mouth.
"With FUG? Not for?" His words brought a strange sense of relief to the tense air, which swiftly returned as the man before them snickered.
"That's right. The man I work for is somewhat of a weirdo. And he has thrown me with FUG for the time being." He spoke. He held up his chin and pointed to the guardian with his thumb. "That guy you're fighting? He's a projection. Not worth the time or the effort. He's practically invincible for folks like you."
"And what of you?" Ran questioned, getting right up to him and staring him dead in the eye. But due to the height difference, it looked somewhat comical.
Theolis grinned, his teeth showing through his barely concealed glee.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a cut above the rest of you."
The shinsu stiller, getting thicker, almost tangible.
The air seemed to come to their heads with a strange density, making it harder to move and water droplets of crimson began to seek through the cracks in the ground and on their clothes.
Beta's green shinsu arm bled with red, overwhelmed by another.
Everyone felt a deep chill go down their spine.
This man... he's dangerous.. They thought collectively.
Out of nowhere, the man chuckled; and the pressure vanished.
XiaXia released a breath she didn't know she had been holding as the man once again opened his mouth.
"Go to your rooms. The station will open tomorrow. Prepare until then." He walked past them towards the door and glanced over his shoulder.
His toothy grin never left his face.
"And don't expect getting into the train to be easy."
Fwish!
The elevator door closed with a mechanical slide and the group was left in silence.
Ran took another glance at the Guardian. Then, he looked to his hand.
"I wonder..." He muttered. In his mind appeared the fleeting image of Winston. His eyes narrowed and lightning began to gather. But then, a hand clasped at his shoulder.
"...Let's go. Ran." Novick spoke, his tone leaving no room for defiance.
With a moment of stillness, Ran nodded.
~~~
"What a great day..." Winston said as he stepped through the gates of the train.
His appearance was not of himself. It was a young man with curly black hair, with a thin face and a broad forehead. His nose was sleek and on his dark eyes rested a clear crystal monocle at the right side.
Atop his head was a pointed top hat and he wore dark robes with dark blue outlines, the kind which would make one appear like a Scholar.
It was none other than Amon, his monocle laced persona.
His eyes exploded with a thousand colours as his vision pierced through the world around him, unveiling everything he could see and beyond.
"Perfect time for styling on these guys."
He scanned the thousands of figures he could on in train city. Various emotions unfolded before his eyes, each masked with an air of tension.
And beyond that, he saw the whole structure of the Train City.
Truth be told, the entire structure of this so called 'city' was in actuality a labyrinth so expansive that he wondered if anyone was ever meant to cross through it.
Of course, to someone like him, or anyone with good enough divination, it wouldn't pose much of a challenge. But to the normal regulars of the tower, it was a nightmare.
Winston smiled and calmly began to walk. He pinched the crystal monocle and stepped through the elevator door.
Then, he calmly tapped the hell train station.
Slowly, the doors closed and the elevator moved.
Readily, a vision overlapped with his eyes. He saw an illusory figure standing before a large door, guarding it. The entire hall in which the man was standing was destroyed, marred with the signs of a recent battle. And around the man were 5 dark spears.
He smiled.
And then, 5 spears appeared at his side, floating silently in the air.
Destiny's Robber!
Winston grabbed one in his hand and observed it.
They weren't real when I grabbed them from the vision. But now that I have them, they've become real... Winston narrowed his eyes, pleasantly surprised at the revelation.
Though it seems they don't have the same effects. Now, they've been reduced to mere chunks of metal. Only durable enough to be considered a weapon, but not strong enough to play a role in a fight.
Amid his thoughts, the elevator door opened before him and before him lay a large destroyed platform.
He stepped out into the open and looked at the seated guardian up front. He had no spears now. He had only his own body as the weapon.
And there was no way it was going to be enough.
Winston popped his neck and stepped forward. Instantly, his body blinked and appeared right before the man.
With a smile, he continued to walk.
As he passed the door to the other side, a small ember fell from his robes.
Shaaaaaaaa!
A blazing pyre suddenly erupted, engulfing the guardian in it's entirety!
Continuing on with the crackling sounds of flames, Winston walked with the sole tapping of his own shoes. His shadow lengthened before him, cast by the large blaze behind him.
Strangely, his crystal monocle shone with a white gleam.
His feet carried him to a staircase, looping up in unending height and a lone light at the top that cast a single shadow at his feet.
Not feeling like climbing all the way, he simply took a step.
And disappeared.
Winston appeared at the top of the stairs.
A blinding light hit his eyes. The light cast by the miniature sun in the sky and of the blue and expansive sky.
His gaze travelled about, scanning the surroundings.
It was a large metallic expanse with little details, most probably created to hold lots and lots of regulars that desire to board the train.
Far to the side were collections of buildings that extended up from the labyrinthine city. And off to the right, where the platform ended prematurely, leading to a precipice off to which was a drop of 400 meters, floated a giant.
It was a cuboidal beast of metal, stood afloat by the usage of suspendium powered engines and floating rigs at the bottom. The expanse of the entire structure could be estimated anywhere between 3 to 5 kilometers in length with easily 100 individual compartments. And with what his intuition and knowledge of space told him, each compartment was bigger on the inside, than it was on the outside.
There was no doubt.
This was the Hell Train.
And his ticket to the next sequence, for it was on this train that he would finally ascend to the next step of godhood.
"Man. That's a beauty." Winston's eyes practically shone with excitement as he looked upon the train. Such a large mechanical marvel, it was a thing to behold.
"I should've brought the Paragon version here. Too bad he's busy studying the mechanical ruins at the 88th floor." Winston shook his head, feeling a bit regretful.
I can always study the entire thing myself. He snickered.
His head turned to look around once again before he put a hand into his pocket and flipped a coin.
Ding!
The coin flung into the air and spun around, landing squarely into his palm.
"Hmm. I'll just enter anyways." He flashed a carefree smile.
At the moment, he had no spare worms on himself. All his avatars that could be made had been made. Of course, he always had his singular worm that could split into 50 at a moment's notice, so he wasn't too worried anyways.
Not to mention the poor regular he had parasitized. He too would be boarding the Hell Train.
"Then let's roll." He grinned and stepped into the spirit world again, appearing right before the door to the train a second later.
Taking a sleek ticket out of thin air, he placed it at a narrow slit at the side and watched as the door opened without sound.
The white void that could be seen from the outside seemed to crumble before his eyes as he watched the inside carefully. With a carefree smile, he adjusted the crystal monocle again and boarded the train.
Instantly, as he set foot into the compartment, he felt a gaze at his back.
He turned to where he had seen the gaze, and smiled, his monocle shining with a baleful light.
"Well aren't you a cute one." He chuckled.
And then, his figure vanished.
~~~
A neat Mexican-looking man with sharpened cheekbones and a moustache sat atop a chair in a dark room. He had piercing red, almost mechanical eyes and his brown hair draped down to frame his face. He wore a green jumper over a green shirt and brown gloves over his hands coupled with brown trousers.
The various lighthouses around him shone light onto his thin face.
It was none other than Pedro, the conductor of the Hell Train.
"Where did he go?" His eyes widened in alarm as he rapidly scanned the different lighthouses in search of the man.
"You might want to look behind you."
His spine instantly chilled, but he didn't react.
Slowly, he looked over his shoulder.
The cold gleam of a single circular object met him.
He knew what it was. The monocle on his face.
"Are you a ranker of the Po Bidau's? A monocle seems like a fashion choice only they would adopt. Why have you boarded the hell train? Where did you even get the ticket?" Pedro asked, his words measured and calm. His neon red eyes looked over the man's body, scanning his darkened features clearly. It wasn't anyone he could recognize at a glance.
"Po Bidau's? Hardly. As for where I got the ticket, isn't it obvious?" The man stepped into the light, smiling ear to ear.
"I'm somewhat of a regular myself."
Pedro snorted.
"You? Regular? I find it hard to believe."
"What's there for you to believe? I'm still a regular. Ask the administrator if you want." He shook his head and took a seat.
Wait. Was that chair always there?
"I don't need to confirm anything. If I find you suspicious, I have full authority to throw you out."
"Only if I'm a ranker. Which I'm not." He replied. "I, on the other hand, am not subject to your whims." Suddenly, the man's features began to shift. Tendrils began to extend from his face like wax melting in reverse, taking a different form and shape, transforming his face down to the very base.
Slowly, his features morphed and transmute to form a different face. One he very clearly recognized.
"You...?" Pedro's eyes, trained and modified to let no expression leak widened, just a bit. A microexpression that told all too much.
One that Winston caught through his eye.
He shifted the monocle on his eye.
"I'd appreciate it if you could keep this a secret you know? I'm trying to blend in. It's kind of supposed to be a prank." He chuckled.
Pedro stayed silent for a moment.
"This is... an interesting turn of events." He said. "Who would have thought that the Silent Leviathan would be here at the hell train. Wouldn't it be a shame if he were to be ambushed by a Jahad Squadron somewhere down the line?"
Winston met his gaze with his own.
"If that's supposed to be a threat, I advise against it. There's nothing stopping me from reaping your life here."
"I'm well aware of that." Pedro leaned back into his seat.
"I only ask that you do not interfere too much in the progression of the Hell Train this year. Please keep this... 'prank' within controllable limits."
"No promises."
"So what brings you here?"
"I felt a spy and I followed the connection to you." Winston said, calmly pouring himself a glass of wine. Then, pouring the same into another glass, he extended it to him.
It was unknown where he had gotten the bottle or where the table between then had come from. Even Pedro failed to notice.
"No, I mean the Hell Train." Pedro, said, taking the wine glass.
"Guess?" Winston wiggled a brow.
Pedro swirled the wine and opened his lips.
"Perhaps it is the slayer nominee that interests you?"
"Oh? You know he's getting on the train this year?"
Winston took a sip and continued.
"FUG really has their information network huh."
Pedro didn't question how he came to know of his association with FUG.
"Curisity really. But more business than anything."
"Business?"
"That's right."
The silence persisted.
"And how do you intend to continue?"
Winston shrugged his shoulders.
"I suppose I'll explore for a bit."
Saying that, everything vanished.
There he sat, Pedro, alone in the room.
The only real indication of Winston having entered was in his hand. The half filled wine glass.
"How terrifying." He laughed. Slowly, it turned louder and louder, echoing in the dimly lit room and out into the maze like compartment he resided in.
Some wine spilled over his lap, yet he didn't mind. He continued to laugh, finding some twisted humor in having such a calamity on board.
"Lord Karaka... this have taken a troublesome turn..." He looked at the ceiling and sipped the rest of the wine. And as he did, the wine glass too disappeared from his hand.
"How terrifying." He repeated.
~~~
~~~
A/N: Hiya People.
Throw some stones.
There might be a double upload at New Year. But no promises.
Cheers.
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