Chapter 4

◈ Chapter 4: The Train Ambush Incident (2)

"Get out of the way!"

"You're in the way!"

The mages pushed aside the people blocking the entrance and lined up in a row.

They glared at the man alone in Car 4 with slightly tense faces.

A black frock coat with golden embroidery over a neatly fitting suit.

Black hair tied tightly at the nape of his neck.

Sharp eyes that felt even colder than the icy wind outside.

From his appearance to the aura he exuded, everything about him was far from ordinary.

Indeed, the man in front of them had already taken the lives of their comrades who had stormed the train from the rear.

'Who is this guy?'

The terrorist leading the train ambush frowned at the man before him.

He never expected such a mage to be on this train.

Was the information gathering delayed?

'No. It doesn't matter how things turn out. We have five mages here.'

They had recruited a large number of high-level personnel who had learned magic.

Even if there were internal security forces, they could sweep them away with overwhelming force.

They didn't expect a mage to be here, but even so, the opponent was just one. Considering his exceptional skills, the five of them should still be able to handle him.

Moreover, their leader, Mehem, was a 4th Tier Mage.

'Unless the opponent is a well-known 5th Tier Mage or higher, there's no way he can handle us.'

There aren't many mages with that level of skill on this continent.

Especially if he achieved 5th Tier at such a young age, his reputation would have already spread far and wide.

So the opponent is at most a 4th Tier Mage, which is exactly equal to Mehem's level.

The man before them seemed to know this, as he didn't readily use magic.

"Hmm. Five mages. That's definitely the case."

"You're surprisingly quick to accept it. But it's too late now."

"In that case, I'll have to change my approach."

With that, the man flung the hem of his frock coat and threw himself out of the broken train.

"Eh, eh? He jumped?"

"Does he think he can't win and chose to commit suicide?"

The terrorists were puzzled.

One of the mages, curious, leaned out through the broken partition, but saw nothing at the bottom of the steep cliff.

"He must have fallen to his death!"

"I thought he could do something, but he was just a coward."

Just as everyone was about to draw that conclusion,

Crack!

A flash of light pierced through the head of the mage who had leaned out, causing him to lose his balance and fall out of the train.

"What, what is this!"

"Hanson is dead!"

Dead? Why? And where did that flash of light come from just now?

While everyone was puzzled, Mehem, the leader of the mages, twisted his face and looked up.

"Up there! He's on the roof!"

"On the roof? But didn't he just jump out a moment ago?"

"Did he use a flying spell?"

"Is it even possible to catch up to a moving train with a flying spell and climb aboard?!"

"Shut up and chase him quickly!"

* * *

'What a pity. I was going to take one more after making them let their guard down.'

The noisy sounds from below.

Now that they know I'm still alive, they will surely try to kill me with all their might.

I pretended to jump, hung from the wall, and then climbed up to make them let their guard down.

But is it enough to just take one out of the five mages?

"Quick, climb up!"

"Kill him!"

Voices echoed between the cars, and one by one, they started to climb up to the roof.

But it won't be that easy.

I shot a materialized magic force at them and immediately turned to run towards the rear car.

The ones trying to climb up had to go back down to avoid the attacks overhead. The roof, without any cover, would only make them targets.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

I deliberately made my footsteps loud, and the ones waiting inside the car heard and started to chase me.

"Behind! He's retreating to the rear car!"

"Chase him!"

They followed me so easily.

Eliminating one mage seems to have had a significant effect.

Perhaps they can't accept the death of a comrade at the hands of others, even if they are prepared to die and self-destruct.

It's a truly contradictory mindset.

'If they come at me so emotionally, I'm even more grateful.'

The more emotional they are, the easier it is to shake them.

* * *

The terrorists split their forces to catch the mage who had fled to the rear of the train.

Since the opponent was a mage, anyone who wasn't a mage would only get in the way.

Except for a few who would assist the mages, the rest targeted the First Class of Car 1, which they hadn't yet breached.

Among the two groups that split from Car 4, the mage group heading to the rear.

"Damn! Where is he?"

"What about the comrades who climbed up? Why are they not saying anything?"

"Anyway, let's go to the rear!"

Just as they hurriedly opened the door,

Boom!

The door exploded, and a red flame engulfed the terrorists.

In an instant, five of them turned into black charcoal and fell to the ground.

The magic flame, having fulfilled its role, went out like a candle.

"You, you evil bastard!"

"To set a trap at the door!"

Mehem, the leader of the mages, groaned as he looked at the dead bodies of his comrades.

'He set a trap at the door in such a short time?'

His speed was astonishing, but what made him even more tense was the opponent's actions.

The noble-born mages he knew were so arrogant that they avoided moving their bodies as much as possible.

They always stood in plain sight when using magic, showing off their skills.

But the man he was chasing didn't do that.

'When the situation turned unfavorable, he immediately fled like a knife, and while doing so, he made them let their guard down and then launched a surprise attack. This isn't the way a typical mage would act.'

He was overly practical and thorough.

His movements were more like those of a mercenary or a hunter than a mage.

'Who is this guy...?'

At first, he thought he was just another mage who had killed his comrades.

After all, everyone on this train was either a noble or a wealthy merchant.

They were all people who had sucked the blood of poor civilians and stood above them.

Any one of them dying would have been sufficient.

'But this guy is different.'

What is his true identity?

Mehem, who was pondering this, spoke with an even heavier expression.

"Everyone, be careful. From now on, we will lead the way. We don't know what kind of traps he has set, so move as cautiously as possible."

"Yes!"

Led by Mehem, the mages moved forward, checking for traps in the corridors and walls.

This made the time it took to move between cars much longer.

"Don't be impatient. The guy can't escape from the end of the train."

In the end, he's like a rat in a trap.

It was certain that the guy had fled to the rear car.

Mehem, the leader of the mages, slowly walked and suddenly stopped.

He felt an indescribable sense of unease.

He quickly realized why he suddenly felt this eerie feeling.

Clank! Squeak!

A loud noise came from the end of the train.

The slowly moving terrorists instinctively realized something was wrong upon hearing the sound.

"Damn! He's separating the train and escaping!"

They realized it too late.

The opponent didn't need to fight them. He just needed to buy time and escape.

He deliberately raised their alertness with traps to buy time.

Then he quickly moved to the last car to escape safely.

"Chase him! Don't let him escape!"

Now desperate, they only thought about chasing and killing the escaping mage.

They hurriedly ran through the train and soon arrived at the 12th car, the last one.

When they opened the door, they saw not the 12th car but a snowy mountain and the tracks.

Mehem gritted his teeth.

'I made a mistake. I should have kept in mind that he didn't need to fight us.'

He had overlooked this important fact in his anger.

Who would have expected the opponent to deliberately plan such an escape?

"Damn, did we lose him?"

"That bastard. I remember his appearance. I will find and kill him."

As everyone clenched their teeth and glared outside,

Mehem felt a powerful magic force from behind, making his entire body shiver.

"What is this...?"

He quickly turned his head to look behind.

And what he saw was

the man who should have disappeared with the separated 12th car.

"Why are you here...?"

But the important thing wasn't the man's presence.

What he needed to focus on was the nearly activated magic in front of him.

It was a very fierce and dangerous elemental magic.

"Everyone, get out of the way!"

Mehem shouted and drew as much magic power as he could.

In the limited time, he tried to create the strongest magic barrier possible.

Whoosh!

Subsequently, a giant magic engulfed the entire 11th car, sweeping through it like a storm.

Blindingly white flames.

Flames of the same color as the gentle snowstorm outside.

They swept away all the terrorists who couldn't evacuate or react in time.

* * *

"It's over."

I muttered as I watched the magic flames gradually disappear.

They thought I would escape to the 12th car and focused on it.

Of course, they would. They set traps to buy time and separate the car, and anyone would think that.

But that was also a trap.

At first, I pretended to flee while buying time with a surprise attack.

But that fleeing was just a deception to trick them.

Their anger helped me take control of the situation and gather them in one place to eliminate them.

'There seem to be some left in the lead car, but since I've taken care of the mages, it shouldn't matter.'

Just as I thought this, something moved in the debris.

"You managed to survive."

"You... you..."

The one who stood up was the leader of the mages. He had survived by creating a barrier at the critical moment.

But that was all.

His condition was so dire that he was barely alive.

He had managed to block the attack, but not completely. His face was half-melted, and his entire body was burned. One of his arms was even missing.

Breathing was painful, so I decided to leave him be, knowing he wouldn't last long.

"Why did you kill them? Don't you feel sorry for our comrades who are working for the world?"

"What?"

What he said was so absurd.

I was speechless, and he glared at me with anger.

"You don't feel sorry for the people who died by your hands?"

"Originally, I thought you were just crazy, but you're even crazier than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"You attacked the train and killed all the passengers. What makes you think you're better than me?"

This is why I find it ridiculous.

They attacked the train and killed the passengers.

Now they're angry that their comrades died and are calling me a bad guy, which is honestly frustrating.

"They deserved to die!"

"Didn't you try to kill me? We're already in a situation where we have to kill each other, so why are you lecturing me now?"

"That, that's..."

"You should have died if you couldn't kill me."

"Who are you... who are you?"

He gave up arguing and asked about my identity.

But I couldn't answer because I saw countless shadows flying towards me from outside.

Swish.

The sound of a sword being drawn, clear even amidst the swirling snowstorm.

A white flash split the mage in two as it entered through the open back door.

Swoosh!

A straight line was drawn from the top of his head to his crotch. As the white shadow leaped over the mage and landed on the ground, his body split and fell to the sides.

No blood flowed from the corpse. The cut surface was frozen solid with white ice.

Beyond the fallen corpse, a white-cloaked knight was visible.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded in response to the woman's worried question.

The emblem on her shoulder, a white eagle, was the symbol of the Imperial Border Guard.

"Don't worry anymore. The Imperial Border Guard is here."