Chapter 188: The Corpse Train
When they first boarded the train, Isayama Yomi hadn't noticed anything unusual.
After all, there were very few people traveling from Chiba to Tokyo this late at night.
But everyone on the train was sitting quietly in their seats, neither talking nor using their phones, which was extremely suspicious.
"Kagura…"
Yomi softly called to Tsuchimiya Kagura beside her.
Kagura looked up, following Yomi's gaze, and nodded, signaling that she understood the situation.
"What should we do?"
Sliding the guitar case from her back to the front, Kagura placed one hand inside to grasp her weapon and asked Yomi for her strategy.
"First, we need to check the train itself. Search for any survivors."
Although the possibility was extremely slim…
"I'll search toward the rear of the train."
Hearing Yomi's arrangement, Kagura nodded and, holding her guitar case, began checking each car toward the rear.
"I'll get moving too."
Watching Kagura's back, Yomi also stood up.
Unlike Kagura's subtle approach, Yomi pulled the black cloth off her treasured sword, Shishio, and strode directly toward the front of the train.
Perhaps sensing that she had been exposed, the train's lights went out, and the red eyes of the corpses glowed in the darkness, staring directly at Yomi as she passed by.
Strangely, despite being within reach of her hands and neck, the corpses remained seated, motionless, like soldiers awaiting orders.
With no obstacles in her way, Yomi successfully reached the first train car.
The control room door at the front of the train was open, and under the flickering light, she could clearly see that all the drivers who should have been controlling the train had been killed.
But this wasn't the worst part.
What made Yomi's heart tighten was the small girl hanging a short distance ahead.
Judging by her rising and falling chest, she was undoubtedly human.
However, the countless corpses blocking Yomi from reaching the girl became the greatest obstacle to saving her.
"Ugh…"
As if sensing Yomi's entry into the train car, the girl, who had been unconscious, whimpered and was about to wake up.
Hearing the girl's voice, the evil spirits that had been looking at Yomi collectively turned their heads toward the center of the car.
No one knew who moved first, but all the corpses in the first car charged toward the fresh, living flesh in the center.
"Stop!"
Seeing this, Yomi, who had been calm until now, drastically changed expression.
She summoned her spirit beast, Nue, and swung it at the corpses!
.
.
.
Meanwhile, in the rear half of the train,
Unlike Yomi's direct approach toward the front, Kagura was methodically searching each car for any survivors.
But to her disappointment, after the lights went out, every person she encountered had red glowing eyes.
Suddenly, the image of her teacher and classmates' mangled bodies from last night flashed through her mind again.
"Thinking about that again…"
Covering her head, leaning against the train door, she took a few shallow breaths and forced a bitter smile.
She drew her weapon from the guitar case, though uncertain if she could bring herself to swing.
After a short pause, thinking that Yomi might have already reached the front and be returning, Kagura continued moving toward the rear.
Suddenly, the corpses in the seats on both sides seemed to receive some command and lunged at her.
"!!!"
Sensing the danger, Kagura instinctively drew her sword. Several cold flashes of light cut down the nearest corpses' heads.
"Ugh…"
The gruesome scene made her stomach churn, and she vomited.
The corpses gave her no respite.
While she was vomiting, several corpses approached her from behind, sinking their teeth into her pale neck!
Clang!
The teeth struck her sword with a bone-chilling sound.
Kagura flipped the blade just in time to block the attack.
But as her attention was drawn to the corpses behind her, the corpses in front leaped over the bodies of their companions and surrounded her again.
"What do I do?"
Suppressing her nausea, Kagura swung her sword, cutting down the corpses closest to her.
Yet standing on the seats and looking down the path toward the front, the endless mass of evil spirits made her feel powerless.
Even if all were only C-rank, clearing them would take a long time. Would Yomi be okay?
Just as Kagura worried about Yomi, the train began to violently shake.
Then, a huge, fat figure parted the crowd of corpses and walked toward her from the front.
"No way… I didn't notice anything like this before!"
Though she couldn't precisely gauge the spirits' rank like the intel team, Kagura had participated in enough missions to make a solid guess.
With just a glance, she could tell this spirit was above B-rank, and that was without considering any hidden abilities.
Roar!
The fat spirit reached her and let out a roar, no flashy moves, just standing and bellowing directly at her.
Immediately, a putrid stench filled the car.
"So foul…"
Just the smell alone made Kagura feel faint.
Moreover, her body felt sluggish and unresponsive.
"When did I get poisoned?"
Realizing she'd been poisoned, Kagura retreated slowly, recalling the events that led up to this.
Though she had been flustered facing the corpses, she had never let them touch her skin or clothes.
"Ah, the breath…"
Looking at the fat spirit, she suddenly realized the source.
The roar she had dismissed as a normal pre-attack warning actually carried a paralyzing toxin.
Just as she began to understand, the fat spirit swung a massive fist toward her!
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