Shin almost instantly picked up the fallen katana and struck. He saw purplish-black veins creeping from the masked man's neck to his face, like swarms of thin snakes. The syringe hit the ground and shattered, along with his funeral kimono. A gray-green demon seemed to burst forth from a cocoon.
It roared, charging at Shin with a speed that exceeded Shin's ability to process.
He was a Coordinator, a genetically modified product superior to ordinary humans, but this superiority was merely limited to ordinary people.
He was facing a monster, a demon, a walking anomaly that couldn't be explained by common sense.
The green demon closed in like lightning. Shin's blade had just begun to swing down, but it was easily caught by the pale green hand. With a squeeze, it shattered!
The monster's other hand punched out. Shin was sent flying like a ball, easily struck away.
His physical condition was very poor. That punch, even through the heavy defense of Far Caress, had inflicted severe injuries. Without a doubt, he had two broken bones.
His calm mind was not affected by fear in the slightest. He rationally and swiftly assessed the current situation.
He was not this monster's match, in all aspects.
Before transforming, it was an existence that completely overwhelmed Shin in terms of physical ability and combat skill. He could feel it.
The reason his victory was so swift was purely due to a few pieces of the Lord of Dawn's equipment, catching the opponent by surprise due to a lack of information.
But now, most of his trump cards had been revealed. To put it bluntly, Shin had only three cards left.
One was 'Sparagmos', the 'Light of Return Core', possessing one-shot kill-level firepower. These two beam cannons, installed behind his elbows, could easily penetrate and annihilate all known matter on Earth. However, their attack range was extremely small, with the penetration point being no larger than an adult's fist, and the beam's extension range wouldn't even exceed an arm's length. Rather than long-range heavy firepower, it was more like a 'lightsaber', and its charging time was extremely long, meaning it could only be used twice per battle.
The second trump card was the 'Thousand-Man Wedge' embedded within 'Far Caress'. This relic, shaped like a barbed instrument of torture, would deeply embed itself into Shin's spine, granting him 'the strength of a thousand men.' However, 'the strength of a thousand men' was merely a figurative description; at its maximum conservative estimate, one wedge would only grant him the strength of ten men. The most troublesome aspect was that the Thousand-Man Wedge attached to Far Caress could be removed, but it would be accompanied by immense pain. Moreover, the Thousand-Man Wedge only amplified strength; Shin could not compensate for any lack in reaction speed.
The third trump card... was undoubtedly the mental subjugation device. That was the ultimate life-saving trump card, only to be activated under the most dangerous and difficult conditions, but it required time and sufficient 'space'.
He had quite a few opportunities left, but the most reliable chance to attempt killing the opponent was only once. If he failed, the next chance of survival would drop dramatically.
Most importantly, he couldn't afford to delay. The runaway train's speed was still increasing, and it wouldn't be long before it completely lost control and collided with a train on the same track.
Thoughts flowed in an instant. His calm mind, free of distractions, allowed him to immediately implement his plan after forming it.
He unhesitatingly grabbed the unconscious Saki and ran towards the direction of the train crew compartment.
Saki groggily opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Shin, dressed in an extremely 'fantastical' way, and she immediately instinctively shrieked.
"Shut up. If you don't want to die, do as I say next."
Shin's icy voice came from beneath the helmet. Saki's body trembled, and she immediately obediently covered her mouth.
"I'll hold off that monster behind us. You tear open all the flour bags in this carriage and sprinkle all of it into the air! Pay attention, I said 'sprinkle into the air'!"
Behind Shin, the green demon's terrifying roar was already closing in. Shin no longer hesitated, shoving Saki into the front carriage, then slamming the door shut.
The moment he turned around, the heavy punch was already upon him.
A heavy impact, like being struck by a madly speeding motorcycle on the road. The immense shockwave resonated through Shin's skull via the helmet of Gangway, crushing his head. The first carriage door behind him was almost completely blown off, with a gap of two distances.
The sturdy relic helmet did not deform or shatter from this terrifying blow, but the force transmitted through the solid almost brought Shin to death's door.
His vision went black. The heavy blow almost distorted his features beneath the helmet. Bodily fluids uncontrollably leaked, and his consciousness instinctively wanted to fall into a coma.
But the Lord of Dawn's ice-cold spirit, combined with the willpower he had cultivated from consuming those 'nuclear waste dishes' these past few days, forced him to stop himself from passing out. He instead clamped down on the green, thick arm.
"Ugh..."
Beneath the helmet, Shin couldn't help but let out a painful groan. From his back, two Thousand-Man Wedges slowly pierced into his body through the armor of Far Caress.
The heavily barbed, torture-like relics pierced into his body, tearing through flesh and bringing intense pain, but at the same time, they bestowed immense power!
A massive surge of power seemed to explode within him. Limitless strength gushed from his body. Shin clamped down on the arm and twisted it forcefully.
Flesh, along with bone, let out mournful screams. The monster roared, trying to pull its hand away, but Shin held it tightly.
"One arm, I've got it!"
He hissed softly. The terrifying immense strength bolstered by the two Thousand-Man Wedges made his hands like hydraulic pliers. Ton-level monstrous power instantly twisted and broke the monster's arm, tearing the muscle along with the gray bone!
The monster roared but instinctively took half a step back. Shin no longer hesitated, raising both hands, left hand positive, right hand reverse, and the launcher on his right elbow burst with dazzling light.
"Far Caress, Sparagmos!!!"
A black viscous giant net completely ensnared the monster, and the surging, dazzling beam of light instantly pierced through the monster's left half of its head.
But in that same instant, the ancient and solemn chant emanated from the monster's mouth.
'Dust-free Zone!'
The massive, even more terrifying, invisible repulsive force spread out from the monster as its center. Shin's body was instantly pierced by this repulsive force and fell into the carriage behind him.
And the carriage where it was located had already been torn apart as if ravaged by a storm. Even the sturdy, integral alloy structure of the carriage itself had deformed under this immense repulsive force.
"Ah!!! Shin-sama, are you alright!"
Saki, who had just finished scattering the last bag of flour, covered her mouth and nose, looking at Shin who had fallen in front of her. After a fright, she immediately came over to help him up.
"I'm fine... he's the one who's not."
Shin struggled to get up, his entire body feeling like it had been taken apart. Coupled with the unfamiliarity that came with the sudden surge of strength, he felt terrible.
The blue monster, whose head had been half-blown off by his Sparagmos, was struggling to tear apart the black net of Far Caress. Gray brain matter mixed with red blood flowed from the wound on its half-head, looking utterly disgusting.
Being able to move freely with half a head missing showed a vitality that was more than just a little stronger than an ordinary person's.
"Go, quickly!"
Shin dragged the pale Saki towards the next carriage, panting as he grabbed her hand.
"You wanted to fight alongside me, didn't you? Here's your chance. Now, clear your mind, don't show any resistance, any resistance at all, understand?"
"Oh, oh!"
Saki instinctively stood at attention at the slightly stern command. Shin, beneath his helmet, took a deep breath, and his bare hand, having removed his glove, tightly gripped Saki's wrist.
The girl's cheeks flushed, but before she could feel shy, she felt her consciousness empty—
"Roar!!!!"
The roaring, pale blue demon broke free from the black net and frantically lunged towards the forward carriage. Shin, who was prepared, looked at the monster engulfed in a cloud of dust and sneered,
"Go to hell."
His finger grazed his helmet, and a ball of light suddenly appeared.
"Gangway!"
A deep purple beam of light converged before him, then jumped and refracted. The superheated beam refracted through the dust-filled space.
Wheat flour is a highly flammable dust. Under high temperatures, it will burn rapidly, and a large amount of dust within a relatively confined space, forming a dust-air mixture, will burn quickly, causing a sharp increase in temperature and pressure, and finally—
BOOM!!!!!!
First, an ear-splitting explosion. A massive blast instantly blew away the monster along with everything else in the carriage. Then, in the highly negative pressure zone at the explosion's center where the monster was, a large amount of fresh air was sucked in from outside the shattered glass windows.
'Dust-free Zone!'
The monster, which had withstood the initial impact and explosion, once again activated its repulsive ability as expected. However, its actions backfired.
The massive repulsive force resisted the negative pressure created by the central explosion, like frantically applying force to a rebounding spring, making the central negative pressure even more severe.
The atmosphere reacted incredibly quickly; the more force applied, the greater the compensatory natural feedback.
The moment the repulsive field could no longer be maintained, a massive wave of air, larger than before, surged into the central negative pressure zone, and the ignited flames once again triggered an even more severe secondary explosion!
Shin had no choice but to tackle Saki to the ground and shield her. The raging, explosive flames, compressed, surged into several carriages. Feeling the high temperature enveloping his body, Shin could only silently protect Saki beneath him.
A few seconds later, when the violent, high-temperature flames dissipated, Shin slowly stood up, turning his head—the scenery suddenly opened up.
The massive explosion had completely torn that entire carriage apart. One meter in front of Shin were the scorched marks of the carriage's rupture, a black, terribly jagged tear that still radiated heat.
"Killed 'Oni (Ryoma)', action directly caused partial world-line fluctuation, gained 50 evaluation points!"
The System's notification in Shin's mind told him that the monster was truly dead. 50 points in his account was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise.
But perhaps more than killing the monster, this evaluation point was a reward for him tearing a brand new train in half.
"Excellent, excellent, you did really well."
A gentle voice mixed with the sound of applause sounded from behind Shin. He turned around, and a person dressed identically to the monster just now, the only difference being a red demon mask, was holding a blade to the unconscious Saki's neck.
"Few young mixed-bloods can so easily defeat a shadow warrior, especially a dangerous one who has consumed a cocktail."
"I don't know what you mean," Shin replied calmly.
"Playing dumb? The alchemy weapon on you isn't something someone who knows nothing could possess." The red demon mask chuckled softly.
"Are you a spy sent by the Cassell family to investigate the Serpent Clan?"
Shin's face beneath the mask subtly creased. He seemed to have heard a similar name, but couldn't remember where.
"Alright, it doesn't matter if you don't want to say," the red demon mask shrugged, chuckling indifferently.
"The Dragon King's order was to bring you back quietly, but it seems that won't be possible now. With such a huge commotion, the Executive Bureau is probably already waiting for us at the station."
The sharp katana pressed tightly against Saki's neck. The red demon mask smiled maliciously.
"This girl is someone you know, right? But you two seem to be just classmates. If you want her to live, come with us."
"Of course, I don't think you'd agree. Anyway, five seconds, remove all your equipment, and come over."
The red demon mask's tone was relaxed, as if, just as he said, he didn't expect a man like Shin to accept such a proposition at all.
"I agree."
Shin replied indifferently. He removed his helmet and armor and walked towards the opponent. The red demon mask also paused for half a second, slowly lowering his katana.
"You truly amaze me—" The red demon mask praised, reaching out directly to grab Shin.
"You too," the unconscious Saki in his arms suddenly said with a smile.
The moment he realized something was wrong, Saki's elbow, which had been aimed at his head, had somehow acquired the gauntlet Shin had dropped on the ground. The one remaining shot of the Sparagmos erupted from its muzzle.
The red demon's blade had already slashed towards Saki in his arms, but the light beam had already swept across the sky.
The beam completely tore apart the red demon mask's head, annihilating it into dust. Losing control of its brain, the returning blade slowed to an incredibly sluggish pace.
Shin, who had been prepared, grabbed the blade, stopping it inches from Saki's neck.
'Killed 'Shadow Warrior, caused partial world-line fluctuation, gained 1000 evaluation points!'
Shin froze in place, his mouth slightly agape.
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