Luke leaned forward, his shadow falling over Rick like a predator cornering prey.
"Did you really think I'd leave you alone after what you said?" Luke sneered. "You were lucky Ark was there. But now?" He spread his arms wide. "Now we're on a train. No one to save you. And you—" He jabbed a finger toward Rick's chest. "—you did something to me. You think you can just walk away after that?"
Rick swallowed hard. "L-Look, Are you really gona make a commotion on a train in broad daylight, you will - "
Luke's grin widened.
"You don't have to worry," he said mockingly. "I have many friends in the Royal Capital. They'll help me. "
Rick's voice cracked. "Are you seriously going to beat up a kid half your size… just because I annoyed you?!"
"Exactly."
Luke threw a punch.
Rick rolled off the seat just in time—the fist slammed into the cushion where his head had been. Acting on instinct more than skill, Rick slipped under the seat, kicking Luke's legs apart and diving between them.
"Get back here!" Luke roared.
Rick bolted toward the VIP carriages—places where nobles and wealthy merchants stayed, guarded heavily. Entering without permission was forbidden, but Rick didn't care.
I need help. Someone. Anyone.
Luke chased him, shoving aside passengers as he ran. The cramped space worked to Rick's advantage—his small frame squeezed through gaps Luke couldn't.
"Stop, brat!"
People gasped, startled by the sudden commotion.
Luke barged in behind him, fury blazing.
Chaos erupted instantly—passengers screamed, stumbling over luggage. Luke shoved people aside, trying to reach Rick.
The disturbance grew so loud that the carriage guards rushed in, weapons drawn.
"What's going on here?!"
Rick sprinted toward them, eyes wide with desperation.
"Please! Help me! Someone—this guy is trying to kill me!"
The guards exchanged sharp glances.
Hearing that, they spun toward Luke, shouting:
"Hey! Stop right there! Don't take another step or we'll shoot!"
Magic guns were pointed straight at Luke.
Chaos erupted the moment the guards raised their magic guns at Luke. Realizing how dangerously the situation had escalated, Luke understood he had made a terrible mistake. One wrong move now, and he could be killed. So Luke thought of surrendring.
But on the othe hand seeing Luke surrendring Rick began to thought " damn it, if he surrender now he will easily be released and will kill me. I have to do something. "
So Rick chose the only weapon he had left—mockery.
So when Luke began to kneel in order to surrender , Rick smirked and whispered, "Look… that's how a dog should behave."
The insult was deliberate, sharp enough to cut. And since Luke's Aura-master senses were far sharper than any guard's, he heard every word. His rage flared instantly. With a roar, Luke charged at Rick, shouting that today would be his last day alive.
But before he could reach him, several guards intercepted him, yelling for him to stop. Luke didn't. His fury was unstoppable. Soon more guards shouted warnings—ordering each other not to fire since civilians were still around. The car descended into frantic combat as Luke and the guards clashed in close-quarters battle.
Panic swept through the train. People fled from one bogie to another as the fight grew more violent. Luke was no ordinary traveler; he was a B-Rank adventurer, already on the brink of reaching A-Rank. For ordinary train guards, he was a force far beyond what they were trained to handle. Nothing they did could slow him.
More guards poured in, forming a desperate blockade to contain him, but Luke tore through them with overwhelming strength. By the time they gathered enough men to mount a coordinated defense, the bogie had been completely evacuated. Not a single civilian remained inside.
The guards finally resorted to firing their magic weapons, but their bullets only scraped Luke's skin—leaving shallow cuts that healed almost instantly.
"Damn it," one guard gasped, trembling with frustration. "We can't even hurt him… and look how many people are gathered here!"
Another guard snapped back, "What did you expect? He's at the level of an Aura Master! We're at the level of external art. The difference is too big—this is impossible to stop!"
Voices collided, panic rising as the guards realized the truth:
they were facing something far beyond their power.
"If only we had an Aura-master present…" someone muttered desperately.
But there wasn't.
And Luke, fueled by rage, was far from finished.
Hidden in the dim corner of the carriage, Rick watched the unfolding chaos with sharpened tension. His plan to escape had collapsed the moment Luke intercepted him. Now, trapped and surrounded, he found himself muttering under his breath, "Has he lost his mind? Just because I teased him a little, he wants to kill me? And he's even fighting royal guards just to get to me… Does he not understand he could be executed for this?"
Across the train, the atmosphere was deteriorating just as rapidly. In the VIP compartment, nobles and merchants were demanding answers, their voices rising over the clatter of the tracks. Outside their doors, guards darted back and forth, called to contain disturbances happening in multiple bogies. The entire train had sunk into disarray. And in one rarely-used compartment—one no one had expected was travelling.
Inside the private cabin reserved for the royal family of the Asther Kingdom, Queen Elisa and the second princess felt the tremors of battle through the floor. Anxiety hung thick in the chamber. Their journey had already been tense, but now the uncertainty became suffocating.
A sudden knock broke the silence. The door opened, and Captain Leon Edwald of the Second Knight Unit stepped inside.
"Sir Leon," Queen Elisa demanded, "what is happening out there?"
Leon bowed. "Your Highness, it appears an individual is fighting the train guards. One of the connecting paths between carriages has been destroyed, and the elite guards can't go there to detain the individual. "
The Queen's eyes widened. "Then you must stop the train at once!"
"I am sorry, Your Highness," Leon replied, voice tight. "That is… not possible."
"Not possible?" she echoed in disbelief. "Why?"
Leon hesitated before answering. "Because our mages sense multiple mana signatures surrounding the train. If we stop, we cannot protect everyone."
The Queen rose from her seat, frustration sharpening her words. "If you cannot stop the train, then why are you still here? Go—assist them!"
Leon bowed deeply.
"I cannot leave Your Highness unguarded," he said. "But I will send my vice-captain to support them."
Hearing this, Queen Elisa slowly sank back into her seat, holding the young princess tightly, her lips pressed into a worried silence.
Meanwhile, the bogie where Luke and the guards battled had descended into pure destruction. The floor was littered with scorched metal, shattered equipment, and groaning soldiers. Though the guards fought desperately, Luke's relentless attacks overwhelmed them. Yet even he had begun to falter—his mana depleted, limbs sluggish, every movement dragging like lead.
The guards had lost their weapons early in the fight. Now, facing Luke head-on was near suicide. But Rick, hiding behind a row of crates, noticed something the others didn't: the higher-ranked knights couldn't reach this carriage, and the normal guards were already beyond their limits.
If no one gets here in time… I'll be the next to die, Rick realized, his heartbeat loud in his ears. I need to act now—before he comes for me.
He waited, breath held tight, for the perfect moment.
And it came.
Luke swayed, nearly stumbling, mana flickering like a dying ember.
Rick seized the chance.
Luke turned his back—just for a second—to fend off a collapsing guard. That was enough. Rick bolted. The faint sound of footsteps made Luke glance back, confusion flashing in his tired eyes.
But Rick was already airborne.
Using the back of a fallen guard as leverage, he leapt high above Luke, pulling out the small enchanted firearm the guildmaster had secretly given him "just in case." At barely a hair's breadth—only a fraction of a millimeter—Rick aimed the barrel at Luke's head and fired.
The magic bullet pierced through Luke's skull with a crackling surge of energy.
Luke collapsed instantly.
Silence swept through the bogie as the remaining guards stared in disbelief. With their support and the fatal shot, Rick had ended Luke's rampage.
Minutes later, a man descended onto the train roof and then dropped into the shattered bogie. It was Vice-Captain Kim, sent by Leon. He scanned the scene—Luke's corpse, exhausted guards, and Rick standing amid the chaos.
"What happened here?" Kim asked sharply.
The surviving guards reflexively raised their weapons toward him, startled.
Kim lifted a hand peacefully and spoke in a steady, calm voice,
"I am Kim, Vice-Captain of the Second Knight Unit."
He produced his badge, letting its engraved crest catch the light.
"I'm here to help."
The guards stiffened when Kim presented his badge, their expressions shifting from fear to embarrassment.
"S–sir, we're really sorry," one stammered. "We didn't know a Royal Knight was aboard."
Kim nodded curtly. "Forget the formalities. Tell me what happened here."
One of the guards motioned to Luke's corpse. "He's the attacker" He pointed toward the blood-spattered flooring where Rick had stood earlier. "We found this among the belongings on him." The guard produced a damaged satchel containing fragments of Luke's gear.
They hurried through an explanation of everything that had led up to Luke's death.
As Kim listened, his eyes narrowed in shock.
A fourteen-year-old… killed a grown man?
It wasn't the death of a rogue adventurer that unsettled him—it was that a child had done it without hesitation, in a moment of pure survival.
"Where is the kid now?" Kim asked.
The guards exchanged uneasy glances. "He's in the next compartment… being questioned. And sir—" One guard hesitated. "Actually there is a problem, The magic gun he used doesn't belong to any of us."
Kim frowned but said nothing.
In the next bogie, Rick stood surrounded by guards who demanded answers.
"I told you already," Rick repeated, frustration slipping into his voice. "This gun is mine. It was a gift—and I have legal documents to prove it."
"That may be true," a guard said, "but why was Luke after you?"
Rick exhaled sharply. "Because back in Easter City's Adventurer Guild, I had a fight with him." The memory darkened his expression. "He's been after me ever since."
Before the argument could escalate further, a new presence filled the doorway.
Vice-Captain Kim strode in.
"That's enough." His voice silenced the room instantly. "My name is Kim Lisar, Vice-Captain of the Second Knight Unit." He flashed his insignia.
The guards straightened at once and saluted.
"I want all of you outside," Kim ordered. "Leave us."
The guards obeyed without hesitation, closing the door behind them and leaving Rick alone under Kim's measured gaze.
Rick swallowed hard as the knight approached. For the first time since the fight, true fear crept in. What if they punish me? What if killing Luke wasn't self-defense in their eyes?
Kim knelt so he was at eye level with the boy.
"Relax," he said calmly. "I'm not here to blame you."
Rick blinked in surprise.
"If you hadn't killed him," Kim continued, "I would have. His death was inevitable—and yours would've been, too, if you'd hesitated."
Slowly, Rick's shoulders loosened. The terror he was holding inside seeped out in a shaky breath.
Kim stood and offered a reassuring hand.
"You did what you needed to survive. So breathe."
Kim's calm words eased the tight knot in Rick's chest. He relaxed a little, though his hands still trembled.
Seeing that, Kim asked gently, "Answer me honestly. Did he attack you solely because of the fight you had in Easter City? Because no matter how reckless a man is, he wouldn't risk attacking a public train—something that could get him executed—just over a small dispute."
Rick shook his head. "It wasn't just that. That fight wasn't the first time I met him… but I still don't think I did anything bad enough for him to hold such a grudge." His voice weakened as he spoke, the exhaustion finally reaching him.
Kim considered this quietly before asking his final question. "And this gun… is it truly yours?"
Rick nodded at once. "Yes. It is. Someone gifted it to me, and I even have legal papers." He unfolded the documents from his pocket, letting Kim read the official seals.
Kim scanned the papers, then closed them with a sigh of relief.
"You're clear," he said. "Given everything you've told me, you are free to go."
Rick's face lit up—but Kim raised a hand.
"However, you will still need to report to the City Guard Headquarters. They must file an official report on the incident."
Rick nodded eagerly. "That's fine with me!"
Kim stood, brushing dust from his armor. At the doorway, he paused and looked back at the boy.
"I hope you stay safe in the future," he said with unexpected warmth. Then he turned and left.
At the next station after leaving Easter City, the train made an emergency stop. All passengers were instructed to step outside so officials could inspect the scene of the attack and secure the damaged compartments.
It took time—far longer than anyone expected—but eventually the repairs were completed, the guards gave their clearance, and the massive engine groaned back to life.
The train resumed its long journey toward the Royal Capital once again… carrying with it a boy who had no idea how much this single incident would change his fate.