The surrounding buildings had begun to collapse, and there were no longer any living people on the streets, only the dead.
However, these corpses quickly rose from the ground, their skin turning a deathly grey, their pupils gone.
At the same time, a glowing heart was constantly beating in the chests of these corpses.
This was the process of turning from human to Kabaneri. Most humans attacked by Kabaneri would die from severe blood loss.
But after a period of suspended animation, the hearts of these dead humans would begin to glow, turning them into irrational Kabaneri who only knew how to attack humans.
Even if they didn't die immediately after being bitten by a Kabaneri, they would suddenly die after some time and become Kabaneri.
This condition was called the Kabaneri incubation period. Depending on individual differences, the incubation period also varied, but the longest incubation period would not exceed three days.
It was precisely because of this incubation period that some people, unwilling to die, concealed the fact that they had been bitten, leading to unimaginable tragedies.
These tragedies ranged from the death of an entire family to affecting the safety of an entire city.
Although it was unknown if these humans retained their past memories when they turned into Kabaneri, letting them die could be considered a form of salvation for them.
Inaba Tsukiyo and Mumei worked together to turn these Kabaneri back into corpses, moving steadily towards the station.
Mumei's speed was very fast, and Inaba Tsukiyo didn't fall behind, using a weakened version of Shukuchi to catch up.
When they arrived at the station, many people had already gathered there.
Inside the garage, an armored train named the Iron Fortress was parked.
Near the Iron Fortress, almost all were civilians carrying luggage.
They were practically fighting to squeeze in, as if entering the Iron Fortress meant salvation.
If everyone had boarded in order, they would have been on by now.
But consumed by fear, they forgot this simple truth, only wanting to board the Iron Fortress earlier than others.
Besides these residents trying to rush on, samurai were also checking every passenger boarding.
Anyone with bloodstains or wounds on their body was strictly forbidden from boarding, even if it wasn't a bite wound.
This was not an overreaction; the purpose was to prevent people in the Kabaneri incubation period from entering the Iron Fortress.
"Hey, Mumei. These samurai haven't been seen since just now. Is their duty just to prevent injured people from entering the Iron Fortress?" Inaba Tsukiyo asked softly, "I just feel like these samurai are very unreliable."
"Hmm? Not bad. Although they can't deal with Kabaneri, they can maintain public order. Haah~" Mumei yawned, rubbing her eyes, "But don't expect all these samurai to be the same. Many become samurai because it offers convenience."
According to Mumei's understanding, many people who wanted to become samurai did so because samurai could gain greater convenience and escape advantages than civilians.
Of course, this didn't include some samurai who genuinely wanted to protect the common people, but such individuals were very few, and they always died at the forefront whenever a crisis erupted.
"What's wrong with you?" Inaba Tsukiyo noticed Mumei's abnormality and asked somewhat strangely, "You've been listless since just now."
"A little sleepy, I want to rest for a bit." Mumei rubbed her eyes, her voice becoming weak. "Let's hurry and get on. The rest can be left to the samurai."
With that, Mumei walked past Inaba Tsukiyo, intending to board the train.
But before she stepped onto the train, Inaba Tsukiyo grabbed her shoulder.
"What's wrong? I need to cancel my rest first."
However, Inaba Tsukiyo wasn't looking at Mumei, but at a hillside near the station.
"There's a very loud sound coming from that direction." Inaba Tsukiyo pointed to the source of the sound, her expression a little grim. "The number is at least a thousand, and they'll be here in a few minutes at the latest."
"What?"
Mumei's eyes widened. She turned to look in the direction Inaba Tsukiyo was pointing.
But she saw nothing, only the Herrscher's vegetation.
Mumei looked at Inaba Tsukiyo in confusion, but Inaba Tsukiyo's gaze showed no hint of lying.
It was impossible for residents to rush over from that place; it had to be Kabaneri. Even she couldn't handle thousands of Kabaneri.
If the train couldn't depart within a few minutes, hundreds of Kabaneri would surely destroy the Iron Fortress.
Mumei realized the seriousness of the situation, but she had to rest; she no longer had the ability to continue fighting.
Inaba Tsukiyo had been sensing Mumei's emotional changes. From her constantly thumping heart, Mumei also realized the gravity of the problem.
But Mumei still looked very tired. Could her powerful combat ability be limited? Like Ultraman? Only able to last three minutes?
"Since you're tired, go get some good rest. I'll handle what happens next." Inaba Tsukiyo patted Mumei's shoulder and whispered, "My name is Inaba Tsukiyo. Although I don't believe your name is Mumei, since you've already introduced yourself, it would be rude of me not to."
As she said this, Inaba Tsukiyo turned her head away, not wanting Mumei to see her slightly flushed face.
Mumei looked at Inaba Tsukiyo with some surprise, noticing Inaba Tsukiyo's slightly red ears, and couldn't help but let out a giggle.
Before Inaba Tsukiyo could become flustered, Mumei bypassed Inaba Tsukiyo and walked towards the Iron Fortress.
During this time, she helped a Boy who looked very problematic get on the train. Although he was clearly problematic, Mumei's words convinced the inspecting samurai to let the Boy board.
Just then, the samurai on guard suddenly noticed something and screamed in terror.
"Kabaneri! The Kabaneri are coming!!!"
Looking in the direction the samurai pointed, one could see a massive red glow on the nearby mountain, forming a crimson tide rapidly approaching.
The Kabaneri waved their limbs, rushing towards the station at an extremely fast speed.
(fuhai: Dinner time! (((((o=^・ェ・)o┏━┓!!!)
"The situation is even more urgent than imagined. If these Kabaneri destroy this train, then everything is over."
Inaba Tsukiyo, who had just boarded the train, saw the scene and rushed out before the commoners could close the iron gate.
At this moment, the samurai guarding outside the train had lined up, their steam guns aimed at the constantly approaching Kabaneri, and they pulled the triggers.
"Rokkone Shojo!"
[Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!]
[Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!]
The steam gun bullets struck the Kabaneri, but the bullets were like hitting metal, knocking the Kabaneri down.
Initially, this continuous barrage of fire slightly suppressed the Kabaneri's attack, but as the Kabaneri increased, the steam gun's firepower was clearly insufficient.
Soon, extremely fast Kabaneri broke through the steam gun's attack and continuously assaulted the samurai in the formation.
Just as a Kabaneri opened its mouth, preparing to bite the neck of the nearest soldier, a sharp blade flashed across the Kabaneri's neck.
The samurai's steam guns grew weaker and weaker as the Kabaneri continued to increase, and the interception net was soon breached.
Even with Inaba Tsukiyo constantly moving among these Kabaneri, many samurai were still bitten by them.
The samurai's steam guns could only delay the Kabaneri's assault and were not effectively damaging them, but under Inaba Tsukiyo's offensive, the situation eased considerably.
However, being besieged by hundreds of thousands of Kabaneri was taxing even for Inaba Tsukiyo, especially since she couldn't display superhuman strength.
Soon, accompanied by a loud whistle, the Iron Fortress, which had been in the garage, finally started moving, slowly driving out.
As the train started, the samurai also began to retreat, running to the train's steps at top speed, preparing to evacuate.
Only Inaba Tsukiyo continued to fight the Kabaneri until the train sped up, then she retreated onto the Iron Fortress.
Just then, a gunshot reached Inaba Tsukiyo's ears.
Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw that the Boy whom Mumei had vouched for was thrown out of the carriage.
"Isn't that the heart that only Kabaneri have? How is that possible..."
The Boy's heart glowed just like a Kabaneri's.
But he hadn't lost his sanity like other Kabaneri, hadn't become a Kabaneri that only knew how to devour humans, yet he couldn't be considered a normal human either.
[Thump!!!]
Suddenly, the Iron Fortress's body shook violently.
The Iron Fortress had reached the town's exit, but the drawbridge hadn't lowered smoothly.
If the drawbridge were lowered, and then the Iron Fortress started to leave the city, there would be no problem.
But the Iron Fortress's previous speed wasn't fast, and the repelled Kabaneri hadn't been shaken off at all.
The unintelligent Kabaneri's attack method was very simple; they could even ram the Iron Fortress with their bodies.
The sudden turn of events wasted precious evacuation time, and the Kabaneri behind had already caught up to the Iron Fortress.
The Kabaneri continuously launched suicidal charges against the Iron Fortress. Even though the Iron Fortress's carriages were protected by steel, the Kabaneri's attacks caused effective damage.
If the Kabaneri continued such suicidal attacks, it would only be a matter of time before they breached the steel defenses.
'I need to find a way to stop this. I don't want to encounter such trouble right after arriving in this world, even though I've already faced great trouble before.'
[Bang! Bang!]
As Inaba Tsukiyo walked out of the train, she heard gunshots coming from near the tail of the train.
Amidst the Kabaneri horde, "Bang! Bang!" sounds occasionally echoed.
"Is that the Boy? What is he trying to do?" Following the Boy's direction, Inaba Tsukiyo saw a lever-like device. "Does he intend to manually activate the drawbridge switch?"
The reason the Iron Fortress was delayed was very likely because the driver couldn't manually activate the drawbridge.
Any equipment has safety measures, and that lever could very well be the device for manually activating the drawbridge switch.
"This is really... even though he's been abandoned, he's still fighting these monsters without regard for his own safety."
"What a ridiculous yet adorable human. Compared to him, who is no longer complete, the humans hiding inside the carriages are the most ridiculous."
Even after being bitten several times by the Kabaneri, he continued to use the weapon in his hand to pierce the Kabaneri's hearts.
Even though he had been abandoned, he still dragged his tattered body to pull down the lever for the drawbridge.
After pulling the lever, she did nothing else but kneel to the side, listening to the train's whistle as it restarted, and cried into her hands.
"What exactly are you crying about?" Inaba Tsukiyo came to the Boy's side, kicked him a few times, and when he looked up, she said, "The train has already departed. This is the last train; there won't be another."
"But I'm a Kabaneri. One day, I'll be like those guys."
"Yes, I know. But you don't attack humans. Even when you were abandoned, you still chose to save humans."
Such a person was worthy of being called a hero, and heroes... are always unacknowledged.
"Saving them... I just..."
He just wanted the people inside the Iron Fortress to know that they were saved by someone they abandoned, and with that memory, he would mock them from another world.
He was only doing it for himself; he was no hero at all.
Inaba Tsukiyo grabbed the Boy by his collar directly and, with a few agile leaps, landed on the moving train.
Ignoring the tense gazes around her, Inaba Tsukiyo dragged the struggling Boy to the train's rear car.
There, Unmei seemed to have known Inaba Tsukiyo would return, and she was waiting for them.
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