CHAPTER 5: THE FEAST OF THE WANDERER
Dario Cale stood in the center of the wreckage, his chest rising and falling in a steady, controlled rhythm. Around him, the main force of the hijackers lay in various states of unconsciousness. Some were slumped against the padded seats, others were piled in the aisle, but not a single one of them had managed to land so much as a scratch on him.
"Now... that's more like it," Dario said, shaking the tension out of his shoulders. He looked around at the few remaining men who were still backing away, their hands trembling as they held their weapons. "Is that really all you guys have got? I was just starting to get warmed up."
"You... you monster!" one of the hijackers spat, his voice cracking with terror. "You'll pay for this! The Association won't be able to protect you from what's coming!"
Dario opened his mouth to deliver a witty comeback, but the words died in his throat. Suddenly, the temperature in the carriage seemed to drop twenty degrees. A heavy, suffocating dark energy began to leak into the room, coiling around the floor like black ink in water. It didn't feel like a Jinx it felt like a sickness.
Dario's instincts screamed at him. Without a second thought, he dashed backward, putting ten feet of distance between himself and the source of the pressure.
"What is this...?" Dario whispered, his eyes narrowing. "This energy... it's completely different from the others."
A man stepped forward from the shadows of the doorway. It was the mysterious mercenary who had been sitting with the Boss. He walked with a lazy, predatory slouch, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The hijackers parted for him like the Red Sea, their faces pale with a new kind of fear.
"All of you... step back," the man said, his voice a low, gravelly hum. "You're in the way of my feast."
One of the hijackers, confused and desperate, stepped toward him. "But... aren't you supposed to be protecting the Boss? He's in the second compartment! You need to—"
In a movement so fast it was barely a blur, the mysterious man's hand lashed out. He caught the hijacker by the throat, hoisting him off the floor with a single arm. The man's boots kicked helplessly in the air, his face turning a deep shade of purple.
"Do you idiots really think I'm your bodyguard?" the man asked, his voice dripping with venom. "I'm here for the sport, not to watch over some pathetic small-time crook."
"Please... I'm sorry... spare me..." the hijacker wheezed, his life flashing before his eyes as the mercenary's grip tightened.
"Tch. Get the fuck out of here," the man hissed, throwing the hijacker to the ground like a piece of trash. He didn't even look to see if the man was still breathing. Instead, he turned his full attention to the Sorcerer he had been waiting for.
Dario settled into a defensive stance, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Who the hell are you?"
"Me?" the man laughed, a dry, hollow sound. "I'm just a wandering man who loves to fight Sorcerers. They taste so much better than normal humans. Come on, kid. I'll give you a free hit. Let's see what a 'prodigy' from the Association can actually do."
Dario's jaw tightened. This bastard... he's looking down on me. But beneath the anger, Dario's training was telling him to be careful. There is something fundamentally wrong about this guy. He's not like the rest. If I can take him down now, the head of the snake is cut off and this whole mess is over.
"Fine," Dario said, his Jinx energy flaring bright blue around his arms. "I'll take the free hit. But make sure you don't regret it later. You're going to pay for underestimating me."
"Oh? Is that so?" The man spread his arms wide, leaving his chest completely exposed. "Then come on. Show me your best."
Dario didn't hesitate. He dashed forward with a single, explosive leap. He poured his Jinx energy into his right fist, the power humming with enough force to crack stone. He went for the kill, aiming a straight punch right at the man's heart.
CRACK.
The sound echoed through the compartment, but it wasn't the sound of a chest collapsing. The mysterious man had moved his hand at the last possible microsecond, catching Dario's fist in his palm. The shockwave of the impact shattered the windows nearby, but the man didn't move an inch.
"Is that all?" the man asked, a cruel smile stretching across his face.
Dario gritted his teeth and dashed back, only to leap forward again with a flurry of strikes. Each time, the man moved with a fluid, effortless grace, dodging and parrying every blow as if he were playing with a child.
"My turn," the man said.
Before Dario could react, the man vanished. He was faster much faster than anything Dario had ever encountered. A heavy fist slammed into Dario's ribs, the force of it bypassing his Minimum Shield entirely.
"GAHH!"
Dario was sent flying. His body crashed through the reinforced door, tumbling end-over-end into the next section of the train.
TRAIN SECTION - 3D
Alina Glade pulled a set of high-tensile zip-ties tight around the wrists of the last hijacker in her section. She paused, her head snapping toward the front of the train as a dull thud vibrated through the floorboards.
"That was a heavy impact," she muttered to herself, wiping sweat from her brow. "It looks like he's encountered someone strong... but he'll be fine. I just hope he doesn't get too carried away and break the train."
She looked down at the hijacker she had just secured. To her surprise, the man was laughing. It wasn't a brave laugh; it was the hysterical giggle of someone who knew a secret.
"Hehehe... you think you can stop us?" the hijacker wheezed, blood leaking from his lip. "You think we came here unprepared? Did you really think we wouldn't have a plan in case you damn Sorcerers showed your faces?"
Alina's blood ran cold. She grabbed the man by his shirt, her eyes flashing. "What the hell are you talking about? Your men are down. Your perimeter is broken. What plan?"
The man just grinned, looking toward the ceiling of the train. "You aren't the only ones with 'special' talents on this ride, little girl. The feast has only just started."
Alina looked toward the door Dario had gone through, a sense of dread pooling in her stomach.