I threw the door open with all my strength.
BANG!
The moment I stepped inside, I understood.
He was right.
Everyone was coughing.
Some people were bent over, desperately trying to catch their breath. Others were hacking into their sleeves, their eyes watering as they struggled to breathe.
The entire carriage was in chaos.
"What the hell happened here?!" I shouted.
"THE WINDOWS!" someone yelled. "OPEN THE WINDOWS!"
I rushed toward the nearest one.
Now, you might think opening a train window is easy.
You'd be wrong.
First, you had to push it backward. Then forward. Then squeeze the opener. And finally, push the window open.
Whoever designed this system clearly hated humanity.
Marie grabbed another window and tried to force it open.
CRACK!
The glass shattered.
Everyone stared at her.
She stared at the broken window.
"...Oops."
"MARIE! YOU BROKE IT!"
"IT WASN'T OPENING!"
"SO YOU DECIDED TO DESTROY IT?!"
"IT WORKED, DIDN'T IT?!"
Honestly, I couldn't argue with that.
Fresh air rushed into the carriage through the broken window. Slowly, the coughing began to subside. People straightened up, taking deep breaths as they recovered.
After a few minutes, everyone was finally able to breathe normally again.
Marie wiped her mouth and looked toward the front of the train.
"We're not done yet!" she declared. "We have an entire train to protect—and there's a demon somewhere!"
Her voice cut through the remaining noise.
She was right.
We couldn't waste time celebrating the fact that we could breathe again.
That demon was still out there.
And if it had managed to affect an entire carriage, who knew what it was planning next?
I closed my eyes.
Come on, instincts.
I'd felt the presence before. Six yellow eyes. A flash of something that had disappeared almost as soon as I'd seen it.
I needed to find it again.
I concentrated, forcing myself to ignore the shouting, the footsteps, and the rumbling of the train beneath us.
Nothing.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
"Damn it..."
Then—
A flash.
Six yellow eyes.
I opened my eyes immediately.
"Found you."
Marie turned toward me.
"Where?"
I pointed toward the front of the train.
"He's on the roof of the engine."
A few Low Wings exchanged nervous glances.
The roof of the engine?
That meant the demon was right at the front of the train, probably waiting for us.
I took a breath and started planning.
"Okay. Here's the plan. Marie, you and I will go after the demon. Everyone else, help the passengers and check the other carriages. Make sure nobody else is in danger."
Marie frowned.
"No."
I blinked.
"...What?"
"They need a medic," she said firmly. "I'm staying here to help anyone who's injured."
I stared at her.
"But—"
"Tom, I'm not leaving a carriage full of people who might need medical attention just to chase a demon with you."
She had a point.
An annoying point.
The kind of point that made arguing almost impossible.
"...Fine."
I turned toward the other Low Wings.
"Anyone willing to come with me?"
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then a familiar elf stepped forward.
"Me."
I recognized him immediately.
The elf from the Final Selection.
The one who had learned Bamboo Breathing and wielded the deep teal katana.
I grinned.
"Well, I could use your Bamboo Breathing."
He nodded and drew his katana.
"Just don't slow me down."
"HAH! That's my line!"
We hurried toward the front of the train.
The only problem?
There wasn't exactly a convenient staircase leading to the roof.
So we climbed.
The wind hit us the moment we emerged onto the top of the carriage. The train thundered beneath our feet, rushing through the darkness while the full moon hung above us.
I crouched low to keep my balance.
"Stay behind me," I shouted over the wind.
"Why?"
"Because I said so!"
"That's a terrible reason!"
"THEN THINK OF A BETTER ONE WHILE YOU'RE RUNNING!"
We sprinted across the roof, jumping between carriages as the metal rattled beneath our feet.
I kept the elf a little behind me. He was skilled, but I didn't know what kind of Blood Demon Art this demon possessed. If it could attack everyone inside a carriage without even showing itself, charging in blindly would be stupid.
And I preferred being stupid only when it was funny.
Finally, we reached the engine.
And there he was.
Standing on the roof, completely still.
He was looking up at the full moon as if he had forgotten that he was standing on a moving train.
He wore a black jacket over a white T-shirt, along with ordinary trousers and running shoes.
No monstrous armor.
No terrifying horns.
No obvious sign that he was a demon.
Just a man enjoying the moonlight.
Somehow, that made him even more suspicious.
I stepped forward.
"Hey!"
He didn't move.
"Oi! Yellow Eyes!"
That got his attention.
Slowly, he turned his head toward me.
I couldn't see his eyes clearly from where I stood, but I remembered them.
Six yellow eyes.
And the moment I saw his face, I knew.
This is him.
The demon tilted his head.
"Oh?" he said calmly. "You've come all this way to find me?"
I drew my black katana.
"Yeah. And now you're coming down from there."
He glanced at my sword.
Then he smiled.
"Make me."
I grinned.
"Gladly."
I lunged.
"FIFTH FORM—"
I swung my blade toward him.
But before the attack could connect—
He dodged.
Effortlessly.
My sword sliced through empty air.
I froze for a fraction of a second.
What?!
The demon had moved so casually that it looked as though he'd simply taken a step to the side.
He hadn't even bothered to look worried.
Behind me, the elf tightened his grip on his teal katana.
The demon glanced between us, then looked back at the moon.
"Interesting," he murmured. "Perhaps this journey won't be so boring after all."
My grip tightened around my sword.
Something told me this wasn't going to be an ordinary fight.
And judging by that smile...
He was just getting started.