The Battle Was Over

Looking at the now-empty carriage, Brandon gagged. "Ugh, this is just too... Ugh."

Polina looked just as ill. Bracing herself against the doorframe, she said under her breath, "Stop gagging over there. It's not like this is your first time seeing something like that. Come help me up; I've completely exhausted my Psionic Energy, and it feels like someone's stirring my brain with a red-hot iron spoon."

"Your Psionic Energy's run out?" Brandon's expression changed. "Can you still control [that thing]?"

"I can!"

Polina looked thoroughly impatient. "But if you don't come help me right now, I might not be able to!"

"Fine, fine." Brandon sighed and caught the unsteady Polina. "You really have no respect for your seniors. With a personality like yours, you're bound to provoke someone you can't handle someday... Never mind. Someone who wasn't this reckless probably couldn't have awakened your Secret Art."

"But you even made [that thing]. The Vessel's definitely done for this time, right?"

"Definitely." Polina shakily lit a cigarette. After taking a deep drag, she looked a little better. "My trump card isn't something anyone can just withstand. Even an entire army wouldn't come through unscathed!"

"Then I can probably relax a little." Brandon smiled as he helped Polina sit on the bench beside the window.

But just as they sat down, Polina suddenly froze. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Brandon followed her gaze out the window, but saw nothing.

Polina narrowed her eyes. "Brandon, I think I saw a shadow flash past."

"You're probably just tired and seeing things... Wait!"

Brandon jolted and shot to his feet, looking out the window. "I think I saw it too!"

"What was it?" Polina asked with a frown. "A bird?"

Brandon scanned the area. "No way. It was moving along the ground."

"Maybe it was one of our two Shadow-Flying Colts?"

Polina leaned out to get a better look. "I don't remember Shadow-Flying Colts having that much endurance."

"No idea. Hang on, let me check." Brandon drew his revolver, opened the window, and leaned out.

Beyond the window stretched a range of towering, craggy mountains. The natural environment in this world was far harsher than in Lude's previous life. Apart from the territories of the Five Great Empires, there were few plains. The land was full of towering mountains, deep rivers, primeval forests, and barren wastelands strewn with jagged rocks.

Brandon leaned halfway out and scanned the surroundings, but saw nothing amiss as far as he could see.

Still full of doubts, he started to pull back inside. In that instant, however, a hand like cast bronze and forged iron came crashing down on him. Brandon didn't even have time to fight back before his head burst like a watermelon under the blow. His corpse was immediately yanked out of the window.

Using that momentum, Lude braced both hands on the window frame and shoved himself through the narrow opening into the carriage.

What was happening? What was happening?!

Watching Lude casually brush the dust from his lapel, Polina's mind went completely blank.

She had set up more than thirty Self-Destruct Puppets, scattered throughout the carriage and across its roof, and made every one of them optically invisible. She had also altered the activation conditions of several land mines so they would detonate as soon as Lude entered their field of vision, using them as alarms to pinpoint his location.

She could understand how Lude had broken through the minefield, but she couldn't understand why not a single mine had gone off!

The reason not a single mine had gone off was simple: Lude didn't do things the usual way!

Trains of this era traveled at around thirty kilometers per hour on mountain tracks, while Lude could run at a full sixty.

In short, after being surrounded by a group of invisible puppets, Lude had simply made a Great Leap through an opening and jumped off the train. The unlucky puppets behind him had followed under the influence of their single-minded programming, tumbling off one after another with a clatter.

And they really did tumble. Every last one rolled straight down into the ravine.

After that, Lude hadn't returned to the train. Once he realized how troublesome invisible puppets with programmable detonation conditions could be, he had chosen a route where invisible land mines absolutely couldn't be waiting: he simply ran after the train!

I don't care how powerful your mines are or how clever your chain reaction is. I'll just take out the person controlling them!

By darting between the mountain cliffs, Lude did his best to keep himself hidden. He wasn't very practiced at it, though; after all, he'd never received any special forces training.

Staring at Lude, who had already drawn the sword at his waist, Polina felt her heart sink into a cold abyss.

Even so, she clung to one last shred of hope and directed all her Psionic Energy toward a single point. If she could summon [that thing], if [that thing] could just attack, then everything would be all right...

But the response she received through her Psionic Energy destroyed that final hope completely.

The puppets she created should have given off a hot, frenzied, uncontrollable Psionic Energy signature. But the feedback now coming through her Psionic Energy felt as if it had touched the snow of the frozen polar winter—utterly still and silent.

The intelligence was seriously wrong. The Vessel wasn't alone; he had a helper who was no weaker than he was!

Damn it, Intelligence Department, you screwed me over!

Lude strode forward in silence. A flash of silver-green swordlight cut through the air, and Polina's head flew high.

Lude dodged the blood gushing out as if from a ruptured high-pressure pump and walked up to Polina's headless corpse. He took the pack of cigarettes and lighter from the pocket over her chest, lit one, and drew a deep breath.

"Hah..." Lude exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Come to think of it, how long has it been since I last smoked?"

Lude had barely smoked in his previous life—or rather, he had only smoked during the early days of starting his business. After that, he quit for the sake of his health. As he used to joke, he already had a black heart; there was no need to grow a pair of rotten lungs as well.

But with this body in his current life, he probably wouldn't need to worry about his lungs even if he sucked on a chimney.

Just like with alcohol, Lude's poor health in his previous life had led him to give up nearly all his bad habits. As he lay dying, he'd regretted it a little. He'd spent his whole life working, only to die before he had the chance to let loose and enjoy himself.

Just then, Lude's stomach let out a low rumble. He was clearly starving.

Smoking wasn't enough to stave off hunger. At that moment, Lude wanted a meal more than anything.

So he headed toward the VIP carriage, counting the two Residual Flames he had obtained this time.

Brandon's Residual Flame was a round flame of pale moth-green, mottled and soft in appearance. Polina's, on the other hand, was a bright shade between orange-red and pink, dancing lightly inside the furnace.

The Secret Arts they contained were, naturally, the two of them's [Sky Coating] and [Death-Defying].

Unfortunately, Lude still hadn't found a third way to use Residual Flames, and he was an extreme hoarder. That meant these two Residual Flames would probably sit gathering dust in the Heart of the Furnace until Lude faced a deadly crisis.

Aside from that, there wasn't much to be gained. Neither Arcanist relied on weapons.

After a quick search, aside from the two of them's wallets, Lude took only Brandon's Iron Sparrow revolver. Now he could cosplay as a dual-wielding gunman, and he'd always liked that superhero.

Pushing open the redwood carriage door, Lude returned to his luxurious compartment and let out a long breath.

Mr. Vernon had already laid out a lavish meal. Judging by the number of plates and soup bowls, unless every dish had been served in Michelin-sized portions, there was enough food for three or four people.

"Not bad." Lude smiled in approval and picked up the silver cutlery nearest him.