A Dazzling Debut

"Eve! Move!"

Lorenzo roared, pulling the trigger while moving toward the rear carriage. The shotgun displayed maximum lethality in this cramped space; shattered pellets pierced one monster after another, sending blood spraying everywhere. Yet, more monsters surged in immediately after, tearing at each other as if there were some great temptation before them.

Petals flew as Lorenzo grabbed his suitcase with one hand and tossed it to Eve. The girl stumbled under the sudden, heavy weight, nearly falling, but she regained her balance and fled through the iron door toward the rear.

However, Eve soon turned back, her small face deathly pale.

"What are you doing!"

Lorenzo shouted a reprimand, and the girl quickly replied.

"The back is full of monsters too!"

"Huh?"

Blasting a twisted head apart with a single shot, Lorenzo walked toward Eve with his gun, pulled the girl out of the carriage, and then jammed the door shut. Behind the glass were countless blood-stained hands, pounding heavily against the door and leaving cracks across the surface.

Grabbing the shoulder strap of the suitcase, Lorenzo hoisted it up and hung it at his side, drawing a nail sword that glinted with a cold light.

"Monsters in the front, too?"

Lorenzo was a bit dazed. With such a dense outbreak, it seemed this train had been hiding monsters from the very beginning. The question was, why this train, and why did it have to involve him?

Recalling his own boundary-breaking Spirit Sight and Eve's own manifestations, Lorenzo formed a rough hypothesis. Perhaps their connection to the darkness had become too deep, leading to all of this. They had been discovered by the darkness, and so these monsters had come hunting.

But... why now!

The sharp nail sword pierced through the thick iron door, impaling the monster behind it as well. The holy silver plating was stained with the monster's blood, emitting a bubbling sound like acid corrosion.

"Climb up!"

At this moment, Eve shouted as well. The silver Death Knell in her hands let out a dull, thunderous roar, punching large holes into the iron door like a hand cannon, with blood gushing out from behind the pitch-black gaps.

Those were only the lowest-level monsters—mindless walking corpses driven only by blood. Yet, Lorenzo did not relax; there might be elites like Sabo hidden among them.

The two stood on the coupling between the carriages. Lorenzo hoisted Eve up onto the roof, then climbed up himself. The gale on the roof made it hard to open his eyes, so he drove his nail sword into the roof to steady himself.

"Move forward, Eve! We have to find a way to the engine!"

That was Lorenzo's plan: fight to the front, cut the couplings, and say goodbye to this pack of damn monsters.

"Why are there monsters here!"

The darkness from just a moment ago had truly terrified her. The passengers' whispers had ceased in an instant, replaced by bloodthirsty wheezing. They had been human only a moment ago, yet in the next, they were part of the monster horde.

"Two conclusions. One, our connection to the darkness has become deep enough to touch. But based on my professional experience, if it were truly that deep, it wouldn't be these small fries coming for us."

Lorenzo pulled Eve along, climbing as if scaling a snowy mountain, repeatedly stabbing and pulling his nail sword. He could hear the commotion beneath his feet; sometimes, the blade would pull up a smear of crimson.

"So, there is only one result: the monsters were lurking on this train from the start. But... why this train? Is it this damn connection? People connected to the darkness attract it—that's just too hellish!"

Lorenzo had one flaw: his mind would run wild when he had nothing to do. For instance, he was currently thinking that this metaphysical concept was apparently called "fate" in the East.

What on earth was he thinking!

Glass shattered and steel twisted as hideous arms stretched out from both sides of the carriage, dense and packed like wildly growing, fleshy plants.

The guns fired continuously, carving out a path of blood.

"And there's another problem!"

He grabbed the panicked Eve, tucking her slender body under his arm like cargo, and leaped with all his might, clearing the throng of monsters to land on the carriage ahead.

This was specialized training from the Demon Hunter Order. Even without awakening their Secret Blood, a Demon Hunter's physical fitness, senses, and even intuition completely crushed those of an ordinary person. Yet, they remained human—humans who could die easily.

"Are these things really just here for us?"

Lorenzo didn't put Eve down this time. He didn't know how many monsters were in this carriage; they were packed together like sardines in a net, squeezing each other, trying to break out and devour this warm flesh.

This was endless... Perhaps Lorenzo could kill them all, but then he would have no strength left to protect Eve.

Secret Blood was a technology for fighting monsters—turning oneself into a monster to kill monsters. The Secret Blood in Lorenzo's body was a perfect product derived from countless experiments, and his own willpower ensured he wouldn't be eroded by the monsters.

But Eve was different. This foolish girl didn't even know how she had obtained her Secret Blood, let alone its effects. Plus, with that willpower... Lorenzo estimated that if Eve awakened her Secret Blood, she would be completely eroded into a monster after a minute or two.

"If we make it out alive, I really have to train you properly. You're a real drag!"

While sprinting across the roof, Lorenzo roared at Eve under his arm. The girl's face was pale and she couldn't say a word, but her hands didn't stop, occasionally firing backward to kill the monsters climbing onto the roof.

Secret Blood was the core technology of the Demon Hunter Order. It allowed humans to possess the power of monsters, but they would also suffer from the monsters' erosion. Unlike normal erosion, this was controllable; as long as it didn't exceed a critical threshold, the Secret Blood was like a monster in a cage, awaiting the Hunter's command. But once the threshold was broken, the cage would crack.

In this regard, it was the same as the Original Sin Armor of the Perpetual Motion Pump—both involved fighting on the edge of danger. It was just that with Secret Blood technology, the Hunter themselves was the strongest weapon.

"Lorenzo! We're almost there!"

Eve turned her head with difficulty. The steaming locomotive was not far ahead, perhaps four or five carriages away.

"I know!"

He leaped high again, landing steadily on the next carriage. The monsters behind followed suit, their hoarse cries scratching against the steel as they chased the feathers drifting in the wind.

Almost there. Only three carriages left to the engine. But it was only then that Lorenzo saw the first carriage clearly. It was a model he had never seen before; pitch-black steel wrapped it completely. It was less like a carriage and more like a giant iron coffin, sealing away something ominous inside.

Perhaps... that was the source of the monster chaos?

With this thought, Lorenzo sprinted on with Eve, until a sudden, surging wall of fire separated them.

"What's going on!"

As gunfire erupted from the rear, Kestrel's nerves tightened involuntarily.

Immediately after, a piercing alarm drowned out the cramped carriage. A blinding red light flashed on every soldier's chest—it was the Geiger counter, and it was screaming now, its sound like a blade slicing through everyone's nerves.

A demon had appeared on this train.

Without a word, every soldier gripped their weapons. Two men headed toward the first carriage to protect the armaments from Berhans, while the remaining soldiers stayed with Kestrel in the mobile command room; as long as they held this position, they maintained the initiative.

"Send a message to Shrike! Tell him to meet us at the station!"

Kestrel roared at his men. If they could just hold out until they reached that abandoned station, they would have reinforcements. But the soldiers replied almost instantly.

"There's interference!"

Their voices wavered. They were cut off; an inexplicable force had shrouded the area, preventing all information from being transmitted.

The surrounding night was pitch black, leaving only the bright lights of the Radiance's locomotive as the sole island in this sea of darkness. Now, the tide was rising, attempting to swallow it whole.

Gunfire thundered like a storm, spitting out flames several feet long as metal bullets tore from the barrels and poured out like rain.

The lights had already begun to fade. Whenever a demon descended, the so-called light would vanish for one reason or another—sunny skies would turn overcast, electric lamps would suddenly short-circuit, until eventually, only darkness remained.

The lamps on their domed steel helmets flickered on, contrasting with the muzzle flashes. The beams swept back and forth, peering into the corners of the darkness.

"We have to cut the coupling!"

A soldier shouted. In this situation, they would only be worn down until they died. If they could sever the coupling, the demon would never be able to catch up at the train's current speed.

Everyone understood this, but they also knew it was an almost impossible task.

The two carriages were locked together. If someone went to cut the coupling, the cramped space would force them to stand between the muzzles of their own guns and the demon. If they stopped firing, the demon would charge; if they kept firing, the person cutting the coupling would surely die.

Someone had to make the sacrifice.

"Hold this position! I'm going to cut the coupling!"

After a brief hesitation, Kestrel shouted. As the only high-ranking knight present with effective resistance to demonic erosion, no one else could perform this task.

"That's suicide!" a soldier warned.

"I have a plan!"

Kestrel looked extremely confident, though it was unclear if he was just trying to steady the men's morale.

Suppressive fire continued, and a shallow layer of spent casings covered the floor, reflecting the flickering firelight.

"Get out of the way!"

Kestrel walked into the deep darkness and then roared as he fired his weapon.

This was the weapons carriage from Berhans, practically a mobile armory. Even ignoring the secret weapon behind them, the firearms and ammunition stored here were lethal enough.

As the weapon fired, a streak of sliding flame left a burning trail in the air before striking the eerie, pitch-black void. In an instant, a massive explosion of fire erupted, like a burning sun. The raging inferno illuminated everything, revealing the demon's figure twisting within, like a sinner struggling in a river of hellfire.

It was a white phosphorus incendiary grenade from the Berhans Arsenal. The hand holding the launcher was still trembling slightly; if Kestrel had aimed even a fraction off, the entire carriage would have turned into a hell of fire.

But there was no time to be stunned. He growled and started running, charging into the searing air.

The sustained sea of fire could temporarily restrict the demon's movements, and he had to cut the coupling now. But when Kestrel rushed out of the carriage, the heavy coupling was already covered in flames, making it impossible to pull.

Damn it! Damn it!

Kestrel cursed, but he didn't hesitate for a second. He thrust his hands directly into the flames; he had to sever the connection no matter what. Just then, a rush of wind seemed to sound. Kestrel couldn't help but look up, and he saw a sword light cleaving through the sea of fire.

"What the hell, bad luck!"

A man cursed as he leaped out of the fire, a bewildered girl tucked under his arm, a briefcase and a Winchester hanging from his waist, and a blood-stained blade gripped in his hand.

It was a high-profile entrance that split the darkness, undeniably cool, a peerless powerhouse piercing through the entire carriage.

Everyone was stunned into silence by this hellish spectacle. A second-rate detective had made a flashy entrance with his beloved Winchester.