"What do we do now?" Felix met Damien's gaze and answered with calm composure.
"For now, let's get out of the cabin and check the situation outside."
Felix aimed to leave before the attackers reached them. If he encountered that person now, he wasn't sure he could win with his current abilities. His sharp eyes slid toward Damien's thoughtful expression.
This attack wasn't just a simple raid by mountain bandits. It was closer to an act of terrorism. The group attacking the train now was far more dangerous and powerful than the ordinary thieves who hid in the mountains. Knowing he had no time to waste, Felix moved swiftly.
"By the way, my name is Damien Lionheart. May I know yours?"
Felix, who had encountered this person countless times in each regression, gave him a blank look before replying.
"Felix Valois." He answered curtly, then turned and walked on.
Damien followed Felix and opened the cabin door. When he peeked into the corridor, they encountered not the chaos of noise but an eerie silence.
"There's no sound in this compartment."
Felix turned his head, scanning the long corridor on both sides, but saw no one.
The passengers must be waiting quietly inside their rooms.
The train cabins had magical protection systems. But the attackers weren't ordinary people either.
To sit still in a cabin under such circumstances was akin to offering your neck for execution. The best plan now was to stay as far away from the intruders as possible.
Still, there was no way the terrorists who had entered the first carriage hadn't reached this far yet.
Naturally, they equipped magical trains with emergency rescue signals to prepare for unexpected attacks. The reinforcements expect to start their mission early in the morning. Felix knew he would have to hold out until they arrived.
"I can't hear anything at all," Damien said, frowning anxiously as he scanned both ends of the corridor.
Felix didn't answer. He was tracking the timeline in his memories, and the attackers' arrival was only moments away.
"This silence unsettles me." To Damien, it was like the calm before a storm, and his hair stood on end.
"Let's hurry." Felix checked his wristwatch and realized they were running out of time.
"Wait!" Damien stopped him. Felix turned with a look that said, 'What is it now?' Damien pointed to the man who was still asleep in the compartment.
"What about him?"
"Leave him."
"What?"
"If he can't wake up even after all this commotion, bringing him along will only slow us down." Felix moved on without hesitation.
Damien frowned, staring after him. Though he knew he wasn't able to worry about others, he still believed they should at least save the man who had shared their cabin.
"We can't just leave him like this," Damien insisted.
Felix turned an irritated gaze on him. He was already on edge from the presence of someone who didn't belong here, and now Damien's unnecessary heroics were fraying his nerves even further.
Still, instead of arguing, Felix wore a detached expression that said he didn't want to waste time here. "Suit yourself."
At that moment, the sound of running footsteps echoed behind them. Felix turned his head. "Please! Please help me!"
A man drenched in blood, terror written on his face, came stumbling toward them. He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes wide with panic, before looking desperately at the two men ahead of him.
"Ple—"
Before he could finish, his head dropped. Damien flinched as blood sprayed across his face, staring wide-eyed at Felix. It had all happened in an instant—Felix drew the long black staff from his back, swung it, and the man's head hit the ground.
A spearhead shimmered into being at the end of Felix's staff. As he swung it, blood sprayed against the wall.
"What are you doing?!" Damien shouted angrily, grabbing Felix's shoulder.
Felix turned his head slightly, giving him a quiet look. "That man was a living bomb." His words were calm as he used the spear's tip to lift the man's sleeve, revealing an engraved pattern on his arm.
"What?" Damien's eyes darted from the mark to the blood pooling from the severed head. "Wait… you mean—" His blue eyes trembled.
"Yes. Just as you guessed. If someone with this mark approaches their designated target, the pattern activates and explodes."
"And the only way to stop the explosion is to kill the person before it activates," Damien whispered, exhaling in shock.
Felix gave him a slight nod, meeting his eyes. "Because once the bomb activates, it uses the target's life as fuel for the blast."
"…A designated target?"
Felix fell silent.
"…If there's a designated target, that means they're after someone specific. Damn, this is insane! What do we do now? If there are more of these people on the train, things are far worse than we thought."
"The train has an emergency distress system. By now, it should already be active."
"I see…" Damien sighed. "Then for now, the best option is to find a safe place."
"Let's move," Felix said impatiently, clenching his teeth when he checked his watch and saw how much time they had lost.
"Alright, let's go—"
He didn't finish. The train wall behind them exploded, sending Felix and Damien flying backward. Felix hit the ground hard, groaning as he rolled onto his side. His ears rang, his head spinning.
"Agh!"
Through his blurred vision, he saw a masked man step through the blasted wall. Damn it! I wasted too much time!
The man hid his face, except for his pitch-black eyes, which radiated killing intent. Felix snatched up his staff and leapt to his feet.
The masked man's eyes curved like crescents, as though amused by Felix's battered state, before he lunged forward.
Felix braced the staff in both hands. It split apart, transforming into twin blades. As steel clashed with the man's razor-sharp claw, sparks and a screeching sound filled the air. Felix deflected the strike, forcing the enemy to retreat.
The masked man's hands bore long, deadly claws—not ordinary ones, but coated in venom. One careless move would mean instant poisoning.
"Tsk. I didn't want to meet you here," Felix muttered, deflecting the relentless attacks. The claws gleamed like lightning before his eyes, forcing him to retreat under the deafening clang of steel and claw.