Suddenly, the window beside her shatters, and one of the Bounty Hunter named, Jil Kherstein, crashes through, delivering a surprise dropkick that slams her into the opposite seat.
Kana (gritting her teeth as she's thrown back): "What the hell—?!"
Bounty Hunter, Jill Kherstein, says, "I heard everything you bitch! Who would expect, a member from Extravagant is a member of the Black Orb member. Confessing that you're a black orb member without securing the place, it's a dumb move. Maybe all members of that guild are all fraud. "
Kana: "No! They don't have anything to do with this."
Jeonne: "How did he come from outside the train?"
Jeonne tries to assist Kana, but the entrance of the cart busts open, and sigil-generated chains appear and catch Jeonne . It was the sigil of the second Bounty Hunter, Ghaland Trevor. Jeonne was subdued.
Character Profile
User: Ghaland Trevor
Sigil: "Echochains" - Allows the user to summon sigil-generated chain that give him the power to control the force, direction, and trajectory of the chain.
Jil lands on the floor with a predatory grace, rising instantly. He approaches Kana on the floor and attempts to kick her, but Kana, who rolls to the side, narrowly dodges his follow-up stomp. She springs to her feet, eyes narrowing as she assesses her opponent. But there's something different about Jill, something that makes him more dangerous than before.
Jil (with a knowing smirk): "You're out of your depth."
Without warning, Jil lunges, his fist cutting through the air. Kana blocks and counters with a quick elbow to his ribs, but Jil barely reacts, grinning as if inviting the pain. Then, in a flash, he grabs the air beside him, using the dense pocket to pull himself forward, his knee driving into Kana's abdomen before she can react.
Kana: "So he can grab air! And he's no joke. His body is honed to fighting, but I am a military officer for 15 years!"
Character Profile
User: Jill Kherstein
Sigil: "Windshaper"- Allows the user to manipulate density of air to grab or stand to nothing for 2 seconds.
Kana gasps, staggering back from the blow. Jil doesn't give her time to recover. He leaps into the air, and for a split second, he's suspended above her as if standing on an invisible platform. Before Kana can fully process it, he drops down with a brutal overhead kick. She barely manages to block, the impact forcing her to one knee.
Kana (breathing heavily, eyes narrowing): "You can't be serious…"
Jil lands softly, his movements deceptively light. He reaches out again, grabbing the air, and in that instant, Kana realizes he can only hold the position briefly. But that knowledge doesn't make him any less terrifying. Jil uses the momentary hold to propel himself sideways, striking her with a spinning backhand. The force sends Kana crashing into the wall of the carriage.
Kana groans, forcing herself to stand as Jil charges again. He jumps, grabs the air for a split second, and kicks off, angling his body like a missile aimed at her. Kana dives out of the way, but Jil anticipates it. He uses the air to halt his momentum just long enough to twist in midair, slamming his elbow into her shoulder as she tries to roll away.
Kana stumbles, but she's quick to get back on her feet, realizing she can't let Jil dictate the fight. She strikes out with a fierce punch aimed at his head, but Jil ducks, grabbing the air to pull himself down faster than gravity would allow. He sweeps her legs from under her, and as Kana falls, he grabs the air again to twist and deliver a devastating kick to her midsection.
Kana hits the ground hard, the air knocked out of her. Jil lands beside her, smirking as he reaches down, grabbing the air to pull her up by the throat. But the grip slips after two seconds, forcing him to switch tactics. He shoves her back against the carriage wall, using his sheer physical strength to pin her.
Jil (coldly, leaning in close): "It's over."
Seeing Kana was hurt, Jeonne tried to resist. He hated people who hurt others,, so he tried to resist and tries to get out of the chains.
Ghaland: "That's pointless! You can't break out from that."
Kana struggles, trying to break free, but Jil is relentless. He uses the air again, only for a second, to twist her body and slam her to the ground. Before she can recover, he's on her, locking her in a chokehold. Kana fights desperately, but the relentless pressure, combined with the exhaustion of the fight, is too much. Her vision starts to blur as she taps out weakly.
Jeonne enraged, something within him- a surge of physical strength flowed in him and his eyes glowed scarlet. He says to Ghaland, "I don't need to break your chains."
Jeonne pulled the chain that was connected to Ghaland and Ghaland flew towards Jeonne and caught him off Guard. Jeonne smacked Ghaland unconscious by the moment he flew in.
A part of Jeonne 's physicality morphed into a beast. He attacked Jill, however, Jill was a skilled fighter. When an enhanced physical strength fights against a skilled close combat fighter, Jeonne never stood a chance. Jeonne 's superhuman strength surprised Jill, but he easily stopped Jeonne . And then, Kana took a metal pole from the seats and swung it to Jill's head, knocking him unconscious.
Jeonne held Kana "Are you okay?"
Kana: "Yeah! I got bruises, but no fatal wounds…"
Jeonne and Kana tied both Ghaland and Jill in a rope.
Kana: "Didn't know you had a sigil."
Jeonne: "I also never knew. What the hell was that? That power, it was..amazing!"
Kana and Jeonne both sat in the seat.
Jeonne: 'So what are we going to do with them?"
Kana: "Let's just leave them here."
(Jeonne looking through the window) "H-hey! Kana. Who the hell is that?"
A man with golden armor and carrying a huge lance was riding a steed and matching the speed of the train.
Kana: "WHAT! WHA- WHY IS HE HERE? OH SHIT! WE'VE GOTTA GO!"
Jeonne: "What do you mean? Who is he?"
Kana: "That's the 4th General of the Imperial Federation, Lance Vermillion!! The fourth strongest person of this country!"
4th General of the Imperial Federation, Lance Vermillion
Lance's steed ran alongside the train, matching its speed with ease. With a sudden burst of power, Lance stood atop the saddle, then launched himself into the air, soaring nearly 20 meters high before landing hard on the roof of the train. The impact rattled the entire cabin, drawing startled reactions from the passengers inside. Without wasting a moment, he unsummoned his steed, and in its place, shards of gold and metal burst into the air, flying toward him. The fragments spiraled and clamped onto his arm, merging seamlessly into a sleek armored gauntlet, glowing faintly with energy.
Lance casually walks between carts and searches for Kana.
Meanwhile,
Kana: "You don't have to follow me. I'm the one he is searching for."
And then, the door burst open. Lance arrived.
Kana attacks, but her fist is caught by Lance. Lance raises her into the air and slaps her one time, dealing fatal injury.
Lance then took Kana with him and began walking away.
Jeonne calls his attention and tries to stop him.
Lance: "what? You're a Black Orb too?
Kana: "No! He got nothing to do with this. Ignore him!"
Lance casually walked between train cars, his heavy footsteps echoing through the metal floor as he searched. His eyes were calm—focused. He was hunting.
Meanwhile, inside one of the cars—
Kana: "You don't have to follow me. I'm the one he's searching for."
Just then, the door burst open with a metallic slam. Lance stood at the entrance.
Without hesitation, Kana lunged at him, but her punch was caught effortlessly. Lance lifted her into the air with one hand and struck her with a powerful backhand. The blow was devastating—Kana crashed to the floor, barely conscious.
Without a word, Lance grabbed her by the collar and began walking away.
Jeonne stepped forward, shouting, "Hey! Stop right there!"
Lance turned his head slightly. "What? You're a Black Orb too?"
Kana, bloodied but aware, forced out a cry: "No! He's got nothing to do with this! Ignore him!"
I don't know what she did, nor what she's capable of, and this may be a dumb decision, but I stillhave questions to ask her. She saved me once—now I'll save her!
Lance: "Ha! You? What can you do?"
Jeonne tried to activate his superstrength power, but to no avail. He couldn't activate it, so he just grabbed a metal rod and swung it at Lance. Lance caught the metal rod, but it turned out the rod was just a diversion—Jeonne followed up with a punch aimed at his chin. However, Lance blocked the punch with just his finger.
Jeonne: "What the…?"
Lance threw a backhand at Jeonne , launching him across the train car. Thinking his mission was successful, Lance turned away—but Jeonne, stood up again.
Jeonne: "H-Hey… I'm not done yet."
Jeonne's face was unrecognizable, blood dripping everywhere.
Kana: "Stop! You're going to die, idiot!"
Lance: "What? How can you stand? You should stay down—you can barely move. I'm not here to kill you."
Jeonne: "I was already dead until the moment I came here. Stuck to a past I know I can never go back to, but me being here, I never felt so alive."
Lance: "You're crazy!"
Jeonne: "I might be."
Kana: "Stop this Jeonne. It's none of your business. Don't hurt yourself."
Jeonne smirked.
Lance walked toward the immobilized Jeonne, and then flicked his forehead with his finger. Jeonne finally lost consciousness…
[Real World]
While the teacher was discussing, "One of the basics of Multimedia Arts is learning how to tell a story using visuals. Even a short scene can speak volumes if framed right—," he suddenly noticed Jeonne waking up from his sleep. But something was off. His eyes were red, and he looked completely out of it
Jeonne: "What the hell... My forehead hurts so much."
The teacher paused and asked if he was okay. Jeonne didn't respond, so the teacher called his attention again. This time, Jeonne finally heard him and turned to look.
Jeonne: "Yes, I am."
Johann: "Yo, are you okay?"
Without saying much more, the teacher sent Jeonne to the infirmary.
Instead of going to the infirmary, Jeonne went to the bathroom. There was a commotion coming from the last cubicle, but he ignored it. He looked at himself in the mirror to check if his forehead was bruised and saw that it was a little reddish. The pain in his forehead felt like he'd been hit by a dump truck. He couldn't explain why.
Suddenly, a student came out of the cubicle and approached him.
Student: "Hey, man! We're doing something important here. You should get out."
Jeonne: "No."
Student: "I wasn't asking. Get out of here!"
The student grabbed Jeonne and tried to force him out, but Jeonne elbowed him, sending him to the ground groaning.
Jeonne: "Look, man! I don't have time to deal with you!"
The groaning drew attention from the others in the cubicle. It turned out there were three students inside, beating up someone.
Student on the ground: "This guy hit me!"
Other two students: "You should've listened."
The two bullies ganged up on Jeonne , but he wasn't in the mood. He grabbed the container of hand soap and slammed it into one of their faces with a hard hit.
Blood dripped from the bully's nose.
Another bully: "What did you do?!"
Jeonne: "Oh, shit! I—I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. You should take him to the infirmary."
Worried, the two carried their injured friend out.
Jeonne walked to the last cubicle and saw who they were beating up—it was Nico.
Jeonne: "Oh, Nico. What were they doing to you? What did you do?"
Nico: "Oh-oh. I—I didn't pay their debts…."
[Infirmary]
Jeonne: "So, what happened?"
Nico: "I asked for 10 from them 'cause I was short on money to get home… but the next day, t-they wanted 50 back."
Jeonne: "Those bastards! What kind of interest rate is that, blood?"
The infirmary door opens. The nurse enters like a boss on a mission, clipboard in one hand, disapproval in the other.
Without a word, she begins treating Nico's bruises. She dabs a cotton ball on his cheek like she's done this a hundred times, probably while scolding teens who "fell."
Nurse: "What happened to you?"
Nico: nervously "I… fell down the stairs."
She gives him the "mm-hmm, sure" look, but shrugs. Bandages go on, pills go in hand.
Then she turns to Jeonne and squints like he's a suspect in a crime she hasn't decided on yet.
Nurse: "You. What's your name?"
Jeonne: "Jeonne ."
Nurse: "Jeonne … did you hit your head?"
Jeonne: "What? No, why?"
Nurse: leans in a bit "It's not that obvious, but there's a faint red mark—like you bumped into something mildly offended by your existence. The swelling's almost gone, but I can still see it under the skin."
Jeonne: "O-oh. I didn't notice that."
Nurse: sighs, hands on hips "Let me see. Hm… it's nothing serious, but you should put ice on it. Where'd you get that?"
Jeonne: "I'm not sure. I took a nap and woke up like this. I think I got punched in my dream."
The nurse just stares at him, unblinking.
(Class Dismissal)
It was a class dismissal. Jeonne and his friends exited the school building, laughing about something dumb someone said in class. As they stepped outside the campus gates, Jeonne spotted Nico standing by the street, waiting for a cab like a lost puppy.
He jogged over to him.
Jeonne: "Hey, Nico! You should come with us! Do you have Insta?"
Nico: blinking "W-what?"
Jeonne: "Add me—theJnne."
Nico: "O-okay."
Jeonne: "See you!"
He grinned, waved, and ran back to his group, who welcomed him with playful shoves and banter.
Nico (internal monologue, deadpan and quietly tragic): "…I don't even have a phone."
He stared blankly into the distance, as the cab he didn't call drove right past him.
Jeonne arrived at his apartment and dropped onto the couch with a tired sigh. After a few minutes of just staring at the ceiling, he got up and started cooking dinner.
While stirring something in a pan, he muttered to himself, "What is wrong with me? Why do I feel like something's bothering me? Like I'm forgetting something really important…? Fuck. It's been bugging me every damn minute.
Later that night, he jumped into bed and lay back, staring at the ceiling for a while. Then, his eyes drifted to sleep.
Jeonne woke up in a river….