- War -
Having seen everything enough from below, White remembered his past.
Once was a floor master, but now he was reduced into nothing.
He remembered when he was young, he ran towards Arie Hon with the cheerfulness and naivety of a child.
"I thought hard and long about what you told me! When you told me to leave this place and become a demon, maybe you meant I should train myself to be a ruler and look after my subjects and then come back here!"
"....No," Arie Hon immediately denied his words.
"Pardon...?"
"What I meant was... I see the seeds of demon in you. So leave this place. Go to the deep, damp, and dark lair of evil. That's the best place for you to develop your power. While you're there, use your rage to me as a fuel and increase your power by burning and devouring the souls of the weak."
As he walked away, without even glancing at him, he added, "Perhaps you are destined to fail and incinerated to dust, but that is what you were born for. Don't deceive yourself. Give yourself over the joy and pleasure of killing until everything seems pointless one day."
"Hey! Hoaqin!"
The sound of the last clone inside him woke him to reality.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to help him?"
He could feel that his power was returning again, although it was far from his prime.
"Don't worry. I'll keep my promise."
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
The explosion almost caused both Kong and Pinnacle to fall, but out of greed and ambition, Pinnacle chose to risk their lives and join the battlefield.
"Open Door D- 12."
The door of the train was opened and orange vines with thorns appeared to take over their warship. The two of them were left to fall from such height as Sachi and his team took it over.
H- 14, the woman with pink rabbit ears noticed it. Yet before she could do something about it, she sensed attacks were coming from below.
[ Dance of the Dead ]
She managed to dodge them and chose to move upwards. But when she saw another attack coming from above, her heart skipped a beat and she wondered,
'Why... is it coming from above?'
The sword slash cut her abdomen as she lost her life and fell downwards. And as she descended to the ground, White flew upwards to join the fulfill his promise.
Dorian Frog was surprised to hear the news. A powerful sword strike was aiming for his life when he blocked it with his hammer.
'This power...! It's different from before!'
It felt stronger than before.
"Thanks," said White as he stood before Dorian Frog again. "I haven't gotten any fresh air in a long while. Back when I was in my prime, I couldn't take two steps without running into guys like you. But now, even you look like a real feast."
The sword on his hand began to glow again with power.
[ White- Style Spirit Sword : Incinerating Splash of Dead ]
As Dorian Frog used the same mucus to defend against his attacks, he couldn't help but to feel worried of the power he was facing now.
'Could this guy really be... that ancient slayer?'
The ancient slayer raised his head and looked at the blue wave of shinsu above him. With a smile, he said, "I'm coming up there to slice you into pieces, father."
On the other hand, whoever tried to help Yuri ended up dead like what she said before. Even if Yuri didn't kill them on purpose, Karaka would. As the people from their side slowly disappear one by one, along with the contradictions of Yuri's words and her sudden appearance in the train, Cheonhee's doubt only grew stronger.
Company Commander Phonsekal Drak finally chose to fight against his laziness and joined the battlefield to chase Sachi and the others as their existences were discovered were enemies already. At the same time, Hwaryun ordered assistant engineers to do something, which was to cut off the connections with some parts of the train.
As the result, some parts of the train fell. And one of those parts contained Bam and the others. The vines held them tighter to prevent them from injuring themselves from the sudden fall as Hwaryun contacted Endorsi.
"Princess! Snap out of it and listen carefully...! Did you read the note from Viole?! We'll take plan B! The Silver Dwarf saved us a spot! He'll get us out of here as quickly as possible! See you at the station!"
The call immediately ended.
"DAMN IT! THAT FREAKING GUIDE! BONG BONG!"
The part of the train was glowing bright with pink light. Bong Bong was activated.
But a second later, the parts of the train stopped dropping. Black smokes surrounded those parts of the train and caught them immediately.
"Who are you thinking to fool with such a lame trick?"
His mischievous smirk started to tease the regulars who he found were too desperate trying to survive.
"It's smart indeed to divide our attentions by creating so many ruckus, but try not to make it obvious next time, okay? Ah, I mean-- that's if you are still alive and bold enough to do this again."
As the guide from the Zahard Family, there was no way Evan wouldn't recognize the man with his mischievous personality.
'Callan?! Why the hell is that crazy guy here?'
Callan was one of the youngest high rankers in the Zahard Army with great potentials. It was because of his strength and potential that despite of his mischievous and child- like attitude, he was still cherished by the 4th Army Squadron.
His mischievousness involved his small and adorable pranks like hiding someone's stuffs and belongings, stealing someone's food. As child-like as he was, if he wasn't interested, he was bold and daring enough to fulfill a mission half- heartedly.
'It's not uncommon for him to make his own mission become more dangerous just because he wants it to be more interesting. And after all his crazy stunts, he is actually still alive.'
'I wonder if you could be hiding inside there, my target.'
"ARE THERE ANY TICKETERS AROUND HERE?" He shouted and looked around. "COME AND OPEN THE DOOR--!"
But before the regulars from the army side could come and open the door, the door of the train was opened by itself.
'Hm?'
A yellow lighthouse came out and was floating on the air. A trembling female voice came out from it, "Sur... surrender....!"
"We surrender now!"
Three people dressed in brown robes walked out from the train. They were Rachel, Yura, and the traveler. They raised their hands on the air as a sign of surrendering, except for Yura as she had to carry her luggage.
Callan looked at Rachel in confusion and blurted out, "Who the hell is this ugly girl?"
'She is not my target. Could it be that my target is not in this part of the train?'
He puffed his cheeks and looked away for a moment, thinking, 'Well, it's my fault to begin with. If I use my full power to trace her energy, it's not going to be hard to find her. But I want to make things interesting. I just want to see how long will it take for her to show herself up. Let's deal with these people first, otherwise Cheonhee would lecture me again.'
"Well, you have saved me the time from barging in and capturing you," he said with a friendly smile. "At least I could ensure your trip to the prison won't be painful. Take them to the prison."
Neither Yura, Rachel or the traveler understood what was going on. They simply saw the Bong Bong was jumping pass them and suddenly the train fell and they were captured. They didn't quite understand what was going on and they were unaware of the big disaster that all people inside the train was facing right now. But if there was something that Rachel was sure of, it was that Endorsi had laid a trap for them.
It wasn't wrong, yet it wasn't entirely correct.
Endorsi giggled and laughed on her own.
"... what's so funny?" Bam asked.
"Oh~ nothing special. Anyways, it looks like we got here safely, right, Bam?" Endorsi asked back, looking pleased.
"Yeah... this must be the last station. I'm glad we're safe."
Charlotte sighed, knowing the truth of what Endorsi had done.
The note that Hwaryun gave to Endorsi contained the explanation for the plans she had prepared. The first plan could only be executed if White's power has completely returned, and the second plan was the alternative plan if his power didn't return completely.
And Endorsi was now aware that White's power didn't completely return, considering that they had to take things to extreme measure to escape.
She knew that Hwaryun was planning to break the connections of the train and the parts of the train that fell were simply bait. With the help of Evan Edroch, Enna Core and Hockney's eyes, they planned to teleport a part of the train.
The part of the train with Rachel in dropped first before they broke their connector with the train and teleported almost at the same time. And with Bong Bong, she activated a blast that would capture the attention of the enemies so that Rachel and her teammates would be caught. Therefore, it wasn't entirely wrong to say that Endorsi had laid a trap for Rachel and it wasn't entirely accurate either since Hwaryun, Evan, and Hockney also played their own parts.
Evan let out a sigh and Nathan put his hand on his chest on relief.
'I thought I was going to die for a sec,' Nathan thought. 'Those crazy kids-- but I wonder who that black- haired guy is. For some reasons, he gives off sinister feelings.'
"Well, now I think that the work is done, I'm going to go back to the warship," he said and turned around to look at Yuri. He bowed down and said, "Then good luck, your highness."
After that, he vanished into thin air while Yuri raised her thumb and praised, "Good...! Good job!"
She let out a sigh of relief, thinking that their plan had succeeded.
"Have you forgotten about me?!" Karaka attempted to attack her from behind.
When droplets of green shinsu in the form of liquid were released by Yuri, Karaka soon realized that his body was starting to melt the moment he was in contact with those droplets of liquid. He glared at Yuri, the source of those strange droplets of green shinsu.
'That little thing... just how many weapons she has?'
With the two weapons from the 13 Months Series, he had almost forgotten that the princess before him possessed many strange weapons and artifacts. And it seemed like one of them included something that could melt his body. Seeing the amount of green droplets, he deduced that it will take some time to melt him into nothing and it would mean death for him.
'... at least... I want to know what that item is... oh well.... I'll just have to... abandon this body.'
He was then surrounded with shadow.
[ World of Darkness - Return to the Abyss ]
"Stop right there!"
His movement was stopped the moment he heard someone behind him. And that person was Evan who was accompanied with Nathan. Evan was holding a needle behind his head, threatening him.
"... what do you think you are doing? You won't be able to catch me anyway."
"We'll see about that," Evan challenged. "I may only be able to fire this weapon once, but the bullet neutralize spells. I received it from a very important person living in the Floor of Death. Although honestly, it's a bit of waste to use such a precious item on you."
"... do you think you could break my armor just with that item?" Karaka asked again.
"Honestly, if that weapon won't have anything to do, what are you afraid of?" Nathan answered instead of Evan, looking a little bit annoyed. "The fact that you stopped your skill just to waste time with us seems to be the proof that this item could do some serious damage on you."
"Or, we could just try it on him," Evan suggested. "I'm pretty curious actually... whether this weapon will be able to hurt him or not."
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
After they escaped from the pursuit of rankers, they finally reached the Last Station. Now that they have entered the Last Station, it was the time for them to leave the train.
Charlotte wished that she could see the train for the last time. After all, she had spent so many memories inside the train. All the happy, sad, touching and painful moments... she created so many memories with her beloved friends, or the people who she would now call as her "family".
'This is the place where I grow up.... also the place where I lose my friends. In this place, I realize that I am destined to meet new people, as well to lose some of them.'
'Prince... Akraptor.....'
Whenever she remembered the two people who she chose not to save, it was inevitable for her to feel upset.
'Whenever I see them in my dream, in the supposed- to- be- nightmare, they smile so warmly. They whispered those comforting and assuring words that they never blame me, that they are happy that they could die for their friends......... but I actually hoped for them to blame me.'
'Because I'm aware that if they blame me, hate me, it will be easier to live with this guilt. But my "smart" mind tells me that it won't ever happen... because they care for me a lot. And what I could do right now is fighting for my survival.... as well as the others.'
"Let's divide our tasks for now," said Altaira. "The White Chocolate members will be staying here to watch Khun along with Rak and Hockney."
"Wouldn't that be too crowded?" Noah raised one of his eyebrows. "And what do you mean by letting a child like Miseng go instead of us?"
"I could do this!" Miseng insisted before Altaira could say a word.
"I agree with Noah," Raisin voiced.
"We don't know what kind of regulars would try to harm Khun," said Altaira. "Besides, as the leader as the White Chocolate Team, I'm sure that we're all aware that my command is the law, right?"
Neither of them spoke a word. Whenever Altaira pulled out his ace card as a leader during critical situation, he was being serious. But even so, just because they respected his decisions as a leader doesn't mean they like his decisions all the time. He could see the dissatisfaction shown at their expressions.
He sighed before he added, "In addition, this is a fight against rankers. Considering your strengths... it will be hard for you to survive during this battle. I'm not saying that you guys are weak, but you guys are not prepared yet. And you guys know unnecessary sacrifices... will only harm ourselves...."
He spoke in guilt and sadness.
Charlotte put her hand on Khun's ice coffin which was next to her. Her fingers touched its surface as she waited for the door of the train to be opened.
'I'll bring all of you out of here. Only in this way I could face both Prince and Akraptor in my dreams...... with the same sacrifice, confidence, and selflessness they had.'
"... well, if everyone is ready, then I'm going to open the door now," Endorsi interrupted their silence.
With her ticket, she opened the door and a path for them to leave. Yet just as they opened their doors, they could hear the sound of footsteps.
'So many,' Charlotte realized how many people were coming towards them.
"IT'S THE TRAIN!"
"THE TRAIN IS HERE!"
Those people were the people who she had never before, or she had the chance to offend them. Even so, they still held their weapons tightly and ran towards them.
They walked from two doors in front of them. Even though they came from different directions, but at the end, their aim was them. They wanted to capture them so as to fulfill the order that they have received.
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
White was a little bit disappointed to see that Callan had left. Although he didn't really know who he was, but he could sense the power within him. There was the desire to fight against someone who was more powerful than him, but with the last clone still buzzing in his ears, he had no other choice but to suppress his desire and fulfill his promise first.
"AAHH!"
When the last clone made a loud noise in his ears, he couldn't avoid the sharp pain he felt in his ears.
'What the hell is he doing?' Dorian wondered. 'I'll have to kill this bastard before he regains his power completely.'
Once more, he summoned out Pollack from his well.
White held his sword again, ready to fight, "Well, well... you're back again, frog? I'm going to give my best at this shot!"
"Don't!" The last clone immediately warned him. "If you use your sword like you used to, you might not be able to recover your powers for awhile!"
"It doesn't matter! Right now, I just want to swing my sword properly like before!!!"
The bright glow of white shinsu gained their attentions. All the shinsu that he gathered surrounded itself on the pure white sword.
"Behold my sword and stand in awe of me."
[ White - Style Spirit Sword : Incineration Complete : Deathly Sword of Heavenly Spirits ]
'This power...! Is this the power of the ancient slayer?' Nathan wondered in both shock and fear.
Although it wasn't quite visible, Nathan could see it faintly, the shadow of a devil who consumed the spirits and the miseries of millions people. The King of Death who fed on the tears and sadness of others, wearing white cap to hide his body without flesh and heart.
Even after sensing such a dangerous power, Nathan noticed that there were some people who he didn't know whether to praise courageous or mock foolish charged towards him recklesly.
"NO!" He shouted. "DON'T GO THERE!"
[ Incinerating Deadly Spirits : White Magnolia ]
And as the result, those courageous yet foolish warriors died at White's hand.
And seeing his attack, although it was deadly and killed some of her underlings, Cheonhee Ha couldn't help but to admit that it was quite beautiful.
"Arie's Sword... he may be an enemy... but that's really beautiful."
"... Are you alright, Frog?" Cheonhee asked Dorian Frog.
"Thanks to you, I'm... I'm fine. Division Commander," said Dorian Frog weakly as he witnessed his Pollack being heavily injured, even after he received the help of the Division Commander.
[ Cheonhee Ha's Spear : Sylpheed ]
It was because of Sylpheed that Pollack was not completely destroyed and Dorian Frog survived. After that, he made Pollack return to his well and stared at the ancient slayer who almost killed him.
'His power even rivals of that Squadron Commander....'
But as powerful as he was, in his current state, he was still helpless and weak. His stamina couldn't support him, and as his skin turned pale, he could faintly hear what the last clone was saying.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
'I never imagined....'
"HEY!"
'That my power would run out....'
"WHITE!"
'So quickly....'
His grip weakened and his sword slowly disappeared into thin air.
'I'm starving....'
As he started to fall, Nathan summoned his green vines from shinsu and surrounded White with it. Those vines surrounded him before they caught him.
'Consider this as repayment, I won't let you die from height,' Nathan thought.
Both slayers have now been defeated. And now, as for Sachi and the other regulars who were trying to escape, a strange black mist chased them from behind and caught the warship. It surrounded the warship and destroyed it mercilessly.
"AHHHHH!!!!"
Boro, Sachi, and others fell from the warship to be caught by Callan with his black mist.
"I almost forgot these people," he said with a smile. "Come now. Living in the prison could actually be a nice thing. You get fed for 24 hours without working."
"DON'T FOOL US! WE'RE DEAD IF WE GO TO THE PRISON!" Boro shouted.
Callan stuck out his tongue, "Oh? You're not as stupid as I thought you are. But it won't change a thing."
"You are going to lose."