The monster’s beady eyes peered in. They were the colour of dark red and dirt and they sent a deep chill down Levi’s back despite being a wielder of flames.

The beast moved. Its pincers tore through the car, smashing past anything in its way in its attempt to catch the butler. Massive, but slow, that’s how the pincers moved. The protector was about to jump, but a crushing gravity sucked him towards the knife's edge of the claws.

Seemingly having expected it, his face didn’t change expression. The Antor family protector suddenly vanished. Levi spotted him reappearing by Tristan’s side. No doubt it was a skill of his.

However, with its target gone, the enormous krull’s pincers reaped towards Levi. Hairs rising on the nape of his neck, Levi launched himself to the side in fear of being caught by the monster's mysterious skill. It was as he thought, from where he stood, luggage and broken glass were sucked straight for the natural weapons of the krull. With a snip, it sliced through them like a hot knife through butter.

Levi summoned a powerful fireball and threw it at the krull’s eyes–two beads almost hidden behind chitin armour. The fireball splashed against its carapace, blinding it for a second, giving Levi a chance to madly dash to where the other civilians were.

Arriving, Levi realised the situation they were in. The enormous krull, that was obviously of a much higher level than the others, was situated at the back of the car. The other, smaller ones, were breaking through on Rowena’s side. The civilians were stuck in the middle, panicking, crying, praying to any god that would listen.

They had all come to see a concert. And now they may die for it. He thought certain fans from artists back on Earth were bad… this was on another level.

The larger krull shifted atop the train's roof, causing the car to jostle. However, no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t topple over the car. As if it was designed to move, but never to fall off the tracks.

“Levi, we need to halt it!” The protector shouted.

“But how?” Levi responded sharply.

“By any means necessary,” The butler said as he glanced at Tristan. With resolve flashing in his eyes, he bolted ahead, meeting the pincers with his own two-handed longsword. Sparks scattered as his blade made contact, yet only a scratch was a result of the powerful swing.

Levi grimaced. If the guard couldn’t get through its armour, what hope in hell did he have?

He couldn’t even use his strongest attack in his arsenal: his traps. The monster wasn’t entering. It was only relying on the long reach and suction abilities of its pincers.

Right at that moment, a smaller krull appeared at the side of the window. It was smaller than the others–but it was flying. Tensing, Levi blasted it with a powered up fireball–blasting it into pieces. Its armour was weaker than the rest. More arrived. Cannons fired, shaking the entire car.

“Levi, you deal with the flyers!” The guard shouted in between sword swings.

“Alright,” he said, rather regrettably. His mana was dwindling. He couldn't last much longer at this rate. Yet he didn’t complain. If he decided to keep his mana, the small flyers would gain access, and attack the civilians.

With great power comes great responsibility. Levi grinned as sweat formed at his forehead, slinging fireball after fireball. However, as his mana reserve reached its limit, his mind automatically turned to a desperate attempt to squeeze his mana for all its worth.

The image of Tristan controlling his fireball replayed in Levi's mind, an endless loop of crude and barbaric execution. Despite his novice status in the realm of magic, his instincts screamed at the inefficiency of it. It was as if his thoughts were guided by the mind of an Arch Magus, complete with the accompanying arrogance.

Levi, gaze following a flying krull that was nearing the train, spawned a ball of fire in his palm. It spiralled, rotating round and around. And then he squashed it, condensed it, and created a pointed lance-tip.

Grinning, Levi threw the fire spike at the beast. It shot through the air. His aiming was a little off mark, yet it still struck the beast under its abdomen. It bored a hole through the creature's armour, and continued out through the other side.

Levi had no time to admire his handiwork as he heard a sickening crunch coming from the side. Levi’s heard whirled around and saw a gruesome scene. The metal controller had the top half of his body removed from the rest. Blood sprayed.

“No!” Rowena screamed, firing another bullet, but it only ricocheted against its armour, flying into the wall.

Laying eyes on the beast resulted in a chill that turned Levi’s mind numb. Instead of the pincers the others had, this one had two scythes, sharp enough that the light glistened off of their edge. And it was fast. It moved like lightning–approaching Rowena.

Startled, Levi fired a blazing thorn at the incoming beast. It passed over the heads of the civilians, causing the ends of their hair to catch fire. The fire spike impacted the beast, scorching its natural armour, but it continued onward without a problem.

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It closed in.

Rowena grunted, sending a musical force blast at the creature. It only slowed it for a second before its scythe descended upon the idol. Time slowed. Rowena froze, Levi saw the helpless expression branded on her face. Levi only heard the beating of his own heart.

“No!” Levi screamed.

Right at that moment, a tall warrior tethered to the roof of the train, swung in at blinding speed. His shoulder slammed into the beast and it shot out the other side like a cannonball.

The man, covered in blood that stained his long brown hair, gazed with the eyes of a predator into the car. He seemed to be counting, ignoring the threat of the other krull on Levi’s side. His vision landed on Levi.

“You’re still alive,” he said, surprised.

“Nevermind that,” Levi spat, turning to the krull, ready for combat. “Take care of this one as well!”

The man seemed to notice something as the monster he had just blasted out the other side had returned. He leapt out the back of the train, then swung back through, smashing into the monster once more. Landing, he shouted without looking, “I can’t. You deal with it. Need to focus.”

He swung out the other side, cables detaching and reattaching in swift motions. From the contraption tied to his waist. Levi heard and felt fighting above him. A scythed blade penetrated the roof, perincing through by 5 inches.

“Rowena, support me as well!” The guardian shouted over the sounds of battle.

Rowena quickly made her way through the civilians before helping with more bullets and forceful blasts of musical mana. But even with Levi and Rowena helping, it wasn’t looking good. They simply couldn't penetrate the armour of the enormous krull.

The only saving grace was that it was incredibly slow. They just had to kill time before the others arrived, or the Rail Slayer dealt with the stronger beast.

Levi fired another thorn at the creature’s eye. It did very little.

Where were the rest of the Rail Slayers? Where was Bram, Gregory, or Sera? They wouldn’t leave him like this. The only thing he could think of was that there was a monster that demanded their full attention. Levi wondered what it was. Scratch that. He didn’t want to know. He was struggling as it was.

More krull arrived. Fliers. Levi spat and turned his attention to those. Cannon fire obliterated the majority of them, the sound crashing into his ears every couple of seconds. Those alive entered the car. He heard fighting from the other sections of the train, but he focused on his own.

Levi fired shard of fire after shard of fire, his mana supply running exhaustingly low. Nausea hit him, his head spun. Levi caught himself on one of the hand railings.

“Levi,” Rowena shouted, her face turning pale. “Rest for a moment.”

“You don’t look good either,” Levi replied, firing another arrow of fire.

“Just do it,” She snapped back.

Levi listened. He retreated to a safe space–as safe as there was, anyway, and focused entirely on retrieving his mana through Meditation. 3 minutes passed, and he cut his restoration short. Half a container would have to do.

Rowena was swaying on her feet, face as pale as a blank sheet of paper. Firing one last bullet, she could no longer support her own two feet. She fell, slumping to the floor.

Two krull squeezed through the shattered window, their grotesque forms blocking the light. Rowena bit her lip and weakly raised her hand in a futile attempt to summon her mana, but her reserves were too depleted to respond.

Levi stepped in, his own mana reserves only half full but still potent. He fired bolts of fire relentlessly, the barrage illuminating the shock and awe on Rowena’s face. She turned her head, glancing at Levi with raised brows.

He recognized that look; it mirrored the one Gregory had given him.

Monster.

Levi unleashed his fury. He slaughtered the remaining krull with ruthless efficiency while the Antor guardian continued to dodge and slice at the threat looming outside.

Perhaps he was the best to face the monster. Whenever it used its suction ability, the butler would teleport back to Tristan, only to continue his attack. But it was clear it was taking a toll on the man. His moves turned sluggish, strained.

Knowing that this couldn’t continue, Levi could only think of one thing to harm the monster–find its stomach. Where would it be? Levi thought, gazing at the monster, following the train’s ceiling up. He found his target: a hole in the ceiling.

The car that he was inside was one without a cannon, hence, it was less armoured than the others. The krull moved a little, revealing a pale patch of chitin.

That’s it!

With his target in mind, Levi rushed ahead, ignoring the shouts of caution from the butler. Levi leaped up, and with his free hand, pried open the ceiling with his empowered strength. Metal tore. Hanging from the ceiling, with his other hand, he pressed his palm against the underside of the krull.

Calling upon his mana, he spared nothing. He channelled more than he should. The blood vessels in his arm split, blood dripped downwards, but he persisted through gritted teeth. His hand as the centre point, simple markings turned intricate as he followed the pathways emerging in his mind: like an artist with a sudden burst of inspiration.

He created a star formation–like the original trap. However, this time, each point finished with a circle. Each circle a conduit for power. He used each of the circles akin to a battery. From the circles, they all joined the centre. Levi clicked his fingers as he fell backwards, smashing against the floor of the train car just as the explosion ravaged the underside of the krull.

Blood showed downwards, covering Levi completely. The ceiling of the train warped under the attack.

The krull wasn't dead yet, but it thrashed violently, throwing its weight around. Levi, his back pressed against the floor, aimed upward. He waited, watching as the beast swung back and forth. Timing his shot, Levi aimed for the perfect moment. The krull moved out of the way, then swung back, exposing a fleshy hole. Levi fired, a blazing arrow boring deep into the exposed flesh.

You have defeated: Krull Bulwark (Level 26)|

| You have Levelled up: 29->31

| You have 4 unspent Stat points.

Quest completed – Defeat the Krull Bullwark

| Reward: A Common Relic Weapon

A relic?

Something… appeared in his mana container. It was a weapon.