Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 54. Confronting the Conductor
For Edward's side of the Constal issue, during the first hour, Edward finally reaches the end of the train with the blood of hundreds of fallen soldiers dripping off of his body. The final car, the control room, and he’s about to be face to face with the conductor. He bursts through the door, still moving and sounding like an animal. He looks at the woman, the same woman who had robbed them in Meir, the same woman who had been following them ever since they got to Constal, and the other person who followed Edward here.
She holds a part of the large scarf covering her face to ensure it doesn’t come off while she also aims her wand at Edward. He immediately dashes toward her as she casts one of her lightning spells.
Unknown assailant: “Lignis!”
Bright yellow mana quickly swirls and blasts from the yellow gemstone at the end of the well-crafted wand, instantly hitting Edward in the chest, and sending him tumbling back. He begins reeling from the attack, and his body tightens up, giving her an opportunity to get closer. She moves like a cat as she swiftly closes the distance. To protect himself, Edward powers through and gets up, swinging his sword at her.
She ducks the attack, sliding under his sword and stabbing him with a long slim dagger. The sharp and pointed end of the weapon slides through the small gaps in the armor, piercing his skin ever so slightly. He attempts to hit her once more, spinning around to swipe at her, but she jumps over the low-aimed strike. She lunges up his large sword, attempting to stab into his jugular, but he narrowly avoids the strike.
It slides across his dark blood-stained armor, dulling the blade just a bit. She tries to follow up her failed attack by sliding her foot off of the blade and into his face, kicking him square in the nose. He lifts the sword, trying to squish her with the roof of the train, so she curls around the sword, falling back to the floor of the vibrating locomotive.
She catches herself on all fours, crouching down and stretching out all of her limbs. Her sleek dark outfit, wearing light and thin pieces of black and dark green cloth, let her fit into the shadows of the world. She stares focused on his dead eye, trying to read thoughts that aren’t there, as he’s moving only based on the want to kill. She aims her wand at him once more, using his dense metal armor to ensure that her lightning attacks will hit, using him as a human lightning rod. He tries to slam his sword down on her, but with another swift movement, she slides under his legs, flips around to find her footing, and casts another spell.
Unknown assailant: “Lignic!”
Edward throws his sword right as a giant wave of discharged lightning is sent his way. The sword acts as a lightning rod, absorbing the lightning, and surprising the attacker. Edward wastes no time and barrels toward her. She runs toward him and slides underneath him, using Edward's bigger stature against him once more, but he’s adapted. She tries to stab him in the ankle while she’s still sliding, but he jumps, dodging the attack. So once she gets up, he rushes toward her. She tries to jump over him, sliding across his back, but this is what he wants.
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He slightly turns to the side, and quickly crashes into the wall of the train. She barely moves out of the way, but her foot is caught by Edward. Before she could even think of stabbing him or casting another spell, he slammed her on the ground. He attempts to do it again, but she takes a venom-tipped needle, flicking it into Edward's chest.
The art of poisoning is dead in this world due to the nature of the OD. It works as a separate immune system, killing off sicknesses or diseases in the time span of a few hours to a few days max, depending on what has affected the body. This is without the help of a doctor, though having a large spiritual connection is quite rare, so most do not have the money to go to a healer when they have a terrible sickness.
Due to how the OD works most diseases attack it and fail, and as a result, doctors have not needed to progress medicine in any way, which has had an effect on people with a weaker OD as well as poisons. Not much is known about the chemistry needed to create a strong poison that can get past the OD. Then the normal person does not have a good spiritual connection, leading to a lack of mana as well as a weak OD, making it very deadly to get a disease that hurts the OD, but poison is still not very effective. But if you must, the best kind of poison is very expensive, because it is venom that’s needed. An animal with strong Venom is difficult to get a hand on, making it expensive, and it can still be eradicated by the OD’s healing, but that’s not the intention of those who use it. It paralyzes, stopping the person for a long enough time for the assassin to kill them, but the stronger the body the more difficult this is.
Mana, magic, and everything that surrounds it have both progressed the world and held it back. With people being born with abilities that allow them to fight against hundreds of people without even a weapon, wars can last much longer and be much more bloody. Magic crystals have allowed for running water, heated water, and lighting for most homes, but science and math have been left behind because of this, making things like better poisons and medicine a long way away, possibly being impossible to reach the rate the world is going.
The needle that had just pierced Edward's thick skin barely went through, but that bit that did quickly took effect. In just a few seconds, only enough time for him to react to being hit by the needle, he feels his muscles begin to tighten.
This causes his warriors' spirit to take more control over him than he would like, going full throttle before the venom can make him inoperable for a short enough time to be killed. He charges her, takes his sword out of the ground, and thrusts it toward her. She sways side-to-side, dodging each strike with ease, but isn't given time to cast another spell. They’re deadlocked, but each second that passes lets the venom slow him down even more. His blood flow gets slower, his muscles tense up even more, and his vision, as well as the rest of his senses, begin to fail. She uses this to her advantage, putting her wand right in his face, about to cast another spell, but for some reason, she does nothing.
Edward acts quickly, letting go of his sword, and smashes the gem on the wand, making it useless. This causes her to get her focus back on the battle, curing around him, taking out another dagger, and locking her eyes on him. Now duel-wielding a pristine pair of weapons, she tries to fight Edward head-on. Edward, to make sure his body doesn’t give out, does the only thing he can to push his body further, awakening the Dragon’s Spirit.
This causes his heart to start beating faster and faster, his muscles to go into overdrive, his bones to crack ever so slightly, and his senses to return to him. However, the venom is still affecting him, making him much weaker than he should be. He throws his sword at her again but doesn't put much effort into it, just trying to get her to move to his will. He tries to punch her, but she easily dodges, slicing his chest open. But she underestimates the Dragon spirit, and she’s quickly punched in the face, breaking her nose, and flies into the wall of the train, denting the metal.
She’s winded but needs to act fast, but Edwards is right in her face. She attempts to stab his face, but he curves his head and bites through the dagger, shattering the weapon. She then tries to stab him again, but he grabs her wrist, crushing it with ease. He then tries to headbutt her, but he misses as she tries to climb over him. The venom enters its final stage, causing him to let go of her broken wrist and force him out of the Dragon's Spirit. But he’s still in the fight, jumping toward his sword, grabbing it, and swinging it at the assassin. All of the damage she had just taken hit her all at once, leaving her open for the final attack. She can move, and she has the ability to dodge and win the fight, but she doesn't, she lets him swing his sword at her.
She closes her eyes, embracing her death, but Edwards's sword stops right at her face, cutting her cheek. She tastes the blood flowing to her mouth, realizing she hasn’t been killed. She slowly opens her eyes to see that life in Edwards had returned, not finding him in the monstrous state he had been in. He looks at her with a sense of defeat, but not in the sense of the battle, but in life in general. He stares into her eyes, finally piecing together her identity. He drops his sword due to the venom finally taking full effect, paralyzing him, and right before he loses his ability to speak, he mouths out her name.
Edward: “What is it all real…Erin?”
End of Chapter Fifty-four