Cody sat in the train now, the Trackburner P4 by name. It was a magnificent structure, with 50 coaches and 30 wagons, red in colour. It had a flame motif on its body and the Pendragon family crest on each coach. The windows were tinted red black adding to it's appeal.
If anything he really hated having to travel in a Pendragon train but he had no other option, taking his drifter would be spelling his doom as he would be tracked before he could make half the distance, his sky cruiser would be shot down, even a level 55 mage had limits, there were mages of level 60 plus on his trail. The power gap between 1 level of mages was quite great and increased with increasing levels.
One of those big shot mages was Andreas Alexopoulos - that was Irene's dad, King of Irina. Damn he and Irene had engaged in adult activities, he swore to him it was mutual but her dad just wasn't ready to listen and increased the already massive bounty on Black's head.He had offended millions and had a terrible crime record. If he was caught, he would be executed on the spot. His bounty and that of Zachary wasn't quite far apart almost 3 billion Werts. Zachary was the most wanted mage of all time with a bounty of 15 billion Werts (Vorfahrian currency) .Why didn't he just teleport himself? Well that wouldn't be fun. He wanted the world to helplessly watch him exit Magiterra, just like his idol, Von Zachary.
The people who were tasked with seizing him were kings, guards, mages and The VENORY aka the VENATOR force. The force were like the army except by far more brutal. Their ranks comprised some level 60-65 mages, in other words, seriously hot stuff. Did Black fear them, heck no. That guy could teleport in milliseconds he was just well, wary of them. But that wasn't the point, it's better safe than sorry. They never acted alone but in squads and troops, that was not to say, however, that they were weak, rather they followed PROTOCOL, the one thing Black hated the most! Protocol! There was a particular Chief Enforcer (The second highest ranking officials) after him, he had killed her brother on a venator chase, it was a female Cef. Stella Bosco she was a 8 star venator, even in the force 7.5 stars and above were considered the Top dog mages and the number of stars determined the ranks.
The train took off at high speed, while Cody brought out a small alchemy book and started reading.
After about an hour.
'Tickets please!' the young man in a train uniform went
When it was his turn, Cody lazily stretched out his hand to give the ticket, strengthening his disguise. The man carefully observed Cody from head to toe and Cody recognized him. It was Charles D. Rochefort!
'Shit!' Cody thought 'What on earth is the 3rd Chief Enforcer of the venory doing here, on this train and disguised as a ticket collector?' nevertheless he maintained his composure as the ticket collector returned his ticket to him punched and moving away.
'My location has been compromised' Cody thought 'It must be the work of the Ching divinators'.
Then he looked out the window only to discover venator drifters following the train at a safe distance, the P4 was surrounded at all sides.
'It's coming' he said closing the book. Charles, as if sensing something immediately, speedily walked out of the coach and simultaneously Black rose or was about to till...the train stopped.
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'Why did it stop, trains never stopped in Cryfderia!' he thought 'Unless....,shit. A raid'
'Everyone sit your assess down!!' a young male venator with grey hair said while smashing one of the train doors down. He was tall and had freckles. He had 7 stars on his uniform (a semi-enforcer). Soon after five more venators, three male, two female bashed in, all with 8 stars. Cody went pale, he recognized all of them, they were the 5 enforcers.
'The fuck, they brought in the alpha squad?! And where is that Charles?'
Before he could say 'Jack Robinson', a paper charm was thrown into the air by a female executioner. It revealed a beautiful pink enneagram that soon engulfed the entire train before focusing on one particular old man. Black recognized it 'The truth-seeking charm' he murmured grudgingly.
'Who would have known the one and only Cody Black would be on this train' the 7 star venator, Bryn Pendragon by name taunted 'MY family train!! You filth!'
'Take it easy B' Cody said releasing the disguise and beginning to get up
'Sit your ass down, you are not escaping today!' a female executioner cautioned.
Cody, being Cody continued to rise until he stood erect, adjusting his cap
'Ay ay ay ay ay' he sighed 'Do we fight here?'
They all brought out their wands at once, while Cody calmly, patiently raised his right arm then snapped his fingers.
'Raddopiare' (lit. Double)
Snap!
With that, the train doubled and the normal passengers were separated into one train, the original whine be and the venators stuff in the fake one.
'Illusion magic ey?' Bryn asked 'Your cheap signature magic.'
Cody did not respond and at once, the fight commenced with Bryn taking the lead
'Flam, maximus!' he yelled, his wand throwing out a huge, majestic golden fireball out at Cody. The ball went at quick speed but Cody stretched out his right arm, and upon impact, the flame, turned air!
'What?!' Bryn screamed, but Cody rolled his eyes 'Dude, I'm Cody Black, I'm a freaking alchemist, I mean didn't you read my file? Looks like venator standards are dropping nowadays'
'Hey sport, don't get too cocky' one of the male enforcers said, he had green hair and a muscular body, very tall, taller than Bryn.
'Ay! The tanker ey? 8 star Alexander..'
'I don't need my own introduction dude, take a break'
'What disrespect, ay ay ay ay ay, this simply will not do'
With that Cody clasped his hands and opened them, unleashing a pack of cards, he picked four and thrust them in the air as he shouted 'Aegis!', a magical red forcefield formed around him, while Alexander lifted his wand and drew a circle in the air, 'Wicked vine!'. Purple vines rushed towards Cody and smashed the forcefield, Cody jumped back a few steps, repositioning himself and flipped in mid air, just then the vibes lunged forwards and stabbed him, passing through his heart. A suspended Cody lay upside down bleeding
'What the hell, are you this weak' Alexander shook his head 'What was the Cody Black good all about then?'.
The figure suspended on the vine faded away, he was never there!
'Illusion magic is up for as long as I want after that snap you fools' Cody reappeared behind them. They continued hurling sirens at one another, and Black kept reappearing and disappearing from the scene. The other venators kept out, they always encouraged one on one fights although it looked like that fight would go in forever.
And so they kept exchanging blows, Bryn joined the brawl but Cody just kept on repeating his previous actions, it became torturous. They were mentally exhausted
'Stop fighting!' Charles called out after about thirty minutes, 'He's long gone he's currently drifting off on a leverboard, let's get him'
The enforcers all seemed puzzled as Cody's image that stood before them instantly vanished.
'What!' They all screamed. Then forced to look at Charles with a questioning expression.
'I immediately recognized him on the train, that's why I went out of the range of his illusion magic. He was never a part of this fight, you've all been in an illusion all this time. He had shared beforehand. I must say, he is quite powerful. There is absolutely no time to waste, we must hurry!'
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Cody's leverboard whistled through the air as he chuckled at the thought of making fools out of both Weiss and the alpha squad. Gwen would already be on her way now. He had to make it to Zachary, Vorfahr. He just had to.