One-Coin Clear of the God-Tier Controller
The ceiling panel of the tail car creaked as Ran asked cautiously from above.
“……Wouldn’t it be better to just break into the engine room?”
“The security’s too tight. Didn’t you see the vanguard defense battalion? The front of the train is under heavy watch all the way to the outside. The only reason we can even approach like this is because we’re at the tail car.”
The situation was far better than they had anticipated.
If the entire train’s combat force, Guardians included, had been waiting for them, it would have been hopeless. But from what they could see, that wasn’t the case.
Paca grumbled.
“We should’ve just charged in head-on and smashed everything. Why are we going through all this annoying bullshit?”
“You want to force a frontal breakthrough against a top-tier mage who can even use mass teleportation? If you’re suicidal, I guess that’s not the worst way to go.”
Mages became exponentially more dangerous the more time they had to prepare.
And Benjamin was the highest-ranking mage on the entire train.
Therefore, walking into a space where such a mage was waiting without any countermeasures would be beyond stupid.
That was why Ran had expended a considerable amount of energy to move Taeyang’s party onto the train’s ceiling, and why Taeyang had decided to use the mana-hungry Light Saber.
They would slice through a massive section of the ceiling and drop straight into the middle of the enemy formation.
It wouldn’t cut off every possible move, but it would at least neutralize any magic circles engraved on objects or walls.
“Still, you could say we’re pretty lucky.”
Out of all the areas in the Endless Express stage, the tail car was the one whose layout was most widely known.
If the place they were waiting hadn’t been the tail car, this plan would have been impossible.
Without knowing roughly where they would be gathered, they couldn’t have designed the battle in the first place.
Hyeonhye examined the expected blueprint of the tail car and gave advice.
If you cut about three meters further from there, it should be perfect.
“Like this?”
“Yeah. That should be the passage connecting the training field to Sector A. If you slice straight from there and drop the entire training field section, they’ll have no choice but to take the hit.”
“Okay.”
Taeyang carved deep sword scars across the ceiling with the still-inactive Light Saber.
He wasn’t worried about the noise traveling.
The train’s heavy cold-weather insulation easily swallowed sounds of this level.
After shaping the scars into a clean rectangle and roughly memorizing the expected shapes of the surrounding objects, Taeyang asked.
“Ready?”
The beastman and the woman nodded at the same time.
The mana they had spent hunting Untara was fully recovered, and the cooldowns on their artifacts and skills had all reset.
They were in perfect condition.
“Then let’s begin.”
Vrrrrrm.
When he poured a massive amount of mana into it, the Light Saber hummed with pleasure.
Even after consuming the Dragon Heart, the mana drain from the Light Saber was still burdensome.
I need to finish this quickly.
Taeyang swung the blade along the scars he had already carved.
Shhhk.
“This thing cuts so cleanly it feels weird in my hand.”
Taeyang marveled and swung again.
Shhhk. Shhhk.
The ceiling began to collapse with an unpleasant groan.
Kiiiiiiiiiii.
The three players exchanged glances.
Now!
Shhhk!
The moment the final supporting section was severed, the ceiling came crashing down.
“Scatter! Everyone scatter!”
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
“It’s time for shock and awe, you pathetic little shits!”
At the same time, Ran swung her fan.
Monstrous Strength, Chaotic Spirits — Goblin Wind.
Kihihihihihihi—.
Kyahahahahahaha—.
Ihihihihihihi—.
A large-scale hallucination spell designed to turn the already chaotic situation into total pandemonium.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“A monster! There’s a monster!”
A few of the royal guards who fell for it completely began firing wildly into the air.
Kuhaaaaaaaaang!
Those who still had their wits about them became Paca’s prey.
With elastic, explosive movements, he crushed their skulls.
Clang!
Thud!
Taeyang mixed his inactive Light Saber with hand-to-hand combat as he dealt with the royal guards and scanned the surroundings.
“Where is he?”
Benjamin and Salomon Acraptor, father and son.
They were the most dangerous targets and walking achievements that had to be watched above all else.
“Left!”
At Ran’s piercing shriek, Taeyang instantly ducked.
Baaang!
“Hah, as quick as a rat, just like always.”
“Graaaaaawr!”
The moment Paca spotted Benjamin, he charged straight at him.
The royal guard captain standing beside Benjamin leveled his gun at Paca.
LBK–2020: Model — Scorching Heat.
Fwoooooosh!
Flames of fear erupted from the muzzle.
Ran immediately swung her fan.
“Not on my watch!”
Raging Gale.
A wave-like wind pushed the flames upward.
The captain’s face twisted in frustration.
But Paca ignored him completely and drove his fist straight into Benjamin’s face.
Bang!
Benjamin dissolved into smoke and vanished, then reformed on the opposite side.
“Yeah. I’ve been waiting for you.”
This time it was Taeyang.
Starburst High Kick.
Bang!
Benjamin turned into smoke once again.
“What the hell? Is he invincible?”
Taeyang frowned.
He had pumped the attack full of mana in case of physical immunity, yet Benjamin reformed his body again without any visible damage.
“Take aim! Fire!”
“Fire!”
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
In the meantime, the royal guards who had reformed their ranks opened fire on Taeyang.
Taeyang ignored them and charged straight at Benjamin.
Giving him even a moment to cast would be disastrous.
A quick glance showed Paca was busy dealing with the royal guard captain.
Bullets rained down on Taeyang.
The well-trained guards’ coordinated fire created a deadly net that made evasion nearly impossible.
But it wasn’t particularly frightening.
“Ran!”
Whoooosh!
Her wind scattered the bullets.
Damn, this is exactly why I keep the fan lady around.
Smoke Pistol.
Thud.
Even while Taeyang applied maximum pressure to prevent casting, Benjamin still managed to complete his spell.
It had only been enough time to take a single breath. Truly impressive.
Taeyang threw himself sideways to dodge the bullets.
If the old mage had aimed for the head, Taeyang could have deflected them while closing the distance. Instead, the crafty veteran chose to target the abdomen to disrupt his balance.
Kwaaaang!
“Captain!”
An explosion rang out from the other side.
It looked like Paca had taken down the royal guard captain.
The rest of the guards were also completely overwhelmed by Ran’s wind techniques.
“Looks like I just need to finish this guy.”
The situation was far better than expected.
The biggest reason was that Salomon—one of their strongest assets—was nowhere to be seen.
The moment Taeyang, sensing victory, leaped toward Benjamin—
Smoke Grab.
Memorise — Dispel Anti-Magic.
Memorise — Spear of Illusory Flame.
Fixed-range magic.
Anti-dispel magic.
And an attack spell.
Taeyang shouted in outrage.
“Hey! I thought you said you couldn’t use spells like that if I didn’t give you time!”
Th-that’s normally true. Memorise is really well-stocked.
Before he could even react, the attack was already upon him.
Taeyang gripped the Light Saber as he watched the incoming spear.
The remaining mana was a concern, but he had no choice.
Vrrrrrrrrrm!
The Light Saber’s blade was enveloped in pure white light.
Thwack.
With a single swing, the flaming spear Benjamin had launched shattered into sparks and bounced away.
At the same time, the smoke shackles were also severed.
“Whoa, what the hell is this?”
“He’s actually using the Light Saber.”
Even Benjamin looked genuinely shocked.
Taeyang thrust the blade toward Benjamin.
“Ugh!”
Wind Pressure.
A burst of wind shot forward, pushing Benjamin away from Taeyang.
Taeyang smirked.
“Huh? Not turning into smoke this time?”
Can’t use it anymore?
Or does this blade work on smoke too?
Since it had cut through two spells just three seconds ago, the latter seemed far more likely.
“Graaaaaawr!”
Paca charged in from the opposite side.
“Don’t even think about it!”
Fearing the achievement might be stolen, Taeyang charged as well.
A moment of absolute crisis.
Benjamin’s eyes flashed.
The smoke wrapped around his right arm shot outward in an instant, drawing a magic circle.
Summon: Sealed Right Arm of Atlas.
The instant the spell activated, a massive demonic right hand tore through the circle and slammed down on both Taeyang and Paca simultaneously.
It happened so fast that neither dodging nor responding was possible.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang!
The two figures were smashed into the opposite wall in the blink of an eye.
“Cough… Not good.”
Benjamin casually wiped the blood from his lips and pulled the Light Saber out of his right arm.
It had been a series of mistakes.
Overestimating the train’s defenses, underestimating the three intruders’ abilities, and calling only the royal guards to keep things secret—all of it had been a mistake.
As a result, he had lost the royal guard captain and the tail car was so badly damaged it would be unusable for the next six months.
“Cough. Hoo… If only that bastard Salomon had kept his damn head straight……”
Swallowing his regret, Benjamin looked toward Ran, who was still fighting fiercely.
She had effectively neutralized the royal guards, but she couldn’t quite finish them off.
That was because she had already used her big techniques the moment she entered.
“I need to end this…… and then take a long rest.”
Whoooosh.
The smoke that had formed the magic circle began gathering back toward Benjamin.
At that moment, a voice came from behind him.
“I can make sure you rest for the rest of your life.”
Fwoooooong!
“What—!”
Benjamin reflexively turned into smoke, only to scream in agony the next instant.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
The arm that should have become smoke was now rolling on the floor.
Taeyang grinned viciously.
“Looks like it really doesn’t work in front of the Light Saber.”
In his hand was the Light Saber once used by the Legion Commander.
“H-how……?”
Benjamin’s pupils shook with pure horror.
Atlas’s strength was enough to shatter mountains.
After taking a direct hit like that, he should have been rendered completely combat ineffective.
“Yeah. That really fucking hurt.”
Taeyang raised the mana-guzzling beam sword.
Anelka-Style Human Severing.
Fwoooosh!
The moment Taeyang brought the beam sword down, the world flickered gray.
* * *
The Demon King Kimereis, who had been observing the stage, stroked his chin.
“This is troublesome.”
It was exactly the moment when Taeyang, Ran, and Paca had sliced through the ceiling of the tail car.
“If I leave it like this, the Endless Express stage will collapse.”
Creating another environment this well-structured, suitable for use as a stage, and rich with storytelling material was no easy task—even for a Demon King like Kimereis.
After all, this stage had been made by using an entire destroyed dimension as its foundation.
Moreover, despite the presence of numerous native inhabitants, it was an environment where players could be inserted relatively naturally.
There were very few naturally occurring dimensions that allowed players to be integrated this smoothly.
Yet even though it had been so perfectly shaped, the train had experienced far too much in a very short time.
The Legion Commander Guhyul, the face of the train’s military power, was dead.
Moreover, the man who could have replaced him—Regimental Commander Acutras—was also dead.
Salomon Acraptor, once considered the next-generation leader who would guide the train, had suffered a mental shock and was now a recluse.
If Benjamin Acraptor died here as well, there would be no one left to control the train.
Even if the humans banded together and tried to endure, they were already barely hanging on. If the entire command structure vanished like this, the stage would be finished unless Kimereis intervened directly.
“I must prevent his death, at least.”
The greatest strength of Endless Express was the natural atmosphere and environment that had formed during its process of destruction.
If Kimereis intervened, one of the aspects that had earned the stage such high praise would disappear.
“Yeah. That really fucking hurt.”
Anelka-Style Human Severing.
Before his brief train of thought could even finish, Taeyang was already swinging the beam sword downward.
Kimereis snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Manager Option — Pause.
The tail car was dyed in shades of gray.
Kimereis muttered to himself.
“It’s one of my favorite stages. I can’t just let it be destroyed like this.”