Chapter 412
Chapter 412
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 412
>Chapter Title: The Steel Coffin
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Clank…
Clank…
The train emerged from the long tunnel. As light seeped into the cars, everyone panicked and glanced around.
No one had died.
Kang Seol and Karuna hadn’t killed anyone while passing through the tunnel.
Why not?
Slipping through the darkness to thin their numbers would have been a wise move for Kang Seol’s group, yet for some reason, they hadn’t laid a hand on anyone.
Hoo…
Tecón gasped for breath. He had briefly imagined being brutally slaughtered inside the powerless Castreng.
Fortunately, the worst hadn’t happened yet.
Tecón hadn’t lost his dignity.
There would be no more tunnels. That meant no more enveloping darkness.
The realization filled him with confidence.
“I don’t recall inviting you here…”
“I know. Uninvited guests are like that.”
The kind who shows up without an invitation.
An uninvited guest.
Kang Seol was also making it clear that his intentions toward Tecón weren’t friendly.
Just look at how he’d casually dumped Prina’s corpse right next to him.
Rustle…
Tecón opened a case filled with cigarettes.
“Care for one?”
“No hobbies.”
“Shame. I was hoping for a more relaxed chat.”
“Chat… Sure, let’s chat.”
Kang Seol kept staring out the window.
“Don’t you think… you’re a bit late? The order got flipped.”
He was referring to Tecón’s one-sided aggression. If he’d wanted to talk, he should have done it before attacking Ishii.
Tecón played it cool.
“Khahaha… Misunderstanding. If I’d known you were reasonable, I wouldn’t have moved like that.”
Kang Seol felt disgust toward Tecón and all his subordinates filling the Castreng.
Beings born purely from malice.
It reminded him of the Predator Guild back when Transients were settling into Kongori.
The kind of villains who’d block the path if left alone. He instinctively sensed they weren’t much different from the Predator Guild.
“No talks.”
“…”
The air in the car froze again at Kang Seol’s words.
“Why not?”
“You’ve already crossed the line.”
Tecón heard a whisper in his ear from one of his loyal subordinates.
“We’ll handle it.”
“The one who killed Prina.”
“If we all go in ready to die, even Prina wouldn’t have been that tough.”
“Ready” meant ready to die.
Tecón had clung to control through trust in his men, even after things had spiraled out of his hands. He always had to be the one in charge.
“Hoo… Young folks are so hot-blooded, it’s troubling.”
Tecón’s eyes gleamed.
“Blabbering without knowing their place. Why can’t they see a peaceful resolution?”
Tecón sank into his chair.
“Get off quietly at the next city. Then I’ll forget you ever existed.”
“…”
“How’s that? Fair enou—”
“No sense. Guess why I came here?”
To beg forgiveness?
To talk?
Unfortunately, neither. That left only one option.
Kang Seol would clash with Tecón here.
Yet Kang Seol said it so calmly. Tecón rolled his eyes and asked,
“…What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
The worst kind of enemy. One with no demands could do anything.
No choice.
If coaxing failed, he’d have to bare his fangs.
It was those sharp teeth that had made him a power player dozing through the Federation’s nights.
Still, the rage was hard to suppress.
“Ever seen the Federation’s true face?”
“…What’re you on about?”
“You can’t imagine the tangled web of interests. The moment you step into this spider’s nest, your fly-of-a-life snuffs out.”
Kang Seol smirked and stood.
“I’ve simplified complex messes plenty of times.”
“You…”
“Karuna.”
Swoosh…
Karuna, seated nearby, rose and followed behind Kang Seol.
“Yes.”
“Leave the fat toad and the engineer. Deal with the rest.”
“Runners?”
“Jumping from a moving train’s on them.”
“Understood.”
Jumping from a speeding train to save their skin was betrayal enough. He’d allow that much.
Tecón’s men, overhearing the chilling exchange, drew their weapons.
Shing…
“Listen, listen…”
“Sounds like you’ve wrapped it up, but lucky win against Prina and now you’re strutting?”
Most of their weapons were long guns forged in northern workshops.
Subpar in rate of fire and performance, but enough for civilians to drop beasts.
Swoooosh…
Karuna’s attire shifted.
[Karuna’s Social Charm is released.]
Clank…
The fine suit turned into knight’s armor.
Kang Seol confirmed that much and headed upstairs. The view from where he’d had tea with Silvia was decent.
All that remained was a boring wait.
* * *
Whoooosh…
No one charged at the still Karuna.
Even they didn’t know why. Only Tecón fumed.
“Shoot! Shoot them! What are you doing!?”
“But…”
“No buts! Why leave him be!?”
Click…
Click… click… click…
Like monkeys mimicking one another, more guns trained on Karuna.
“Fireeee!”
Bang-!
Bang-! Bang-!
Bullets were fatal to flesh-and-blood humans.
But to knights in special armor, they were clumsier than mana-infused arrows.
Of course, that assumed the bullets even hit the armor.
Whooooooosh…
An unknown black aura formed a translucent barrier.
Ziiing…
“The bullets…”
“No way…”
The shots halted against the black veil.
Karuna had reached the supreme realm, transforming his black waves too. And the changes didn’t stop there.
[Shedding! Breaking free of shadow’s limits.]
[You can now define your own substance.]
[Flowing Moon Karuna is born!]
[Flowing Moon Karuna reaches perfect supreme realm.]
[Flowing Moon Karuna did not choose the Grand General’s path.]
[A new path opens.]
[You can now invent Phantom Secret Arts.]
[Phantom Secret Arts cannot be passed down.]
[Phantom Secret Arts outperform existing Secret Arts.]
[Subordinates cannot use Phantom Secret Arts.]
[Cannot invent Phantom Secret Arts, but Secret Art costs, cooldowns, and activation times are greatly reduced.]
[Cannot invent Phantom Secret Arts, but can use linkage abilities without linking.]
[Cannot invent Phantom Secret Arts, but Moonlight Sword enters a new realm.]
[Cannot invent Phantom Secret Arts, but satisfying certain conditions grants effects rivaling Discipline.]
[Black Waves become more refined.]
[Black Waves awaken Ebb and Flow.]
[Ebb pulls in, Flow pushes out.]
[Party with Flowing Moon Karuna receives Black Wave protection (special cases excluded).]
[Black Waves neutralize all projectiles below a certain destructive power.]
[Moonlight Sword is specialized for slashes. Slash power and range increase.]
[Master of peak honed swordsmanship. Instinctive responses birth sword techniques moment to moment.]
[All resistances +20%.]
[Knight has sturdy physique.]
[Physical resistance +30%.]
[Max HP +20%.]
[Moonlight Ascension is removed.]
[A second moon rises on battlefields with Karuna.]
…
Confirming the bullets effortlessly blocked, Tecón hurriedly retreated behind his men.
No, he crossed train cars to put distance between him and Karuna.
“Kill him! Kill that bastard!”
He didn’t forget to command amid it all.
Bang-!
Bang-!
The hail of bullets all stopped at Karuna’s barrier.
Tsss…
“Huh…?”
Sploooosh-!
The blocked bullets flew back at the attackers en masse.
The pushing power of Flow.
“Kaaaaak-!”
“Don’t shoot! It’s useless!”
Guns were spreading from workshops lately, but this was Pandea. Newfangled power without history couldn’t shine.
Claaaang-!
“I’ll shove my blade through that shell.”
Realizing this, some fearlessly swung swords and hammers at Karuna.
[Egna uses Twin-Headed Chariot.]
[Indiscriminate mace and spear strikes.]
[Deals damage proportional to current HP on hit.]
[Isilva uses Glass Sword.]
[Shatters from within once the blade pierces.]
…
Whish-!
Clang-!
Duck the horizontal slash, then smack the wrist to drop the wild flail.
Textbook moves.
Kabooooom-!
Karuna’s kick sent a burly man flying backward.
“Guh…”
The problem was the force behind it.
Pushing Flow again.
KABOOOOOOOOOOM-!
Creeeeak…
In an instant, those crushed under bulk shattered.
The kicked man was unrecognizable, naturally.
“Im… impossible.”
No countering that power.
No one could phrase it differently.
Just… strong.
Click…
[Yoi uses Superheated Bullet.]
[Emits massive heat on explosion.]
BAAAAANG-!
A red bullet flew at Karuna.
Sloooow…
It halted in the black waves, as expected. But Yoi had a plan.
Creak…
“…!”
BOOOOM-!
Roooar-!
The stopped bullet exploded, spewing heat that melted part of the train ceiling—a lethal blast.
Hope sparked in the eyes of all but Yoi.
“Got him!”
Yoi alone leaped back.
“Fall back!”
No knight remained where the heat faded.
“Where’d he…”
Yoi shouted.
“Above!”
KABOOM-!
The ceiling above them burst as a heavily armored knight dropped down.
Craaaack…
The one whose head he crushed snapped their neck and died instantly. The lucky retreats raised swords, bracing for the next blow.
Creak…
Something had just happened.
Everyone there knew it.
Slaaaaaash-!
“Uwaaaaaak!”
“It’s a monster! Run!”
Yoi saw the move clearly.
A perfect circle of spacing.
A sword carving out everything inside precisely.
Neither armor nor gear could withstand that power.
Tecón’s breath ended here.
That single move sealed the future.
But Yoi envisioned escaping this hell alone.
Perfect timing—a lake-spanning rail bridge. Drop below, shatter on impact, but survivable.
He could live.
Crack…
Yoi smashed a window and leaped out.
No one else in this Castreng had his special physique. That enabled the bold act.
Sploooosh-!
“Damn…”
Agonizing sensation.
Karuna bisected Yoi’s body as he hurled himself from the train.
Fine, though. Regeneration had started, even if slow.
“That one, huh… then…”
A clear voice from inside the train.
Yoi looked skyward as he fell.
Despite midday, a massive moon hung there.
Flinch…
“Cough… no, wait?”
Swoooosh…
“No, nooo! This… isn’t happening!”
Yoi’s fall halted.
Then he began drifting back toward the moving train.
As the knight reached out, Yoi’s halved body flew to his hand.
“This… means die…”
Sploooosh-!
The bisected life ended trisected.
Her body stopped regenerating.
* * *
“Let go! Release me!”
Tecón crawled over, seized by Karuna.
“What are you idiots doing! There! That guy…”
Tecón’s finger pointed at Kang Seol, sipping tea.
Pointless.
Hearing no sounds around, he glanced about.
“Hiiik…”
Dozens of corpses littered the floor.
Who was this madman calmly drinking tea amid the blood-soaked space?
“Crazy bastard…”
He’d committed evils.
Evil and brutality were inseparable.
He’d fed living men to dogs, done unspeakable depravities.
He’d lived proud as a demon.
But… no.
Demons didn’t boast or gloat over their evils.
It was natural.
Yes, just like that one.
“Wh-what do you want…?”
“…One thing.”
“I’ll give it! Anything! Name it!”
Kang Seol gazed down at Tecón with blank eyes.
Their positions now reversed completely.
Finally, eye level felt right.
“Shut up a bit.”
“…”
Unchanging fact.
Tecón would die here.
For doing what Kang Seol hated most. For crossing the line.
The issue was that tiny spark would now spread elsewhere.
“You know nothing… who we are, who’s behind me! Even now…”
“Looking forward to it.”
“…What?”
Kang Seol met Tecón’s eyes.
“Hoping there’s a ton more scum like you behind you.”
Soul Blood Eyes dragged out Tecón’s memories.
“Kaaaaaaaak!”
Tecón thrashed like a dying fish, then stilled in death.
Kang Seol nodded after scanning all memories.
“Bigger scale than thought. Filthier methods too.”
“Planning a cleanup?”
“…We’ll see. Warning shot first.”
Warning.
A signal that a force to upend the power balance had arrived in the North.
Days later. Shuiren Station.
“KyaAAAAK!”
“Th-that’s…”
“My God…”
Three men in bowlers checked the freshly arrived Castreng.
“Hurry, before Federation investigators arrive.”
“Got it. Hate the hassle.”
Hellscape.
The car brimmed with corpses. No grand sabotage on the train.
Their shared identities would surface in any probe, written off as Federation gains from a purge op.
What mattered was the intel these men would carry.
“There it is.”
“Our poor Tecón. Won’t make the summit now.”
A portly man decked in pricey gear.
No way this happened without warning. The bald eagles had to trace the signs.
“…Found it.”
Not a trace.
This was… a warning.
Paper neatly tucked in Tecón’s pocket.
And the message scrawled there.
- See you soon.
Hoo…
The glasses-wearing man, puffing a cigarette, held the enclosed tiny button emblem to the light.
“Crows…”
An incredulous voice reached his ear from a comrade.
“Fuck… Edric! Get over here!”
Edric responded.
“What?”
“This…”
A pale dead woman.
Fox stole soaked in blood.
“This corpse… it’s Prina… She got hit too.”
Edric inhaled deeply.
Locked eyes with dead Prina. Exhaled smoke onto her face.
“…See? Told you.”
The Castreng massacre revealed that day. Boldly, the perp had sent the train from Cherize to Shuiren.
Nearly written off as mere slaughter, the incident flipped when victims’ hidden identities surfaced—bringing terror and hope to the Federation.
Terror to the corrupt, hope to their oppressed.
Irony: a killer of masses earning public cheers.
Like two sides of a coin.
Three days later, the event was dubbed “The Steel Coffin.” Kang Seol’s first act upon reaching Federation soil in Shuiren.