The Steel Serpent

The first thing that greeted us as we stepped out of the portal for our fire support mission was a pitch-black sky. The vast expanse of the night sky didn't offer even a single speck of starlight. The air was thick and turbid. Covering my mouth, I stared straight ahead. A cold wind blew past. Before my eyes, a long stretch of railway tracks extended into the distance.

"Harmonize. We've arrived," Rain whispered softly into the receiver in her ear as she scanned our surroundings. Since Shine and I were wearing the same receivers, we could hear Jin's voice coming through the static.

I nodded at Jin's words and set down the iron rods I was holding. They were much larger and longer than the ones I usually carried in my pockets. It was a shame I couldn't bring more since they wouldn't fit in my pockets. I handed some of them to Shine.

It was the dead of night, devoid of a single light. The area was so quiet that not a single soul could be seen. Aside from the chilly wind and the chirping of insects echoing from all directions, there wasn't a single sound.

Stepping over the loose gravel that crunched beneath my feet, I began driving the iron rods into the ground near the tracks. Shine did the same, maintaining the exact same spacing as she drove her rods into the opposite side of the railway. Our goal was to stop the train. I was doing everything in my power to make sure we succeeded.

Once all the rods we brought were firmly planted in the ground, I decided to test them, releasing a faint current from my hand. Crackle! The blue electricity shooting from my fingertips dispersed along the iron rods Shine and I had set up. Zzzzt! The current spread wide, looking exactly like a spiderweb.

Amplification of power and alteration of properties. These weren't just ordinary iron rods; they were support items crafted by Mary. If a train passed through here, it would be completely disabled. Of course, that was assuming it was a normal train.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"We're ready," I said into the receiver after finishing the preparations. Jin's reply came back immediately.

"Panic?" Right then, just as Jin finished speaking—before I could even process what he meant by showing us—a small screen materialized in a corner of my mind. It wasn't something I saw with my physical eyes. An inexplicable force was being projected directly into my brain.

"Uh...?"

Something was starting to appear. No, it wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just visual; someone else's thoughts and the information they gathered were flowing directly into my head. Looking at Rain, she simply nodded as if she was completely used to this.

"This is..." Shine muttered, pressing a hand to her forehead with a grim expression.

I swallowed hard. I knew Jin was a mental ability user, but I had never heard of him using his powers like this. Just how long had I been within his range? Even though he said it was harmless, it was hard not to feel uneasy. Shine seemed to feel the same way; she sat down on the ground, her face clouded with concern.

The imagery flowing into my mind shifted. The perspective changed, making me feel as if I were standing right there, watching the oncoming train. My vision was now synchronized with a teammate stationed at the first intercept point.

The moment Jin's command fell, the operatives sprang into action. Massive shadows rose from all directions, wrapping around the train. But that was as far as they got. The train, which seemed on the verge of stopping, plowed forward, shaking off the shadows clinging to its body.

The first attempt had failed. The train was far from ordinary. It was clad in black, armor-like steel plates that seemed to nullify the abilities of active users. The perspective shifted once more. Despite the sudden change, I didn't feel dizzy at all. It felt like watching a movie, observing the scene from a step back. The delicate control of his ability—sending precise information to people scattered across a vast area—was enough to completely change my impression of Jin.

The train sped along, switching tracks. As if it knew people were waiting for it up ahead, it veered sharply to the side. However, there were people waiting there too. Stationed at this second point was Team Lightning. They had driven rods identical to the ones Victor used into the ground, waiting for the train to arrive.

The team members scattered around unleashed their abilities all at once. The perspective shifted again. Blue lightning erupted from outstretched hands, wrapping around the iron rods. The array of rods connected the electrical currents, weaving a massive web of lightning. The train began to pass over it.

Crackle! Enveloped in blue light, the train didn't stop. It plowed straight through the barrier. Boom! Just when I thought we had lost it, a massive blue explosion erupted. Out of the blast, a figure cloaked in brilliant light lunged forward and struck the train. Crash!

Jin screamed as the train shook violently. But the person responsible didn't seem to care, immediately following up with another strike on the staggering train. Crash! The perspective shifted once more—no longer from a distant observer, but from the eyes of the one cloaked in lightning. She wasn't trying to destroy the train. She was tearing away the massive black steel plates with her bare hands. Her hands were drenched in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blood. Her heavily trained, bulging muscles looked as if they were about to burst. She didn't care about her own injuries. Clutching her mangled hands, she was thrown back from the train. The blue lightning surrounding her body dispersed. She—or rather, she—began coughing up blood from the impact of the fall. Vapor. The leader of Team Lightning had managed to leave a scratch on the train. The train didn't stop, but she had succeeded in tearing open a small gap. With a final glimpse through Vapor's staggering vision, the perspective shifted once more.

A bird's-eye view. Jin's perspective resumed. The train, racing down the pitch-black tracks, looked like a serpent slithering through a dark forest. Its relentless charge seemed unstoppable.

"I-is this how you do it?" Shine murmured softly. The moment she did, the perspective suddenly warped. Like ink bleeding into water, the vision slowly shifted. It flickered, blinking as if through someone else's eyes.

Jin's panicked voice rang out. At the same time, I gasped in shock. I was looking at myself. It was a perspective watching me from a distance, observing my own body through the eyes of a third party. I could see myself startled, reaching up to touch my receiver. Then, the perspective shifted again. As if what I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had just seen was a mere illusion, the moment I blinked, the vision snapped back to what Jin was showing us.

I slowly turned around toward the spot where the owner of that gaze would have been. Rain was sitting there.

"Rain...?"

"Yeah?"

Judging by her reaction, Rain hadn't seen what I just saw. But based on Jin's reaction, he definitely had.

Jin brushed off the incident just like that. I frowned, rubbing my cheek, and turned to look at Shine. She was sitting flat on the ground, clutching her forehead. What was she doing? It didn't look like she had a sudden headache. She was concentrating intensely.

The train passed through a massive wall dividing the districts. Bright lights began to illuminate the previously pitch-black railway. A path of light stretched out. The slithering body of the serpent gleamed under the illumination. It was right as I was watching the other team members struggle to stop the train.

Suddenly, a massive warp portal opened in front of me, and Vapor along with the members of Team Lightning tumbled out. They weren't the only ones; all the team members who had failed to stop the train so far were gathering in this one spot. The operatives who had just stepped out of the portals immediately began driving iron rods into the ground, just as I had done. Every single team's attempt had ended in failure. To make matters worse, escorts had begun to flank the train. Except for those locked in combat who couldn't cross through the portals, everyone was assembling here. Derailing the train was an option, but doing so would put the cargo inside at risk.

Jin stepped out of the final portal. He scanned the area and spoke. "This is the final stretch. We have to stop it, no matter what."

I glanced around at the others before speaking up hesitantly. "Um... what exactly is in that cargo car that requires us to be so careful?"

At my question, Jin walked over to me slowly. "The Mind Stone."

"The Mind Stone...?"

"Yeah. It's a gem created by processing the brain of a mental ability user."

"A brain...?"

I shuddered, a horrific image flashing through my mind. Processing a brain to make a gem... it was truly sickening.

"Is it just a regular gem?"

"If it were just a regular gem, we wouldn't be going through all this trouble."

I wanted to hear more details, but he closed his mouth as if there was no reason to elaborate further. Jin's gaze drifted toward Shine.

"An all-out battle isn't really my style..."

No sooner had Jin muttered those words than the ground began to vibrate. Rumbleeee—

Perhaps because my body was so light, the massive tremors made me lose my footing. Shine and Rain seemed to be struggling as well, stumbling as they stared straight ahead. And there, at the end of our gaze, the train emerged, slithering through the darkness. The massive train—or rather, a machine so heavily modified it could barely be called a train anymore—resembled an armored tank. Seeing it with my own eyes rather than through a shared, hazy vision left me completely overwhelmed. I took a step back.

"It's coming."

The train didn't slow down. Neither did the helicopters and ability users flying around it as escorts. Numerous guards were riding atop the train, and the moment they spotted us, they unleashed their abilities. Blinding flashes of light erupted. The beams of light painting the sky drew a beautiful, chaotic picture.

"Block them."

The moment Jin spoke, the operatives with defensive abilities stepped forward to intercept the attacks. A vast white barrier expanded, blocking the long-range bombardment, but it didn't look like it would hold for long. The train kept charging, powerful and fast. A gale blew in. The wind whipped up by the train's momentum disheveled my hair. My mind was in a whirl. The deafening explosions echoing from all sides made my vision shake.

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vapor move. Coughing up blood and stumbling, she still reached out toward the iron rod in front of her.

"Ah."

Seeing her, I channeled my own power. Crackle! A resonance of abilities. Our electrical currents mingled, starting to spiral out of control. A massive shroud of light enveloped the electric ability users. The other team members blocked all incoming attacks. There was absolutely no need to be afraid. I unleashed my power to my heart's content. The blood boiled in my veins, and my heart pounded as if it were about to burst. My hair stood on end, pointing toward the sky, and at its tips, a massive lightning dragon materialized, baring its fangs at the black serpent charging toward us.

A colossal explosion erupted. The sound didn't even register. The lightning dragon collided with the serpent and was instantly crushed. But it wasn't in vain. The electricity that surged through the ruptured outer walls of the train wreaked havoc on its internal systems. Zzzzzzt! The massive serpent writhed in agony, letting out a mechanical shriek. Screeech! Wheels twisted and the chassis buckled. The train lifted into the air as if about to derail.

"Rain!"

That was when Rain stepped in. Clad in her yellow raincoat, she leaped off the ground and spread her arms wide. At a speed incomparable to anything before, streams of water gathered around her. The massive torrents coalesced into a colossal sphere of water. The water droplet swallowed the serpent whole, gradually slowing its momentum.