The Hades Train crouched like a giant beast in the dim twilight.
After issuing a temporary suspension notice, the passengers were dispersed, and the station was sealed off, leaving only a single track leading toward Rift City.
The night curtain solidified like substance, surging in from all sides, compressing the platform’s lights into a single corner.
The master and disciple carried heavy metal boxes as they boarded the platform.
The girl stopped in her tracks, clicked her tongue in an appealing voice, and furrowed her delicate brows. “At a time like this…”
Suddenly, the darkness writhed, and seven or eight grotesque figures emerged silently!
It was impossible to tell if they were human or beast. Their bodies were wrapped in muscles as taut and wiry as steel cables, with varicose veins bulging under the skin in a repulsive, physiologically uncomfortable sight. Their shoulders and waists were abnormally broad, forming perfect squares, like walking door panels!
Looking downward, their ankle joints were thicker than a normal person’s thighs, with their feet twisted into reverse-jointed hooves sturdy enough to support hundreds of kilograms!
Curved demon-like horns coiled atop their heads, faces scorched as if by hellfire, noses and lips replaced by terrifying voids filled with writhing, eerie flesh.
Their powerful arms gripped massive segmented axes—weapons two meters long, crafted from giant swords with segmented cross-hatching, flat enough for the girl to lie upon.
The leader was exceptionally burly, its chest, abdomen, neck, and joints covered in highly inorganic exoskeletons gleaming with metallic sheen. It clutched a triangular dagger, slashing at its own body as it approached.
The blade cut through, but the wounds healed before blood could flow, like some magic trick.
Super-speed regeneration!
Ashley’s pupils contracted. This wasn’t a supernatural ability but a monstrous self-healing effect from hyperactive flesh and blood!
“Too naive, Ashley. You think heading out of the city with Tribunal people means you’re safe? Once you cross the city limits, no one can protect your little life! You thieving brat who steals others’ powers and runs wild—I’m going to gut your belly and crush your fig! Hahahahaha!”
As the monster laughed maniacally, its mouth stretched to its ears, face pulling taut like drawn wires, its slit-like eyes vanishing into the surrounding muscles. A slender tongue lolled from its throat, whipping back and forth in the air.
“Let me tell you, we’ve hunted over eighty superhumans—no, closer to a hundred. Each one thought they were invincible right up to their gruesome ends. The McIntosh Family never lacks enemies, but we always stand unyielding. We’re the swords in the darkness, the death gods wandering the mortal world, guardians of the family’s foundation,” another monster stepped forward to say.
“Killing the other one too wouldn’t matter, right? Gack gack gack, look at her scared-stupid face. One little noise and she’ll faint dead away.”
“This one’s not in the intel—probably not a high-ranking cadre, just some regular agent. Maybe a newbie. We could rip off her limbs for fun, pay the Tribunal some compensation, and call it even…” one monster sneered.
Ashley stole a glance at her teacher’s expression. Though that exquisite, delicate little face remained impassive, she knew something big was coming. It felt oddly thrilling.
She widened her eyes, afraid to miss a single detail.
“So that’s how you see it,” Letisia said softly.
Before they could process the words, the monsters heard strange friction sounds from within their own bodies—muscles, bones, organs… even brains bubbling and gurgling!
Then, their vision spun wildly!
Though consciousness remained, their bodies were utterly uncontrollable. In their sight, companions twisted bizarrely—not by muscle or ligament, but their entire forms cracking into hundreds of perfectly measured cubic flesh blocks, rotating like a Rubik’s Cube!
Fractured vessels and muscle fibers flipped outward and reorganized, reshaping from nearly three-meter tall frames into perfect cubes. In the chill air, they steamed faintly, some parts still twitching, sagging under their own weight as viscous blood and tissue fluid dripped like hanging pulp…
Ashley’s mouth gaped wide. The scene held a grotesque beauty that one couldn’t look away from. There was no need for such precise arrangement after killing enemies—it could only be explained by aesthetics, artistry, craftsmanship…
“Let’s go.”
Letisia’s tone was indifferent and icy, her brows furrowed as if annoyed by the few seconds wasted.
Once aboard the train, Ashley blinked her eyes and carefully worded an explanation.
“We’ll talk when we get back. I need to rest.”
The girl cut her off coldly, then reclined the first-class airline seat, twisted her feet to kick off her shoes.
Ashley hurriedly draped a blanket over her teacher’s black-stockinged calves to keep them warm.
A few on-duty agents were scattered on the train. They brought sandwiches and hot milk, placing them beside Ashley.
She didn’t dare make a sound, stuffing food into her mouth like a hamster.
With her belly full, she picked up the investigation report the agent had prepared and browsed it.
Rift City’s surface portion—including buildings and people—had completely vanished, but the explorer camp deep in the Anafei Great Rift remained unaffected. From a distance perspective, it was no different from the surrounding towns…
After reading for a bit, drowsiness overtook her. Ashley got up to wash in the bathroom, then lay down fully clothed.
…
In the morning, Ashley groggily opened her eyes. Her teacher was already up, scooping at a cup of cheese, ham, and corn.
She sneaked a peek at the girl’s profile, increasingly feeling that her teacher possessed a rare, coldly sharp aura that dazzled and mesmerized. It was an intense allure that made one want to touch it even if it meant slicing a finger—not comparable to a little girl’s cutesy act or natural airheadedness.
After a night’s travel, they were close to Rift City—or what remained of it. If it still existed, the city’s silhouette would be visible on the horizon.
But the morning calm didn’t last. A low rumbling vibration came from afar.
Ashley looked puzzled. Another train? She’d never heard of that. She turned to her teacher, but Letisia offered no explanation.
Then, an agent came sprinting, face full of shock and panic, shouting:
“Trial Judge! A giant unidentified creature ahead!”
Before Ashley could react, her feet left the ground. Grabbed by a pair of tender white hands, she was flipped open like a clamshell, piercing straight through the Hades Train’s roof to the top.
Sunlight pierced the clouds, spilling over the endless wasteland. On the horizon, a vivid purple streak raced swiftly—beautiful and brilliant, like surging clouds. It was another millipede-like behemoth similar to the [Nether King]!
That demonic, colossal body stretched hundreds of meters; head to tail, it would form a standard running track!
But it wasn’t stationary. It writhed powerfully in view, frenziedly stimulating humanity’s primal fear of giant creatures!
Ashley swallowed dryly. A quick calculation showed its path as an intercepting missile—it would collide with the [Nether King] in minutes!
“Don’t panic. Just stay by my side,” Letisia’s calm, steady voice rang in her ear.
Though her teacher seemed utterly unperturbed, Ashley was still uneasy. After all, she had no experience fighting giant creatures.
“It’s the ‘Lord of Insects’ drawn by the King Insect. Slightly smaller than the [Nether King], lacking the death-black light-emitting eyes on its head, instead featuring clustered deep-purple, highly inorganic petal-like mouthparts… Let’s call it the [Nether Queen].”
