Chapter 5

  Ice Attack

  Cut to the rear section of the train—

  The female subordinate was locked in fierce combat with the princess’s guards, exchanging volleys of magic. But the black shadow that poured from her mouth was overwhelming—when it entered their bodies through any orifice, the humans collapsed as if their souls had been drained.

  Fwooo...

  She inhaled, drawing the shadow back into her mouth, then twirled a silver spear in her hand and stowed it.

  “Hmph.”

  She leapt down into the train car.

  Amid the corpses and wreckage...

  A brown-haired girl stood there.

  Zeedee Lamp.

  Curled up, trembling with fear.

  “Huh? You’re still alive?”

  The woman licked her lips.

  “Dressed like that—you’re probably the princess’s friend, huh? Poor little thing... How about you tell me where Her Highness is, and I’ll let you live?”

  Whoosh—

  She pointed toward the front of the train without hesitation...

  And instantly, a spear shot toward Zeedee to kill her on the spot.

  BOOM!

  A puff of icy mist exploded—but when it cleared, Zeedee was unharmed. She had dodged it. What didn’t escape, however, was the performance.

  “Guess I didn’t act convincingly enough... or maybe it was going to kill me either way.”

  “Oh? Nice reflexes~”

  The woman clapped.

  “Pretty good at faking it.”

  She hurled a blast of dark magic at Zeedee. Zeedee responded with a barrier of light, blocking it. But the woman was already behind her.

  “I’d love to keep playing with you... but I’ve got work to do. You probably don’t even know what you’re up against, hahaha~”

  Then suddenly—Zeedee saw it with her own eyes.

  The woman’s eyes rolled back, and her mouth opened wide. A black shadow burst from her throat, lunging straight at Zeedee.

  “!!!”

  The shadow wrapped around her, coiling tightly, and slammed into her body.

  When she looked at the woman’s face—Zeedee saw it clearly. Half of it... had transformed into a mass of shapeless, pitch-black matter.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “!!!”

  Nora Ophilis experienced the same moment of horror.

  The man she was fighting had transformed—into something else...

  Something like a “shadow.”

  WHAM!!!

  She’d thought this was just to buy time, to counter with long-range spells—but that thought was now irrelevant. The difference in power was too vast...

  Dan was being toyed with by the large man.

  “Ugh...”

  “Playtime’s over, you little bastard.”

  With just a single punch, even blocking with his arms made Dan feel like his bones had fractured.

  Then—the man opened his mouth wide...

  Dan watched as the black shadow emerged. His body began to shift into a dark, humanoid form.

  Dan’s eyes widened.

  “Surprised, kid?”

  The man’s voice distorted... then half of his face turned to shadow. The blackness grew, swelling into a massive, towering figure.

  “Hate to break it to you—this isn’t your run-of-the-mill assassination attempt.”

  The three of them—had transformed into the Shadow race.

  Dan Burn stood frozen, mouth agape in shock. Nora, below, was just as stunned.

  She’d never seen anything like this. She had no information on how to handle it.

  The Shadows wasted no time.

  In the blink of an eye—

  Nora almost lost her head. She flipped through the air to avoid a black streak that sliced through a window like it was paper.

  Zeedee was pale, watching the woman who had transformed walk toward her.

  “Scared, huh? Well, I won’t waste time talking anymore. I’ve got a job to finish.”

  She raised her hand, ready to strike. The black mist coiled over Zeedee’s body—until Zeedee spoke.

  “Yes... I’m scared... But not of you... I’m scared this whole disguise plan might fall apart right here.”

  “What?”

  As soon as Zeedee said it—something dropped from above.

  It landed with a thud right in front of the woman.

  He’d been decapitated mid-transformation—killed in an instant.

  None of them had even noticed what happened.

  And then... everyone felt it.

  A monstrous, crushing pressure... so dense it made their hair stand on end. An unseen force—but its presence alone screamed of limitless power.

  The overwhelming energy of Prince Fury.

  Crack! Crack!

  Before Nora’s eyes, the roof of the train collapsed.

  And Dan Burn appeared—his arms now transformed into armored limbs of a Diablo.

  At that sight—

  The two remaining Shadows instantly knew.

  No way...

  “That’s... a Diablo!!!!!”

  “Not just any Diablo... That man—he wiped out an entire bloodline with his bare hands!”

  “Th-that power...!!! Fury!?”

  They hadn’t accounted for this.

  Not. Even. A. Little.

  “At first, I just wanted to help Nora as much as I could…”

  This was the very definition of on sight.

  “The Shadows... really are still out there, huh?”

  No talking. No questions. No care for time or place.

  See = Kill.

  The two remaining Shadows realized the truth.

  And they ran.

  They abandoned everything—the mission, the objective—knowing the only chance of survival was to flee.

  ...It was already too late.

  “Mr. Fury...”

  Nora didn’t need to fight anymore. Her enemy ran without another word.

  But Dan hadn’t just transformed his arms...

  His legs were Diablo now too.

  Right before Nora’s eyes—

  Dan’s spiked leg armor drove through the male Shadow’s chest. Black ichor burst out, splattering onto Nora’s limbs.

  She backed away, avoiding the fluid, and looked at Dan, who stood over the corpse.

  One left.

  The female Shadow tried to leap off the train—but suddenly, her body seized up. Paralyzed.

  Her eyes rolled wildly—until they landed on...

  A girl surrounded by thousands of venomous squid-needle tendrils, slithering through the air.

  ?!

  Zeedee flicked her razor-sharp finger.

  And at that exact moment—Fury stepped forward.

  “!!!!!”

  Eyes wide, the Shadow tried to beg for its life—in a language Nora didn’t understand.

  The last thing she saw...

  Was Fury’s fist slowly clenching—

  Before it punched straight through the creature’s body and out the other side.

  The rebels were wiped out.

  Black ichor flowed again—from the Shadow corpse as it dissolved into dust, drifting into the snow.

  Nora walked up, returning to her composed demeanor.

  “That was... the Shadow race, wasn’t it?”

  “Correct.”

  Dan replied, his voice deep and low.

  Nora swallowed.

  Everyone knew the history between the Diablos and the Shadows—especially the Crown Prince’s.

  “Nora.”

  “Y-yes?”

  “I never intended to get involved in anyone else’s affairs.”

  He said,

  “But now... it seems I can’t stand by any longer.”