The beastkin Grom's roar was like thunder, instantly jolting the still-dizzy Theia awake.
Her emerald eyes narrowed, and forcing down her dizziness, she leapt up from the floor.
With a sharp clank, her dagger slid from its sheath, and she cleanly sliced through the safety ropes binding Lin Gui and Eve.
“Hurry!”
Grabbing each of them by the hand, she lunged toward the carriage door and leaped out with agile grace.
Landing nimbly on the ground, Theia shielded Lin Gui and Eve behind her, drawing Azure Echo as she swept her gaze over their surroundings.
The scene outside was breathtakingly grim.
The Wheelless Train lay overturned in the dense forest.
It had plowed through dozens of ancient, towering trees along its path, leaving the ground littered with splintered trunks and scattered foliage.
Freya and the others had already gathered beside the train, forming a back-to-back defensive ring.
They were surrounded by a terrifyingly dense swarm of demons.
Surging out from the depths of the forest, their crimson eyes gleamed with a bloody light in the gloom.
Low-rank lesser demons shrieked shrilly.
Mid-rank horned demons advanced with heavy, thudding steps.
Further back, several Hero Rank Tyrant Demons watched them like hawks, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The deafening crash of the train had clearly awakened half the demons in the forest.
“Roar!”
Grom, the beastkin warrior, swung his battleaxe, cleaving a lunging horned demon in two.
Barton, the barbarian warrior, roared as he swept his giant hammer, sending three lesser demons flying.
Yet even more demons poured in from all directions, like an endless, rising tide.
“Alvin! Dulu! Laisa!”
Freya barked orders from atop the train.
In truth, they had already sprung into action before her command even left her lips.
Each of them carried a bag of foul-smelling blood on their backs.
Moving like phantoms, they darted in three different directions, plunging deep into the forest.
Slashed blood bags traced arcs through the air, instantly filling the area with a heavy, pungent stench of blood.
“Awoo!”
The low-rank demons howled in excitement, scrambling over one another to chase after the scent of blood.
However, the Hero Rank demons did not budge.
Their crimson eyes remained locked onto Freya, wary of the Legendary pressure radiating from her.
Cold sweat beaded on Freya's forehead.
She knew all too well that these demons were waiting for their lord.
And she also knew exactly what kind of terrifying existence lurked within this forest.
Most fatally of all, she dared not cast any overly powerful spells in the wilderness.
Doing so would be like pouring water into boiling oil, completely provoking the entire forest.
Their only hope of survival was to use the distraction of the low-rank demons to have Betty fly them out of there.
Gazing at the heavy, overturned train, Freya couldn't help but sigh.
“We have no choice but to abandon our supplies for now...”
Just then, Theia had already guided Lin Gui and Eve up onto the front of the train.
Lin Gui let go of Theia and pressed both hands against the cold metal chassis, his gaze intensely focused.
In the next instant, the entire train smoothly flipped itself right-side up, as if it were a living thing.
The sudden flip nearly threw Freya right off.
“Don't resist my Levitation spell!”
Lin Gui roared at the group below.
With a wave of his right hand, the beastkin Grom, the barbarian warrior Barton, the priest Silas, and Deputy Captain Aubrey...
...along with the limp Betty and the scholar Eli, who was supporting her...
...all seven of them were instantly lifted by an invisible force, landing feather-light onto the roof of the train.
Behind him, Eve had already begun chanting, wrapping Lin Gui in a shroud of soft, holy light.
The Wheelless Train shot up into the sky like an awakening dragon.
The twenty-meter-long steel chassis traced a graceful arc in the air.
Lin Gui's Levitation spell masterfully channeled the train's massive momentum, allowing it to pivot and turn with incredible agility.
“Concealment magic!” Lin Gui shouted at Freya.
Understanding immediately, Freya formed hand seals and began chanting an ancient incantation.
“Shroud of Wind, vanish into nothingness!”
A Transcendent Rank wind-element concealment spell enveloped the entire train.
At the same time, the magical runes carved along the chassis lit up one by one.
The train gradually became transparent in midair.
However, under the bright sunlight, it still cast a massive shadow over the forest.
“Screeech!”
The airborne demons immediately spotted this flaw.
Two Legendary Rank winged demons let out piercing shrieks and led the chase.
They were incredibly fast, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Lin Gui gritted his teeth.
In the open sky, they were sitting ducks.
He steered the train into a steep dive, plunging back into the dense canopy.
Under Lin Gui's masterful control, the twenty-meter-long train moved like a nimble serpent.
It zipped through the ancient, towering trees at breakneck speed.
Its slender chassis, measuring barely over a meter wide, allowed it to thread effortlessly through the narrow gaps between the trunks.
This model had been designed specifically for traversing the wilderness, and it was now proving its worth.
“Left turn!” Freya warned just in time.
Lin Gui executed a sharp bank, narrowly missing a massive, ancient tree.
Behind them, a pursuing demon slammed headfirst into the trunk, roaring in fury.
Utilizing the complex terrain, he shook off the pursuing ground demons time and time again.
The winged demons in the sky were also hindered by the thick canopy, their speed drastically reduced.
Freya chanted continuously, stacking layer upon layer of concealment magic onto the train.
Eventually, the train fully blended into its surroundings, and the deep shadows beneath the trees masked the flaws in the concealment spell.
Only after applying a temporary camouflage that allowed the train to dissolve into the environment did Freya finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“We're good.”
Lin Gui immediately brought the train to a hover beneath a thick canopy.
The overlapping branches and leaves perfectly hid the train's chassis.
Below them, the demons scurried around like headless chickens.
In the sky, the shrieks of the winged demons echoed back and forth.
This demon frenzy, ignited by the train's crash, raged for an entire day.
During this time, at least five Legendary demons roamed the immediate vicinity.
Yet they never managed to detect their prey, who were practically right under their noses.
Only when the last demon had slunk away in disappointment did the scholar Eli carefully unfurl his map.
Pulling out various positioning tools, he determined their current location and spoke up.
“Three kilometers to the southeast, there's a safe haven.”
He pointed to a mark on the map.
“It's a defensive fortification left behind from the Golden Age.”
Lin Gui silently guided the train in the direction Eli indicated.
Under the cover of the dense forest, they finally reached this ancient sanctuary.
It was a semi-buried concrete structure, its outer walls covered in moss, but its structure remained fully intact.
Several gun ports still gaped like vigilant eyes.
It was as if they were still guarding the world that had existed before the end.
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