Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
At this time, the other workers sensed the strange situation and stopped in their tracks as they observed the flock of birds and discussed the situation amongst themselves.
But Charms sensed the severity of the situation.
It was not the alarm used by the city, but the pre-warning system used by the First Army. It indicated that the enemy was already close to the frontline and a battle could ensue at any moment… In other words, in the time that it took for the alarm reach them, the First Army might already have begun clashing with the enemy.
Did the demons regroup and stage a counterattack?
That was too inconceivable!
He had followed his father and fought from the Misty Forest to Tower Station No. 10 and knew of the basic situation in the north.
The reason for the First Army’s decision to rebuild the Taquila Ruins was to take precaution against this. The tall watchtower standing on the vast and empty plains was sufficient to observe distances beyond ten kilometers. Without first mentioning the time required for the Red Mist tower to be built, the distance between the Taquila Ruins and the Holy City ruins was 300 to 400 kilometers apart. How was it possible that the enemy had appeared so close to the new King’s City without any warning?
But it was no longer the time to think about the possibilities.
The sentry post responsible for developing Station No. 2 only had a hundred odd garrisoned troops—the majority of them new recruits. If they truly encountered an ambush, would they be able to beat the demons and ensure the safety of the area?
Charms had no idea.
Balshan suddenly ran towards the station.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Dusk is still at the station, I’m going to pick her up!”
Her reply reminded him—according to evacuation regulations, people who heard the alarm had to evacuate to the nearest refuge, but the unloading bay was situated at the outskirts of the area development. The people at the bay would require a considerable amount of time to run to the nearest residential area, let alone turn back. Rather than take Dusk to the refuge area, they might as well take the train and leave.
“Everyone look!” Charms pulled the badge off his shirt and raised it in the air. “I am Soldier Charms from the First Army. Station No. 2 development is under attack. Everyone, put your things down and follow me. As the shelter is too far away, we are taking the train to flee from danger!” He then muttered under his breath, “An ex-soldier.”
But no one heard his last whisper. The instant the term “First Army” was announced, the workers treated him as their leader. All of those who were already running stopped and converged around him.
This surprised Charms, and at the same time, it increased the pressure on him.
When he was in the First Army, he was just an observer in The Blackriver, a soldier and subordinate under his father. He never had any experience in leading others. The sudden transition to being responsible for a crowd made him nervous. But since he had already said those words, he had no choice but to persist on.
“This way!” Charms led a group of workers and sprinted by the side of the train and coincidentally bumped into Hank.
“Br-brat, what’s going on? I was just trying to find a corner to relieve myself…”
“Don’t bother about that for now.” Charms grabbed his shoulders. “Have you added coal and water? How’s the pressure in the boiler?”
The latter nodded his head frantically. “Everything is running in order and we can move at anytime…”
“Very good!” he shouted, “Quickly turn the direction of the train. We are heading towards Station No. 1. Remember to sound the horn before driving off, got it!? Also, prepare a gun and keep it at close!”
“What… about you?”
“I’ll settle the others first, then I will meet you at the front of the train.”
In less than a minute, the train spewed out smoke and gradually drove out of Station No. 2.
During this period of time, many more workers noticed the commotion and quickly boarded the carriages, including the civilian army who were meant to watch over the goods. Although there were only about a dozen of them, they were equipped with flintlocks, allowing Charms to ease up a little.
Although he badly wanted to be with Dusk, he knew that it was of utmost importance to send everyone to safety. Once he knew that she was safe, he quickly returned to the front of the train.
Right at that moment, Charms caught sight of the enemy.
It was a group of demonic beasts!
“Oh god, wasn’t it said that they only appeared during the Months of Demons?” Hank leaned against the window and muttered.
“No one knows what’s happening in this godforsaken land.” Charms retrieved his rifle from his locker and climbed up to the roof of the train adeptly. With the train moving backwards and him standing on its tail, he was able to clearly witness everything happening behind. A mix of ordinary and large demonic beasts charged fanatically, pushing and shoving each other. Their speed of attack was faster than he had imagined as they charged into the unloading bay area soon after the departure of the train.
If everyone had ran with their legs, no one would had escaped the violent monsters.
He had made the right decision.
That thought allowed him to heave a sigh of relief.
But his suspicions still remained.
Demonic beasts were monsters that were easily defeated many years ago by the flintlocks and cement walls and were unable to step into Neverwinter. With the current First Army being far stronger than what they were in the past, how was it possible that the demonic beasts had got past them?
As gunshots occurred, it intensified his confusion. He noticed that the gunfires were aimed towards demonic beasts that had appeared from the north. Following the Van’er rifles shooting them down, only trails of black blood was left in its wake. The problem was that the demonic beasts did not appear to have experienced much change. Their form of attack remained the same as wild beasts, with sharp teeth and claws. Their threat was far lower to that of spear-wielding Mad Demons. This confused Charms. How did such an enemy quietly overrun Taquila’s forces?
“Bang!”
Following a loud boom, the train suddenly slowed down, as though it had collided into something.
Charms was almost thrown off the train. He turned in anger but was instantly doused in shock! Unknowingly, a bizarre monster had appeared by the side of the train. Half of its body was connected to the carriage, obviously having been run into. Its blue blood sprayed all over the place, dyeing half of the carriage exterior. The monster had many appendages and outer shell that resembled reptiles, with a scythe-like sharp blade protruding out from its head that testified its position at the top of the food chain.
The odd thing was, he did not discover any of such monsters while at the front of the train. Where did it come from?
But Charms did not have the time to think about that.
Because he discovered that the tracks in the distance had been split into two!
“Hank, hit the brakes!” He screamed while squeezing among the crowd in the train while using his fastest speed to grab onto any handrail. Although his companion was at a loss, he obeyed the instructions immediately. The sharp screech of the brakes resounded through the entire train as a pungent burnt smell pervaded the air.
But it was too late. The train ran over the broken railway and the heavy carriages instantly caused the wheels to sink into the rubble and went off track. The connected train carriages which had lost the restraints of their tracks collided into each other, ultimately flipping and overturning in tremors.
