Xerx raised his eyebrow for a moment. He looked at both of them, widening in surprise. "Elysia Silverleaf? Is it her?" He wondered.
Meanwhile, Isolde's gaze clicked onto Arceus like an arrow finding its mark. "Yes, we are cursed. Nothing legendary about it. Many elven families still carry divine curses today. And the monarchy ended long ago. We hold no titles. I suggest you avoid calling us royalty."
Her voice was icy enough to freeze a lake. Ayush shrank a little at the tone.
But Elysia quickly stepped in with a small bow of apology. "Sorry about her. My sister's been like this since birth. She means no insult."
Ayush smiled awkwardly. "No, no, it's fine. Everyone has their circumstances."
The room fell silent again as Arceus resumed his nap without a care for the elves and Isolde, the older elf opened a thick book and started reading already, leaving Elysia in an awkward state.
As Ayush wondered whether he should talk to this younger elf or not, he spotted Elysia staring at Xerx.
Her brows furrowed, and her eyes narrowed in focus as if she wanted to remember something.
Eventually, she leaned forward, unable to ignore the feeling. "Um… excuse me. Have we met before? You look really familiar."
Xerx slowly raised his hand. Soft glowing letters formed in the air.
"I don't think so."
"Whoa… word magic… that's rare..." Elysia blinked in surprise. "Why, though?"
More letters appeared in the air.
"I can't speak."
"Oh! Okay...." she said with a nod.
Isolde paused her reading just long enough to glance at Xerx, assessing him with a neutral, unreadable expression, then commented. "If I remember correctly, I do know someone who couldn't talk. He should be around 16, the same age, and even has a similar name to yours, too; however, he died six years ago. Fortunate for us, I must say..."
Xerx's eyes sharpened for a second, but he swallowed his emotions again and put on a poker face, writing the words: "I'm 17."
Elysia snorted at the comment, "Oh, please, sis… why are you bringing it up now? And what do you mean, fortunate for you?"
Isolde continued to read, replied calmly with a shrug, "Well, you were almost betrothed to that mute trash. It's good that he was dead."
Xerx's heartbeat rose once again, and mana flared up from his body. This time, he couldn't suppress the anger. Everyone alerted, gazed toward him.
Xerx pushed out mana and wrote in the air. "You are out of line, Miss."
Isolde stared at him, raising her eyebrow. "Why? It's not like I talked about you."
Xerx replied with the write: "But I'm a mute. Your words imply that you look down on people like me."
Isolde stared at him for a couple of seconds before she flatly said, "Alright. Sorry… my bad."
Ayush patted Xerx's shoulder and smiled. "Don't take it to heart, brother. She didn't mean it. It's like you know… You are angry at some girl, and you, in the heat of the moment, cuss that darn girl and such words… it doesn't mean you are insulting the girls over all."
Xerx sighed inwardly and gave a nod. He didn't pay attention to the elves anymore and returned to the book in his hand.
Elysia's gaze shifted from Xerx to Isolde a few times as both of them were busy reading books. She sighed and shook her head.
For the next long stretch of the journey, the cabin returned to its old quiet—but now with a faint, new tension enveloping it.
Three hours away from their destination, the train glided over the barren sands of Equiza—the last station before the neutral region.
Inside the train, most passengers had settled into a half-drowsy quiet, lulled by the hum of the rails and the thrum of mana engines.
All of a sudden, the entire train jolted hard enough that Ayush nearly dropped his phone, and Arceus snapped awake as if someone had poured ice water down his back. The carriages groaned as the train screeched to an unnatural stop in the middle of a sun-scorched desert.
Ayush blinked in confusion. "Hey—what—?"
He glanced at his phone instinctively, only to find the signal bars vanish one by one.
"What's going on?" he muttered, frowning.
Before he could ramble further, Isolde's gaze snapped toward him like a blade.
"A sudden stop in the middle of a desert," she said, voicing aloud. "Combined with total signal interference means only one thing."
Ayush and Elysia looked at her expectantly.
"Third-party interference," she finished. "I believe we are going to be hijacked."
The cabin went quiet. Even Arceus, who rarely seemed bothered by anything, narrowed his eyes and shifted in his seat, sharpening his posture like a wolf picking up a scent.
Her assessment proved correct within seconds.
A faint clicking echoed through the corridor—multiple sets of heavy boots—and strangers began rising from their seats in other carriages, pulling out compact energy cannons from beneath their coats.
One after another, masked figures revealed themselves and spread through the train.
Chaos erupted all at once.
Shouts. Screams. Threats barked down the corridors.
Four masked men stormed into the carriage with nine cabins, where Xerx's cabin was also located. The violent sound of someone being shoved in the adjacent cabin made all five teenagers stiffen.
Isolde reacted immediately. Her voice snapped, speaking in a commanding tone to the other four. "Everyone, stay seated. Do not engage. If you provoke them, you endanger others."
Ayush nodded in agreement with her, too. Elysia clasped her hands together, her knuckles turning pale in fright. Xerx didn't move at all and his unreadable expression made it harder to determine whether he intended to listen to her orders or not.
Arceus, however, scanned the situation with a cool, calculating look.
A masked man then entered their cabin, pointing an energy cannon forward. His gaze lingered over the five of them before settling on the elves. His voice dripped greed behind the mask. "Well, well… silver hair… high-breed elves. You two will fetch a fortune."
Isolde's expression froze into something icy, and killing intent almost spilled out of her. Elysia flinched, instinctively leaning toward her sister.
"I don't care which gutter-bred group you belong to," Isolde said, tone as steady as stone, "but hijacking a train full of Astron warriors is idiocy."
The villain chuckled and shifted his aim toward Isolde. Then, without warning, he bent forward and snatched Elysia by the arm and yanked her with force.
"Ah—!" Elysia cried out as she flew over her sister and crashed onto his muscled body. He didn't move a bit and twisted her body, facing them and pointing at her head.
Ayush shot to his feet in alarm. Arceus's gaze sharpened to a razor point. Even Xerx clenched his jaw slightly, though he didn't stand—he waited for others to make their move.
Calmly yet fiercely, Isolde rose to her feet. "Let her go."
"That's not how this works," the villain said, pressing the cannon against Elysia's head. "Learn your place—elf."
And he then lowered the cannon and pulled the trigger without any warning, pointing at Isolde instead.
The blast tore through her abdomen. The sound was sharp, almost like a popping spark, but the impact was brutal. Isolde folded forward, clutching her abdomen as blood spilled between her fingers, staining her long beige dress.
"Sis!" Elysia screamed, but the man held her tightly.
Ayush froze in shock. Arceus bristled, clenching his fists.
Xerx didn't move—but his knuckles turned white as they tightened on his seat. His eyes flickered once as a holographic screen materialized with a notification.
*Ding!
[You received an Emergency Quest]
[Quest: The Train you have been traveling on has been hijacked by mysterious gangsters. Defeat as many as you can. Reward: 500 credits per gangster.]
The villain shoved Elysia back to them and turned back toward the corridor. "Let this be a lesson to you, damn brats."
The moment he left, a soft golden glow spread across Isolde's skin. Her wound knit itself shut. Within seconds, the injury was gone as if it had never happened.
Elysia grabbed her shoulders urgently. "Sis—are you okay?"
Isolde exhaled shakily. "I'm fine."
Ayush let out a huge breath of relief. "I thought—damn— I thought that was bad."
He turned to Arceus. "You were also worri—huh?"
Arceus didn't respond.
Because he wasn't listening.
He was kneeling beside his backpack, unzipping it. From the deepest pocket, he pulled out two black daggers—small, sharp, and polished. Ayush stared at him. "Arceus… what are you doing?"
Arceus tested the weight of one dagger with a flick of his wrist, looking at them with a cold gaze. "What else?" he said. "Equipping myself."
He glanced toward the corridor and tightened his grip on the daggers. "I'm not going to sit here and watch."
Xerx's eyes subtly shifted to the daggers. "Inspect." He thought.
The holographic screen displayed different details now.
Black Titanium Daggers
Grade: Platinum
Spirit: Ifrit
*