The sun set in the west, and night gradually approached.
As night slowly descended, Igwinte gradually lit up with specks of Light, beginning its nighttime splendor, while in the suburbs far from the main City, darkness still arrived as scheduled.
It wasn't completely dark yet, and dimness enveloped the wilderness of Yi Gewen West Suburbs. On a suburban road, three carriages were moving in sequence. The coachmen urged the horses forward. The surroundings were in Silence, with only the dense sound of hooves and wheels echoing.
In the front and back carriages, there was an adult man wearing a trench coat in each. Their gazes, one in front and one behind, were both fixed on the middle carriage. Inside the compartment of the middle carriage, Dorothy was sitting quietly. At this moment, she was seriously reading a thick book by the gas Light inside the carriage, at least on the surface...
'As expected... this isn't the way to the City... and it's getting farther and farther...'
Inside the carriage, Dorothy, pretending to read, clearly knew she was in danger. However, she also knew she couldn't show it now, as that would only provoke the enemy and lose her the initiative.
'One in front... one behind. They've been traveling with this carriage since the beginning and haven't left. It's basically certain they are accomplices. The fact that they're taking me this way indicates they don't want to cause a big commotion...'
While flipping through the pages of the book in her hand, Dorothy analyzed the situation in her mind, her expression showing no ripple. In the eyes of the coachmen, it was as if she was still completely unaware that she had been kidnapped.
'This method of operation targeting me should be the Red Communion Society. They haven't given up on capturing me. And they somehow got information about me coming to Igwinte, even knowing I entered Saint Amanda School, so they've launched another operation?'
'Heh... If that's the case, their intelligence network is really quite developed...'
With a cold laugh in her heart, Dorothy flipped the page again and continued reading by the Light.
'I estimate I'm being taken to their stronghold now. Although I don't know their exact purpose, I absolutely cannot be taken there. Although I made some arrangements at the school beforehand, there hasn't been any reaction so far. It looks like I'll have to rely on myself this time...'
'I can't go any further. Otherwise, if I encounter their waiting companions, the increased number of enemies will make it even harder to handle. I have to act now...'
'There's a coachman and a passenger on each of the front and back carriages, plus the coachman on my carriage, making a total of five people. They probably all have guns. They won't be easy to deal with. I have to strike first...'
While thinking, Dorothy turned a page, and what appeared after it was not dense text, but a revolver lying quietly.
The thick book Dorothy held in her hands, except for the first few pages which were complete, had all the subsequent pages with only the edges remaining and the middle hollowed out, forming a paper groove. In this groove, Dorothy placed a pistol. That's right, it was the revolver Dorothy obtained from Edrick when she first transmigrated.
Because she knew she was being targeted by the cult, Dorothy always carried important items with her, even when going to school.
'Bringing a gun to class is quite exciting... but it's just in time to use it now.'
While thinking, Dorothy took out the pistol, gripped it with both hands, pointed it forward and upward through the front glass of the carriage, aiming at the coachman who was driving with his back to her.
Then, after taking a deep breath, she pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
As the loud gunshot echoed, a bullet shot out of the muzzle amidst the flame, shattering the glass and directly hitting the back of the coachman's head, piercing his skull. Due to the close distance, Dorothy easily achieved a headshot with one shot.
The violent gunshot not only startled the coachmen in the front and back carriages but also the horses. The horse of the carriage Dorothy was riding in instantly went out of control. At this moment, Dorothy instantly activated the Corpse Puppet Ring, turning the coachman's body, which was about to be thrown off the carriage, into a Corpse Puppet.
Under the nourishment of the """Cup"""'s Spirituality, the coachman who died from a headshot began to move. With a blank expression, he gripped the handrail beside him to steady himself in the carriage, then tightly pulled the reins with one hand, attempting to control the runaway horse, but with little effect.
'Damn it... I can't drive a carriage...'
Seeing this situation, Dorothy, hiding in the carriage compartment, had a bad thought. Although she could control the Corpse Puppet, the Corpse Puppet certainly wouldn't know what she didn't know, even if he was a coachman before.
Facing this situation, Dorothy, in a moment of desperation, suddenly thought of a solution.
Dorothy controlled the coachman in front of the carriage, had him draw her revolver from his waist, and then had the coachman point the gun at the runaway horse in front, firing three shots at close range at the horse's head.
Then, with a mournful cry, the shot horse lost consciousness and was about to fall to the ground. At this moment, Dorothy's Corpse Puppet Ring activated again, injecting the """Cup"""'s Spirituality into the lifeless horse. Under the impetus of the """Cup""", the horse's limbs and bones, freed from brain control, began to operate again. Its strong hooves struck the ground, steadying its falling body, and then, completely following Dorothy's command, it turned around and ran back towards the way they came, passing by the carriage behind them... Dorothy thought that since she couldn't drive, she might as well turn the horse into a Corpse Puppet too...
"What's wrong with you, Thomas?!" What happened!
"Come back, Thomas! Where are you going?!"
Seeing their companion's carriage suddenly turn around and run in the opposite direction after a few unexpected gunshots, the coachmen on the other two carriages couldn't help but shout loudly. Seeing that there was no response, they also pulled their reins and chased after the carriage ahead.
Thus, Dorothy, relying on the Corpse Puppet Ring, controlled the coachman and horse of her carriage to run in front, while the other carriages chased behind. A carriage chase in the dim suburbs thus began.
Looking at their companion's carriage moving forward, the skylights on the roofs of the two carriages behind were opened, and two of the passengers stood out. They took out pistols from their waists, pointed them at the rapidly moving carriage ahead, and shouted.
"Stop, Thomas! Otherwise, we'll shoot!"
Obviously, their warnings received no response. Seeing that their warnings were ineffective, the two people leaning out of the windows directly pulled the triggers, aiming at the vehicle ahead and firing bullets.
Due to the shaking of the carriage and the movement of the target, these bullets were not easy to hit, but one still hit the carriage compartment. The bullet that entered the compartment whistled past Dorothy's ear.
'Damn it... I can't stay in the carriage compartment...'
While thinking, Dorothy wrapped her hands with her sleeves, then forcefully smashed the thick book in her hand against the front glass of the carriage compartment. The glass, which was already perforated by bullets, was easily shattered. Then, with her hands wrapped in sleeves, Dorothy climbed from the front window to the coachman's seat. This spot was slightly safer than inside the carriage compartment.
Then, Dorothy manipulated the coachman named Thomas, holding her pistol, and climbed backward from the coachman's seat towards the carriage roof. She gripped a raised decoration on the roof with one hand to steady herself and held the gun with the other hand, firing back at the chasing carriages behind her.
For a time, gunshots echoed continuously on the dim road. This carriage chase scene officially turned into a carriage gunfight scene.