Far off, a handful of tiny points of bright light begin to drift away from the corpse dozens, maybe more like drops of pure sunlight rising helplessly upward. They do not fall.
They hang.
Suspended.
Then without warning they snap forward, rushing toward Yushai at sudden speed, disappearing into him as if pulled by some invisible force.
A blank display panel materializes at the edge of his vision.
[One-hit Kill Reward]
[+55,500 EXP]
[+150,000 coins]
For a moment, no one reacts.
Then the stillness breaks.
The metal couldn't withstand it.
It split in several places at once.
Not just one rupture, but three.
The ceiling seemed to have been ripped apart from within.
First, limbs appeared the same dark, segmented ones, with a dull metallic sheen. But now there were more of them. They moved faster, more abruptly, without the cautious "reconnaissance" they had before.
Do they have a telepathic connection?!
People were running hiding behind each other, panic was on their face, they all pointed at the guy who was standing in front of Saigid — Yushai.
"Back!"
"They're coming this way!"
"Close it!"
The carriage shuddered as the first creature rolled inside, followed almost immediately by the second one from the window. The third monster squeezed through, clinging to the edge of a piece of metal.
But there was nothing to close.
The creature's body lies where it fell, twisted and motionless. A thick, viscous pool of black liquid gathers beneath it, lazily swaying from side to side. The smell of metal in the air grows thicker.
A huge golden spear appeared in Yushai's hand. With a swift movement, he impaled two centipedes on it, piercing them completely, and then struck the third with a powerful pulse.
No one can bring themselves to speak. No one dares move.
They only stare.
At the body.
At the blood.
And then — at him.
"He's our hero!" someone shouted.
"Thank God! You'll save us?!"
"You'll get us out of here?!"
The crowd came to life. People began talking in unison, moving closer, as if drawn to a source of power.
Saigid stood among them.
There was relief.
But along with it, a suspicious fear.
It's logical to stick close to someone who might survive.
But Yushai didn't turn around.
He didn't react at all.
Instead, he walked up to the wall of the train car and kicked it with a dull thud.
The metal bent under the impact, creaked, and then burst with a dull crack. A wide, jagged hole with sharp, inward-curving edges appeared in the car wall.
Yushai stepped forward—and at that very moment, a creature emerged from the void right in front of him.
It was larger than the others: a massive body, heavy segments, a mouth opening unnaturally wide, as if ready to swallow him whole.
Yushai didn't retreat.
He merely moved the spear upward, and the next moment the creature's jaws clamped down hard on the shaft. The impact echoed with a dull sound that echoed throughout the car. The creature lunged forward, trying to push through the resistance and close its mouth, but the spear remained motionless, as if rooted in space.
And then Yushai, without changing his grip, without lifting his hand from the weapon, extended two fingers along the shaft and pointed them straight at the monster's gaping throat.
Gold flashed between his fingers.
First, a thin spark.
Then, a dense glow.
Threads of light began to rapidly intertwine, forming a tight, pulsating clot of energy. It leaped almost silently and, like a fired projectile.
The rupture occurred instantly.
The creature's body shuddered and shattered from within, scattering dark fragments around.
The jubilation that had just begun to rise in the crowd ceased as abruptly as it had begun.
Yushai lowered his spear and, without turning, approached the edge of the breach.
Saigid followed his gaze and felt his breath catch in his chest.
Outside the train, space was distorting.
The air trembled, as if an invisible surface were cracking under mounting pressure. Thin fissures appeared in the sky one after another, glowing with a purple-black light, as if the very fabric of the world were beginning to unravel.
The dome was cracking.
From these cracks, with a sharp grinding sound reminiscent of metal on glass, new creatures began to tumble out.
First, a few.
Then, dozens.
And then there were too many to count.
Yushai watched this without surprise only with a cold, almost weary irritation.
"The crack in the sky glowed white, but this light didn't illuminate the space it seemed to
absorb it, making the air dull and lifeless."