Rem climbed to the roof of the Hyper-channel’s carriages with Cytortia tailing behind him. He stood up handsomely before dropping to the floor face-first.

Cytortia observed Rem’s stumbled — stunned.

“Oh my god,” the goddess hurried to his aid. “Are you okay? Did they land a hit on you?”

“No,” Rem muttered. “Just feeling lightheaded.”

“You must be joking,” Cytortia said in disbelief.

Remus Breaker was a man who defeated a World Enemy despite being a mere mortal. No eleven random crooks could reduce him to such a state. She needed an answer. Something happened. Cytortia glanced at her friend sweating on the floor — something horrible happened.

But the resolve in his eyes silenced her.

“Why are you trying this hard?” The goddess let the [Sage Force] flowed into him, lifting his Natural Hierarchy to stimulate his recovery. “You must hit your limit after that fight!”

Rem sighed.

“I couldn’t let them down,” Rem propped himself up and caught his breath. “The kid. That old man. It is unacceptable for their heroes to collapse in that room? The responsibility of stepping to the plate means I can’t let myself bleed until the fight is over.”

That was when an explosion rocked the Control Chamber.

…

Seven seconds earlier.

Marley immediately noticed something went wrong.

Noises squeaking through his communicator tipped him the gist of the situation. The echo of gunshot and the screaming confirmed his suspicion. Then his instinct — sense honed from his experience in espionage and grueling life in combat — sounded the alarm.

The girl felt suspicious.

Her acting was good, animalistic even, but Marley excelled at spotting a liar. It took five seconds for him to realize the game. Had he reacted in time, Marley would end Luxinna scot-free.

Sadly, he made a fatal miscalculation. He never thought an elf could use lightning.

Biology class often stressed how the Central Nervous System managed active reflex. Marley wasn’t exempt from the rule. The elf realized this — and with her wild instinct — she exploited it to the fullest. Electrical sparked from her and up Marley’s leg before he teleported away.

Those precious seconds were enough for Scathach to sprung into the room and attacked Marley in her true glory. The actions started so fast all combatant got the head or tail of its direction.

Marley gritted his teeth. The brunette hair and punkish clothing confirmed what he suspected. Scathach lied. Now he either fight or received a new breathing hole through his abdomen.

In that single second, three things transpired to spell disaster. First, Scathach, dual-wielding two spears, threw the implements at the two suckers. Meanwhile, Bruno launched an explosive fist at the attack like a brain-dead tool. Marley, being the smartest man in that room, decided he wanted none of this shit and skedaddled out via teleportation.

Space fluctuation, explosive punch and the fake honey badger’s killer moved didn’t mix well. The octopus and the elf sensed the oncoming tragedy and dove out the window for dear life.

The Control Chamber exploded.

...

The explosion sent a char-grilled octopus smacking into the face of the unluckiest person on the train.

Namely, the nature goddess.

Smack!

“Mmmf,” Cytortia cried, trying to pry the panic octopus from her face. It was a good attempt, but Za Wa wrapped itself around her head with a force to make duct tape proud.

Then Cytortia tripped on her shoelaces and rolled toward the edge of the roof — fighting the octopus all the way. Being a smart man, Rem dragged her back before she fell to her doom. Rem suspected that their newly minted organization might just bite off more than it could chew.

“Ummm,” Cytortia said, trying to yank off the golden invertebrate. “Get im off.”

Rem’s sadistic streak tempted him to leave her to struggle like adorable kittens. However, things happened. Scathach and Marley landed on the carriage next to him and the goddess.

The two master warriors looked furious. Their weapons brandished for carnage. Between them stood a fortunely-challenged goddess and her friends.

A boy picked the microcosm to develop a kinship with a plate of sashimi.

Rem sighed. Next time they need to kill an army, he must send Cytortia gift-wrapped to the commander. It won’t surprise him if lightning arrived to murder the E-rank luck goddess. It was worthless to argue against heaven, so at least he should weaponise shit luck.

Let us say Rem barely survived the first salvo.

…

Luxinna was lucky.

While her teammates had two frying pans teleported into their face, Luxinna survived her jump by latching to the edge of another carriage. With a huffed, she heaved herself to the roof and gaze at the burning wreck.

She breathed a sighed of relief. Thankfully, the hostage already fled from the VIP room to ends of the train, or else the result would be horrific.

Alas, Lady fortune’s favor wasn’t free.

Bruno’s body slammed onto the roof, smoking like a burnt turkey and smelling even worse. He groaned. This hurt. It hurt even worse than his first bar-fight, and he got beaten over five-on-one in that brawl.

Then he turned to see the culprit.

“This is all your fault,” he complained to the elf.

“Yes,” Luxinna proudly admitted. “The damsel in distress was my idea by the ways.”

“What did they teach kid these days,” Bruno rolled onto his feet, swaying like he just drank a dodgy moonshine. “Do you guys realize there are twenty of us on the train?”

Luxinna raised an eyebrow in a practice manner.

“Where are they then?”

At last current situation dawned in Bruno’s simple mind.

To his credit, instead of melting down and screaming about how his destiny had abandoned him, Bruno hunched over and sulked.

“You guys do them in?” Bruno facepalmed. “Please tell me they are not dead? The insurance won’t cover this.”

“I cannot answer for Scathach,” Luxinna spoke cordially. “But Rem is too sappy to murder a kitten. Your men are fine. Maybe.”

“Did you mention Scathach?” Bruno’s face fell.

Bruno wasn’t stupid despite his size leading many to believe. Politics might not be his forte, but growing up in the hostile environment of the slave fighting ring shaped his survival know-how to an absurd degree. This know-how allowed him to the rise in the Liberator’s rank, surviving all the backstabbings to the late twenty, and he sure won’t abandon it.

The operation had gone South West. The core vanished. All their men MIA, and that she-devil was here. Scathach’s presence ranked worse than an entire team of Grand Empire’s enforcer warping on top of him.

Bruno believed in his ability to run away from enforcers, but not the scary-spear-lady. Even a man of Marley’s caliber resorted to buying time against Scathach.

No mortal triumphed over that she-devil, not even in a game of Monopoly — no one was that skilled or evil.

Bruno drew his massive claymore — time to fight for his life

He needed the elf as leverage.

Luxinna grimaced and took out a concealed dagger. It looked tiny.

That was how the battle began.

…

Luxinna flew, straggling on the roof in barely a minute

The elf gathered herself, but an explosive wave of energy send her dodging for survival yet again. The attack carved the roof below her to shred, taking away her footing, cornering the elf slowly toward her eventual defeat.

Bruno strode forward. His claymore glowed with orange energy as he swung it, unleashing another wave of attack. This time Luxinna ran out of dodging space.

Clenching her teeth, Luxinna summoned her True Magic, coating her knife in [Static Glass] and threw it at the energy wave.

It was a competition between spell-casting and the prototype of True Magic. Electricity met the orange explosion, erupting in a blast of gold and orange, but the victor was clear. Luxinna’s knife — surging with lightning and force — hollowed out Bruno’s explosion. The backlash from having his attack detonating in his face sent Bruno flying and gave Luxinna a brief breathing room.

Sadly, the cost of victory clanked to the ground. Her untamed power and the impact warped the dagger beyond repair. The situation improved from checkmate to severe material deficiency. Now the elf was fighting an opponent above her level without a weapon.

Bruno got up more confused than hurt. He had [Steel Skin] skill to survive this punishment. Still, backfiring attack stung his ego in the worst avenue.

To his credit, the giant man wasn’t mad.

“Impressive,” Bruno admired his opponent. “But Lighting? Those pointy ear pricks would never teach you how to use that sore-spot. It must be harsh in Lightwell.”

“They kicked me out when I was twelve,” Luxinna tried to find the ground for attack. She was running out of option.

Bruno’s eyes softened. He knew abandonment. He saw a ghost of himself in the girl. She got the same steel as that boy who — once upon the time — struggled to survive in the slave fighting pit. Bruno respected that. Perhaps, if the circumstances were different, he might take the girl out for a drink.

But sometime you couldn’t have what you wanted.

“Your relative is mightily stupid.”

“Yes,” Luxinna agreed with no hesitation. “But even then they are still family.”

Bruno sighed. Maybe it time he shared his aged wisdom to the girl.

“Stop pretending to be stupid,” Bruno stated, readying his sword.

“What is wrong with my answer?”

“You are not one of them, kiddo,” Bruno made his face. He had too much experience dealing with elves. “Those sanctimonious assholes are perpetually high on their ego for centuries, but not you. Hear from a man who never receives those parental love. Family is the people who watch your back and will claw over the battlefield to save your ass no matter what.”

Those words hit Luxinna like a brick.

And Bruno didn’t finish.

“Your action spoke louder than words, kiddo,” Bruno waited patiently for the fight to continue. “No high and mighty elf would humiliate themselves as you did for the sake of someone they never met. Those tears might be false, but the resolve held. So tell me who you are, kiddo, because pretending with those holier-than-thou smartass isn’t cut out for you.”

Luxinna stood stoic. Indescribable emotion flooded into her. Finally, her hand slipped into view with a white masked. She put the white disguise on, facing Bruno as who she truly became. Her blood’s judgment was not the be-all and end-all. Bruno was right. She had a family counting on her.

“Nothing important,” she bought out a red flask. “Just a random knight passing by.”

“Good, come and get me, Ms. Knight.”

Bruno and Luxinna charged at each other.

Two ornate glass work weaved into reality above Luxinna. It was a leaf-shape glass sculpture she created inside of her mind. As Luxinna moved to accept who she had to become, her True Magic evolved. The leaf split and conformed into two glass lotus. A new skill was born.

[Static Glass: Savage Lotus]

Meanwhile, the globules of golden glass formed around her body, wrapping her in golden gauntlets and greaves. Her mind tapped into a once flimsy grasped enlightenment and forged it into armor. While far from perfect, but it marked the choice she subconsciously chose and her path to greatness.

[Static Glass: Serene Armor]

Relying on her countless sparing with Scathach, Luxinna dodged the blow that would take her off head. She slid below Bruno’s blade and launched a counter-attack.

That was how the blow traded. It was a battle between an opponent who ended the fight in the single blow versus the nimble warrior cladded in the armor of lightning and glass. Bruno’s swing created explosions with every hit, but Luxinna’s movement was too sharp to stop with his speed. Meanwhile, Luxinna struggled to pierce his defense in close combat.

The elf still had other trick — the electrical-laser mode of [Savage Lotus] — but she needed an excellent timing to pull the closing shot.

Luxinna grimaced. She envied Magnolia’s familiar and ice spells. That versatility provided so many options it was unfair. The entire Lightwell ceaselessly claimed it was a noble magic, fitting for Drakokia’s heir.

Meanwhile, she got armor and lotuses.

Then she remembered a friend who fought with nothing but tricks, smokes, and mirror.

Luxinna let an out a wry smile. Bruno was right. She had a family—one who preferred intellect over flashy fireworks.

A bottle of red liquid appeared in her hand. It was time she borrowed Rem’s rulebook.

Luxinna dodged the next blow like she always had and smashed the bottle in front of Bruno’s face.

The vial burst open, sending clouds of crimson gas into the giant’s eyes. Bruno was still smart enough to unleash the wave of energy to create some distance between him and Luxinna, but the damage had already been done.

Bruno felt like someone had pure a tub of acid over his eyes. He swatted the air and cried out in pain. His balance was all over the place. However, despite that sudden disadvantage, Bruno was a seasoned combatant. He may lose his vision and suffer the agony of one thousand ants crawling his eyes, but his ear still work.

Bruno heard a single tap of a footstep. Suddenly coming up with a new idea, he started flailing, acting like the pain drove him mad.

That tapping footstep swiftly broke into a sprint.

Bruno grinned. With practice motion, he veered toward the sound. His eyes shut from the gas, but his stance was perfect. The claymore swung. Explosive orange energy glowed, ready to explode whatever it hit to smithereens.

Clang!

“As expect, you are pretending,” said a girl’s voice, muffled by a mask. “I would have done the same. But hearing me coming isn’t the same as seeing me. So let me tell you, I win.”

What the claymore collided with is a glass lotus oozing with power. The orange energy met with the beam of gold, and for the second time that day, Bruno’s attack backfired on him.

The blast knocked Bruno backward, his weapon flew out of his hand. Bruno gritted his teeth. He was in a pinch for countless of times in his life, and he always prevail. He was a survivor who climbed from nothing to the warrior he was today.

But at that moment, Bruno forgot that Luxinna had two lotus. Blinded, in pain and off-balance, Bruno was in a bind. His steel skin, sword, and explosive energy that made him almost invincible, couldn’t help him now.

In Luxinna’s hand was her second lotus, charging with energy. She unleashed a lotus powered palm-strike that sent Bruno flying. His chest smoked from the damage, but combinations of his hardened skin and explosive energy nullified the worse of the blast.

But the attack wasn’t over. Luxinna leaped up, [Serene armor] boosting her strength several folds. In a perfectly smooth movement, she grabbed Bruno’s claymore from the air. Coating the sword in golden glass, she plunged it toward the giant man.

Bruno was out of option. He lost his sword, and the last blow had taken a toll on his body. The elf attack was too fast and too consistent that it was impossible for him to regenerate the orange energy surrounding his body. It didn’t take a genius to know that the claymore charged with such energy would cut through his [Steel Skin].

His only choice was to blast Luxinna with all the power in his reach and stopped her from landing the blow.

BANG!

It failed. Luxinna dodged the blast in mid-air and plunged the sword down with a power that broke the carriage roof to smithereens, taking both combatants smashing into the cabin below.

Silence.

Bruno looked at the sword impaling his shoulder. The girl’s magic left the blade partially melted into fragments. Still, having a piece of molten metal jabbed through his body was painful, but he would survive this.

He glanced at the girl.

“Why don’t aim for the head?”

Luxinna stumbled to the nearest couch.

“Don’t want too,” she replied softly. “You are not a bad person.”

Bruno sigh. His heart had admitted defeat.