“······This thing. It keeps moving.”
The box Mi Jeong handed over.
A box containing the Black Mana Stone and Kali’s dead soul is constantly shaking.
My head is spinning right now.
I feel like I’m going to throw up and can’t think straight, but I have a strong intuition that the Black Mana Stone can solve this situation.
“Ugh. Open it.”
“······Okay.”
Without time to hesitate, I order Mi Jeong.
The moment she unlatched the wooden box, the Black Mana Stone jumps out with a thud.
Even after it falls to the ground, the stone is still vibrating like an electric motor.
I’ve never seen anything like this.
Just as I reach out for the stone in amazement, a system window pops up before my eyes.
[Mass accumulation has begun.]
“······!”
Black energy starts to crawl up from the train floor.
Demonic energy.
The demonic energy that was casting a curse effect.
It crawls up and swirls midair.
Then, in an instant, the energy is sucked inside the Black Mana Stone, like a black hole.
All the demonic energy that flowed out from the entire train rushes into the stone, and soon the vibrations stop.
At the same time, the headache and dizziness vanish completely.
My confused mind comes back.
The dense demonic energy and the curse effect have completely disappeared.
“Ugh…!”
I can finally breathe again.
Taking a deep breath, I touch the ground again to recheck.
[Transcontinental Train]
[Status: Dilapidated]
>A large passenger train running from Southern Continent Gallia to Northern Continent Palana.
The ‘curse’ has disappeared from the status.
It seems the demonic energy was sucked into the stone, dispelling the curse.
Swallowing hard, I touch the stone and see
[Accumulation: 2,850/62,500]
The accumulation has noticeably increased.
Last time it was 80, so it increased by about 2,800.
‘So, it doesn’t just consume mana but also demonic energy.’
Now that I think about it, the description of the stone didn’t say it only accumulated mana.
I was just mistakenly assuming since the only thing I could accumulate right now was mana.
I never imagined it could also be charged with demonic energy.
Considering that this stone was born from the accumulation of Kali’s mana, it might actually be a natural result.
‘2,800…’
Anyway, this is an enormous amount.
It’s roughly the amount I would have to pour into as a Guardian Knight for over ten days.
Of course, I can’t directly equate mana with demonic energy, but that’s roughly the idea.
“Good job.”
“······Peace.”
As if waiting for the praise, Mi Jeong immediately makes a V sign expressionlessly.
I ruffle her hair and stand up.
Glimpsing around the cabin, I see the passengers who were just lying like corpses now getting up, bewildered.
‘So this can be used like this.’
This Black Mana Stone.
I was thinking there might be a method to fill it up massively.
I never imagined it could be filled by nullifying the curse.
‘Who the heck is it?’
Normally, a caster doesn’t need to be present to cast a spell.
Of course, they could cast it directly, but it’s common for pre-set talismans or totems to perform the spell.
However, in this case, I have a strong suspicion that the caster is still on this train.
‘It wasn’t a life-threatening curse. Just meant to make everyone lose consciousness.’
It’s a powerful spell strong enough to make all train passengers faint, but it wouldn’t take their lives.
So they planned to either sell the unconscious passengers as slaves or extract their organs while they were still alive; that’s the thought process.
“The caster is still on this train.”
So, the caster must still be aboard as well.
That’s my conclusion.
The problem is how to find them…
“Tsk… ”
Even as I look through the cabin, I can’t tell who seems suspicious.
It would be nice if I could use ‘Inspection’ on people.
Unfortunately, that’s not possible.
Then how am I supposed to find them?
There are dozens of cabins to search through.
‘There’s not much time left.’
Once the train arrives at the next stop and comes to a halt,
That person will jump off and escape.
So I need to locate them before we reach the next stop…
“Ah.”
I see.
I may not know where they are right now, but
I can guess where they’re headed.
The engine room.
The train is still speeding along.
The only way for the caster to escape is to get off the moment the train stops.
And there’s an immediate way to stop the train.
They just have to hit the brakes in the engine room.
If I’ve come up with this method, they are likely thinking the same.
“I’m going to the engine room. Follow me.”
“······Okay.”
Grabbing Mi Jeong’s hand, I hurry to the front of the train.
I need to reach there before that person.
To slam the brakes on a train that’s running smoothly, I’ll have to deal with the crew.
If they get there first, there could be casualties.
“Vice Captain, are you okay?”
“Uh, I’m fine. What the hell happened…?”
As we pass through the noisy dining car.
We walk past the ordinary cabins and the first-class cabins.
Soon, we come face to face with a locked door.
We haven’t arrived yet.
This area is the cargo hold.
We need to pass through the cargo hold to reach the engine room.
“It’s unlocked…”
But the lock is just hanging open.
When I turn the doorknob, the door opens without resistance.
That means they have already passed through here.
“Ugh!”
As I yank the door wide open,
The strong wind from outside hits me.
We are currently crossing a bridge that separates the Southern Continent and the Northern Continent.
Since it’s over the ocean, the wind is quite fierce.
As I try to open the next door to the cargo hold and move through…
“What the hell? Why won’t it open?”
The door doesn’t budge.
Did they lock it from the inside?
No, that can’t be.
If they were thorough enough to lock, they would have locked the door I just opened too.
So that narrows down where they’re headed.
Upward.
“Mi Jeong, get on my back.”
“······Okay.”
I hoist Mi Jeong onto my back, then jump high upward.
The moment I grab the wall and start climbing up,
I see someone precariously standing on the ceiling of the train.
“Got you, you little brat.”
“······?!”
A woman dressed in a black nun’s robe.
As she turns around, a pale face reveals itself.
Is she a curse caster pretending to be a nun?
The Holy Church strictly prohibits curses and considers them sorcery.
This is a very serious offense.
“Raise both hands and kneel. If you don’t, I’ll have no choice but to shoot.”
“······.”
I put Mi Jeong down and place my hand on my waist.
As I grip the bag hanging from my waist, it gradually transforms into a longsword.
Pointing the sword at her, she glares at me with a sinister expression, baring her teeth.
“So it was you who cursed.”
“You got a short tongue? How old are you?”
“Are you, a human, talking about age? Which one of us is being rude here…?”
“I don’t care what creature you are. Just raise your hands quickly, or I’ll make a blood fountain spew from your throat.”
I can’t let my guard down just because she’s a woman.
She could be in disguise.
There’s a saying in the fantasy world to be cautious of the elderly, women, and children.
Uh? Wasn’t it that?
Anyway.
“Ha ha…”
Contrary to my expectations, the nun raises her hands obediently.
Is she surrendering?
But it’s too early to be relieved.
‘Just to be safe, should I use Weak Point?’
She mentions age, so she seems like an elf or something.
Still, just to be sure, I activate the trait, Weak Point.
So her weaknesses should visibly mark her body in red…
‘What’s this? Why is it like this?’
I see no weaknesses.
In my line of sight, she’s entirely gray.
There’s not a hint of red.
This can’t be right!
Every creature must have a vital point.
Even Mi Jeong’s corpse shows its weaknesses, so what the hell is going on?
“Vulnerable spot!”
“······!”
In the blink of an eye, her body darts forward towards me.
She’s fast.
Not just fast, but fast to the point where it feels unreal.
But there’s no way someone like her can hit me once I’ve amplified my stats as a Guardian Knight and warmed up my body with mana control.
Already inside the range of the longsword attack, I can’t swing it in time.
As I block her palm strike, I quickly whip out a dagger.
“Ah!”
Thud!
The dagger plunges deeply into the nun’s abdomen, releasing a short scream.
I feel the blade pierce through flesh and tear into her insides.
It’s firmly embedded.
That means she’s definitely not a puppet.
“Ah, ah…!”
The color drains from her face, and she pales almost instantly.
Fear spreads across her expression.
The nun’s pupils begin to shake as she can’t tear her gaze away from the dagger embedded in her abdomen.
As her strength wanes, she starts to topple backward, so I wrap my arm around her waist to support her.
“Am I… going to die?”
The nun trembles and asks me.
The fierce demeanor from moments ago is nowhere to be found.
Only a woman who cannot accept death remains.
“Stop acting. You suck at it.”
“······.”
I think she genuinely believes she doesn’t have a vital spot.
She wouldn’t be freaking out like this just because she got nicked in a non-vital area.
“Why…?”
As expected, the nun’s expression twists into a frown, showing her displeasure.
Honestly, her acting isn’t terrible.
If it weren’t for the absence of weaknesses, I might have fallen for it.
What horrible luck that she ran into me.
“I’ll arrest you. If you have grievances, wait until we get to the station and discuss it with the police. For now, just behave—”
“······Behind!”
At that moment, Mi Jeong’s sharp voice rings out.
The moment I turn my head,
I spot a tentacle sprouting from the nun’s ankle, creeping up to my blind spot in an attempt to strike my head.
“Cough?!”
“Haha! I could’ve killed you! Such a waste!”
I manage to dodge the wildly lunging tentacle, but…
In that interval, the nun shakes off my grip and bolts away.
Even as I reach out again to grab her, all that grasps my fingers is air.
Before my eyes, her nun’s robe flops down empty as she disappears.
“What?!”
I wonder if she used some level 9 teleportation magic.
From under the nun’s robe, a black shape crawls out.
A black centipede.
It’s almost as large as Mi Jeong.
“Stay put!”
Without stopping, the centipede leaps off the train ceiling.
Just when I think it will drop into the gorge below…
“Where are you running?”
“······?”
Its body floats in midair.
It flails around with its many legs, but only moves uselessly through the air.
It can’t fall and is quickly dragged right in front of me.
“Oh, wait.”
Level 5 non-attribute magic, Telekinesis.
It’s basic magic.
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