Chapter Eighty-Five: The Death Dance of the Radiant Knight-After Awakening(What a hassle.)

A gunshot?

Everyone paused slightly and turned toward the sound.

"A gunshot?"

"One of them was hit!"

"Yes, yes, one went down!"

"What in the world are those things outside?"

In the darkness beyond, one of the shadowy figures had been struck by Mulan. It was moving at tremendous speed, still lunged forward after being hit, then rolled over and over on the ground for dozens of turns before finally stopping.

Many on the train who saw this stared at the shape, but it was immediately left behind by the speeding cars.

Bang... Bang... Bang...

Mulan fired three more shots. Only one found its mark; the other two missed. One target began to limp and quickly came to a stop, while another, like the first, tumbled down in a rolling heap.

Bang, bang...

Mulan fired twice more, but this time one shot missed and the other, though it struck, did not seem to slow the shadow at all.

The figures outside were absurdly agile, and their speed was terrifying. Even with Mulan's uncanny marksmanship, he could not guarantee a hit.

His expression had grown even more grave than when facing the vampires. While he began reloading, he shouted in the direction where Handel stood.

"Handel, shoot outside. They're werewolves—"

Once the full moon transformed them, werewolves had practically no reason left when they came near humans. They did not merely eat flesh and drink blood; even without hunger they would still tear living bodies apart. If werewolves got onto the train, it would be nothing short of a disaster.

Handel had been playing along before, but upon hearing Mulan's words he dared not hesitate. He rushed to the window, yanked aside a passenger who had been leaning there to stare outside, and before the man could even flare up in anger, Handel drew his pistol and fired outward.

Bang... Bang, bang, bang...

"Ah!"

"He's shooting!"

Some passengers near Handel, hearing the gunfire and seeing the muzzle flashes, screamed and clutched their heads, while a few bolder souls continued looking out the window.

"Not a single hit!"

"They all dodged it!"

"No, one was hit. One of them slowed down!"

Handel could not spare a thought for such embarrassing remarks. He knew his aim was not actually bad; it was simply that the shadows outside kept dodging at just the right moments.

Mulan no longer had time to care about anything and even shouted at the ordinary passengers.

"Anyone with a gun, shoot at the shadows outside! Don't let them get near the train! Everyone with a gun, fire! They're werewolves! Conductor, get the guns—now!"

The conductor was also staring out the window and had heard Mulan's words. Those shadows outside were actually able to keep pace with the train, and after following for so long they were steadily closing in. That alone was enough to make one's scalp crawl. Hearing the word werewolf sent a chill from the very depths of his heart, and at the same time, it all felt absurd.

Roar—

One werewolf drew close enough, then suddenly sprang from the other side and clamped onto a train window.

With a crash, the glass shattered. The werewolf's sharp claws hooked the window frame and tore at the iron skin of the train, fighting against its speed and the force of the wind, sending out shower after shower of sparks.

Its hideous face, sharp fangs, and hooked claws drove the passengers in the nearby carriages to shriek in terror.

"Aaaaah!"

"A monster!"

"It's a werewolf!"

Mulan crossed a carriage and a half in a single sprint, reaching the window where the werewolf clung. Passengers fleeing nearby stumbled and rolled over one another on the floor, while Mulan had already leapt upward. He drew Fang and slashed at the claws gripping the window frame.

Whoosh—

As the blade fell, blood burst into the air. Fang traced a graceful arc, then Mulan drew it back slightly and thrust forward with brutal force. The slender sword pierced the train's outer shell and drove straight into the werewolf's body. Already losing balance because one of its claws had been severed, the werewolf was struck through the heart. Its howl cut off at once, and it was hurled from the train, tumbling backward into the darkness.

"Conductor—!"

Mulan shouted again.

At last the conductor came back to his senses. Fear completely overwhelmed any sense of absurdity, and he shouted frantically at the train staff and passengers.

"Quick, quick, get the guns!"

"All passengers with guns, I am the conductor. Fire at once! I authorize it! They're werewolves, werewolves—"

As the conductor roared, all the other staff except the female attendant who was still tending to the bleeding woman hurried with him toward the front car to retrieve the weapons. There were indeed guns aboard the train, meant for robberies and other emergencies.

The attendants moved swiftly through the train, while the ticket inspectors near the front were the first to rush into the leading car. When the conductor arrived, he used his key to open the gun cabinet. Inside were three hunting guns, two rifles, a pistol, and the corresponding ammunition.

"Take the guns and the flares, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

While the conductor and staff were fetching the weapons, the passengers had also begun to react. The tiny number who carried guns could no longer care about anything and hurriedly drew them out, firing toward the darkness outside.

There could not have been many gun owners aboard the train, but the passenger count was large, so there were now more than a dozen guns sounding at once. Whatever the reason these people carried them, legal or not, there was now only one goal for everyone: do not let the monsters, no, do not let the werewolves board the train.

"All passengers move to the front carriages! All passengers to the front! Women and children first!"

The conductor, holding a hunting gun and leading the staff, charged out while shouting and fired a shot outside as well.

The train had fallen into complete chaos. Gunfire and screams rose and fell in waves. The shooting was lively, though few shots hit their mark. Still, with so many guns firing wildly, some were bound to find success. More importantly, the barrage created many opportunities for Mulan and Handel.

Crash...

With two successive impacts, two werewolves had already seized the left and right cars near the rear. More werewolves had leapt onto the roof from behind. Then came two more thunderous blows as two of them smashed the windows and tore open openings in the glass, surging inside from outside.

Several passengers firing outward turned toward the breached area. The monsters were covered in black fur, with wolfish muzzles, fangs, claws, and long tails, standing upright to a height that nearly touched the carriage ceiling. Their eyes gleamed with a ghostly green light.

"Aah!"

"It's a werewolf!"

"Back up, back up!"

"Fire, fire!"

Bang bang bang...

A few men raised their guns and sprayed bullets at the werewolves, but the creatures moved on all fours, darting wildly along the carriage walls to use the train's interior as leverage. In their panic, the people had little accuracy to begin with, and even fewer bullets struck home.

The passengers retreating backward were slower than the werewolves advancing. The one at the front was seized in an instant and bitten hard in the shoulder.

"Aaaah..."

The scream rang out, then was abruptly cut short. The werewolf clamped the passenger in its jaws and flung him backward. The poor man was torn to pieces in an instant by the werewolves coming up behind, a sight that terrified the armed passengers and any others with sharp eyes who were watching.

"Everyone get out of the way!"

Mulan's shout carried a force that shook the heart from the rear. He himself had already dropped slightly into a crouch, the muscles of his legs swelling so tightly that they pressed against the otherwise fitted trousers.

Bang!

With a burst from beneath his feet, Mulan shot forward at once, carrying Luminar on his back and Fang in hand before him. While keeping his full attention on the werewolves, he turned his face slightly and roared:

"Vampires, if you dare provoke the Empire of Dilga, you will pay the price!"

Before the words had even faded, Mulan had already reached the carriage where the werewolves had broken through. Maintaining his speed, he shifted his body slightly and slipped past two armed passengers who were retreating in panic. In the next instant, he was face to face with the towering, monstrous werewolf.

'Infected ones!'

At a glance Mulan saw through the true nature of these werewolves. As his fury erupted, light spread across his body, and vague luminous wings seemed to unfold on either side.

"Get lost!"

He swept his sword upward at an angle, severing the werewolf's raised right arm along with more than half its shoulder from the body. Mulan did not even pause. He passed over the werewolf, while Luminar flared with light behind him.

Bang...

A bullet struck the head of the werewolf behind him. Using the recoil, Mulan's body seemed to blur and flash to the side of the second werewolf, and by then Fang was already held horizontally.

The werewolf only felt a slight itch in its abdomen. Then it lost all sense of its lower body, and with it, its balance.

Bang, bang bang...

Whoosh...

Sizzle...

Gunfire and flames, swordlight and blood. Mulan performed a dance in the carriage where the werewolves had broken through from behind—a death waltz.

The vampire and the other passengers who had already fled to the front like everyone else stared wide-eyed toward the rear, mouths slightly open and trembling.

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