Yomogawa Ayame had just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had luckily avoided the two monsters’ notice and averted a major disaster.
She was still pondering what those two massive figures could be.
Could they be a new type of Kabane?
she wondered.
I’ve never heard of Kabane evolving into such forms…
Just then, a samurai’s panicked cry rang out from behind her.
“A-Ayame-sama!
B-behind us!
They’ve caught up!” Ayame’s heart constricted.
She spun around.
The two colossal serpentine shadows were slithering at high speed across the wilderness flanking the tracks, closing in on the Koutetsujyo.
Their thick bodies writhed and coiled, each undulation propelling them dozens of meters forward.
Their speed was terrifying, and the gap between them and the Koutetsujyo was closing at a visible rate.
“Faster!
Speed up!” Ayame nearly screamed.
“Ayame-sama!
We’re already at maximum speed!” the samurai replied, his voice laced with despair.
Ayame gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stay calm.
“Notify everyone!” she commanded, her voice low and steady.
“All samurai, prepare for battle!” The order was relayed instantly.
Soon, samurai from across the train flooded the roof and the firing positions along the sides of the cars.
They gripped their steam guns tightly, aiming at the two massive figures drawing ever closer.
But when the samurai finally saw the full forms of the two creatures, a chill shot up their spines from their very heels.
These were not beings that humans could possibly fight.
The Snakeman on the left was covered in bronze-colored scales.
Its upright upper body alone stood ten meters tall, and its serpentine lower body stretched for dozens of meters more, gleaming with a cold metallic luster in the sunlight.
Her eyes were golden vertical slits, now staring coldly at the tiny humans atop the Koutetsujyo, as if looking down at a swarm of ants.
The Snakeman on the right was slightly shorter, but still stood around eight meters tall.
Its earthy yellow scales also exuded a suffocating sense of pressure.
Her gaze was equally frigid, her forked tongue flickering in the air.
The two behemoths flanked the speeding Koutetsujyo on the left and right like two moving walls, plunging the entire armored train into their shadows.
The crushingly close presence made it difficult for every samurai to breathe, their hands shaking uncontrollably as they gripped their guns.
“What…
what kind of joke is this…
these things…” “Monsters…
they’re truly monsters…” Fear spread through the samurai like a plague.
Finally, a young samurai, unable to bear the crushing psychological pressure, broke down with a desperate scream and pulled the trigger.
BANG—!
The steam gun’s shot roared through the wilderness, striking the Bronze Snakeman’s torso on the left.
That single shot was the first domino to fall.
“Fire!
Fire—!” “Kill them!
Kill them!” Driven by terror, the samurai pulled their triggers in a frenzy.
A sudden storm of gunfire erupted, and a dense rain of bullets poured down upon the two Snakemen.
Gunsmoke filled the air, and flashes of fire flickered.
The entire roof of the Koutetsujyo was drowned out by the thunderous roar of the steam guns.
“Wait…
stop!
Everyone, stop!” Ayame tried to intervene, but her voice was hopelessly drowned out by the deafening gunfire.
However, as the smoke cleared and the scene came into focus, every samurai’s heart sank into the abyss.
The lead bullets struck the Snakemen’s bodies, only to be deflected by their hard scales without leaving even a single white scratch.
The flattened bullets clattered to the ground, their crisp pings sounding like a mockery of the samurai’s futile efforts.
The two Snakemen hadn’t even flinched, simply letting the bullets bounce off their bodies.
Saint Dio stood atop Sandersonia’s head, looking down at the armored steam locomotive as it barreled down the tracks.
His white hair whipped in the wind.
“Grab the engine,” he commanded coolly.
Without hesitation, Sandersonia thrust her massive arm forward.
Her fingers splayed open, then clamped down on the Koutetsujyo’s engine like an iron vice.
CRASH—!
The sickening shriek of metal on metal tore through the air.
The Koutetsujyo’s engine was brought to a violent halt, but its wheels spun frantically in place.
Steam hissed from the valves, yet without the friction of the rails, the train’s power was wasted in an empty spin.
The entire armored train bucked and swayed violently from the inertia.
Inside the carriages, people and objects tumbled about like dice in a shaken cup.
Cries of shock and screams of pain erupted one after another.
On the roof, Ayame lost her balance in the sudden jolt.
Her foot slipped, and she stumbled over the edge of the roof, plunging into the air.
“Lady Ayame—!” The samurai’s cries echoed behind her, but all Ayame could hear was the wind howling in her ears.
The sky and ground spun wildly in her vision.
She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the agonizing impact of hitting the ground— Yet, the expected crash never came.
Something snatched her back collar, hoisting her into the air like a fish on a line.
Ayame’s eyes snapped open, her heart still racing.
Looking up, she saw a slender, serpentine body coiled around her collar, its other end connected to the white-haired youth standing on the ground.
The sword he had been holding had transformed into a living snake.
With a flick of his wrist, Saint Dio commanded the snake to let go.
Ayame tumbled to the dry earth, her legs giving out beneath her as she slumped into a messy, duck-like seated position.
The hem of her kimono sprawled across the dusty ground, and her hair bun had loosened, with a few stray black locks falling against her cheek.
Her breath came in ragged, frantic gasps.
Before she could even process the shock, a slender, powerful hand reached out, seizing her chin and forcing her head up.
Ayame’s gaze met a pair of jet-black eyes.
They were calm and indifferent, as if she were no different from a stone by the wayside or an insect in the grass.
“Stop!” A furious roar erupted from the roof of the carriage.
Konochi Kurusu, a young samurai, stood on its edge.
The moment he saw the white-haired youth seizing Ayame’s chin, his eyes nearly split with rage.
He was a samurai serving the Yomogawa Family, tasked with Ayame’s personal protection.
Safeguarding his lady was his sacred duty.
Now, seeing her humiliated, his fury instantly overwhelmed his fear.
With a thunderous shout, he drew his katana from his waist and leaped, charging straight at Saint Dio.
Then, a massive hand descended from the sky.
Thud!
Sandersonia’s giant hand snatched Konochi Kurusu like a bug, crushing him within its palm.
The hand closed, leaving only his head exposed.
No matter how he struggled or hacked at the fingers with his sword, he couldn’t budge it an inch.
The blade struck the bronze-colored scales, sparking but leaving not a single scratch.
“Let me go, you monster!
Fight me one-on-one if you have the guts!” Kurusu roared, but the giant hand remained utterly still.