The diplomatic ministers huddled together, trembling like wheat stalks blown by the wind.
It was as if they desperately wished a hard turtle shell would grow on their bodies so they could immediately curl inside it.
The demi-human guards quickly took positions near every window, becoming alert.
Likewise, they had smelled the scent of danger.
They drew their long swords, their gazes like sharp arrows drawn tight on a bowstring, ready to strike.
'What exactly happened?'
'Why had these guards suddenly become so vigilant?'
They found it strange, but none of them dared to ask.
Some feared the bottomless abyss outside the carriage, others feared Gwen standing in the center of the carriage.
Gwen remained expressionless, as if she did not care about the crisis in front of her.
Her silver armor was like a storm from the northern lands. A frost-like authority swept across all the ministers whose eyes fell upon her, and an indescribable chill pierced into their bodies and minds.
The ministers only dared to glance at Gwen. The pressure coming from her made them unable to focus their thoughts.
Perhaps before the train even fell or reached the Kingdom of Kant, they would already collapse under this overwhelming presence.
Was this great knight Gwen always like this before?
No one knew how Viktor managed to tolerate her.
Thinking of this, waves of admiration for Viktor surged in the ministers' hearts.
The knights also sensed the abnormal state of the train. They hurried past one another, the metal armor on their bodies making heavy clashing sounds.
They moved through the carriage in formation, wanting to rush toward where the princess was.
They had never encountered this kind of situation before.
The magical train suddenly shaking?
An earthquake? Impossible.
The magical train floated and traveled in midair, so how could it shake because of an earthquake?
However, the violent shaking of the train truly brought fear to everyone.
From the moment the magical train was invented and put into use, it had never malfunctioned.
If there really was some hidden malfunction, the dwarf council member who invented the magical train probably would not remain calm.
Clang!
Another violent impact sounded above the carriage.
The intense vibration made everyone lose their balance, and one after another they instinctively searched for something sturdy to support themselves, grabbing it tightly.
Many knights almost lost their grip from the collision. Feeling the carriage slightly tilt, for a moment they felt death was so close to them.
Their hearts pounded wildly as they felt blood rush quickly to their heads.
But the demi-human guards relied on their natural sense of balance and stood steadily on the seat backs.
Suddenly, the train stopped shaking.
It was as if something had forced it to stop. After the trembling ended, the train itself also came to a halt.
People were stunned. They watched the clouds around them slowly rolling forward, but they themselves remained suspended in midair along with the train, only able to stare blankly.
How could the train suddenly stop in the air?
The ministers fell into confusion. Looking through the tilted windows, the terrifying abyss appeared before their eyes.
After experiencing two collisions, the train inevitably lost its stability.
The entire carriage tilted slightly in midair, somehow finding a strange balance on the magical tracks, standing stubbornly in the sky like a leaning tower.
They were clearly high in the sky, so what could they possibly have hit to stop the train?
At this moment, Gwen spoke calmly, as if she had expected it.
"Viktor said this was something we would definitely encounter when leaving the Empire this time."
What did that mean?
Her words shocked everyone present.
The diplomatic ministers had absolutely no idea beforehand that their trip would face such danger.
Hearing this suddenly made their emotions extremely complicated.
So Viktor and the others had already known this train journey would definitely face danger.
Yet they did not inform them and let them face this danger together?
No wonder this train had so many guards.
Even Viktor himself had boarded the train.
'Wait, Viktor... where is Viktor?'
The moment they thought of Viktor, a little sense of safety rose again in the ministers' hearts.
But now the train had already stopped in midair.
'In such a dangerous situation, what is Viktor doing? Why has he not appeared yet?'
Suddenly, Gwen pulled out the blazing flame sword at her waist.
In an instant, sword intent spread everywhere, and the surrounding air began to grow scorching hot.
The dry air twisted, and the sword flames coiled like a fire dragon.
The blazing light illuminated her frost-like face red, as if two forces were merging together, about to erupt with even greater power.
Her cold voice entered everyone's ears, "Now, please sit quietly in your seats."
"Whatever happens next, do not feel surprised."
The demi-human guards also gripped their sword hilts tightly, fully prepared.
At this moment, a shocking roar came from the front of the train, like a giant beast roaring. The vibration even made the clouds outside the carriage tremble.
The deafening roar made the ministers' ears hurt. They covered their ears, their faces twisting in pain.
'What is going on?'
The source of the sound... was the first-class carriage.
The knights who covered their ears and endured the sound reacted immediately.
'That was where Princess Aurelian is...'
'Could something have happened to Her Highness!?'
Thinking of this, the knights swallowed nervously, not knowing what to do.
But the ministers had no time to think.
Would something happen to Aurelian? What did that have to do with them?
Their own lives were about to be lost. Would they still think about whether they would lose their heads after Aurelian had an accident?
Suddenly, along with the roaring sound, the train's windows and doors exploded with a loud boom.
Black tentacles extending from outside wrapped around the entire carriage like giant snakes and began tightening fiercely.
Under this pressure, the carriage twisted and deformed. The walls on both sides were forced apart, splitting into two large cracks.
Seeing those terrifying tentacles, the ministers had become so numb that they even forgot to scream.
They could only stare blankly as the tentacles tightened again and again, making the twisted carriage produce sharp creaking sounds.
Yet Gwen remained as calm as ever.
With one foot stepping on the twisted seat, the crimson sword in her hand was like a beam of light piercing through darkness, the flames still illuminating her ice-cold face.
Finally, some ministers forced themselves to look at the black body revealing itself.
At that moment... Fear filled their hearts.
The irregular body kept wriggling, and the tentacles spread out from its filthy body.
Inside that chaotic, mud-like black shell, a yellow eyeball seemed to be mixed in, like a lump of flesh.
It opened its eye and carefully observed the frightened crowd in the carriage.
Until that hateful eye gradually focused on a figure in the carriage.
Following the gaze of that blasphemous thing, the ministers also looked in the same direction.
Their eyes landed on Gwen.
"Goddess… goddess…"
A complicated chant like an ancient language came from all directions, mixed and incomprehensible, making people tremble with fear.
However, Gwen showed no mercy. She stomped her foot fiercely, and the entire carriage seemed to shake.
As the flaming sword tore through the air, she wrapped in crimson flames and instantly arrived before the monster.
With one slash, the crimson light seemed to cut through the scorching space itself. Flames rolled rapidly, and a terrifying explosion suddenly sounded in midair, blowing away a large chunk of the carriage.
The violent wind produced by the explosion compressed continuously before bursting apart completely.
The air roared endlessly across the blue sky filled with white clouds, rushing into the narrow and twisted carriage and creating a violent pressure.
The ministers hurriedly grabbed the nearest handrails, afraid of being swept away by the brutal storm.
The towering black tentacles exploded after suffering that terrifying flame slash, turning into dense black sludge that splattered onto the carriage.
The black liquid seeped into the carriage through the narrow cracks.
Soon, those dark drops flowed across the floor, gathering together into numerous filthy monsters.
Thin tentacles dragged their disgusting bodies as they slowly surged toward the ministers.
The moment the ministers caught sight of those monsters, fear froze them like they had fallen into the bottom of an icy valley.
The tentacles that Gwen had cut apart had turned into countless filthy creatures.
But the demi-humans had already prepared everything. When they saw these creatures, the fur on their tails and their ears stood up at the same time. Like beasts releasing their instincts, they fiercely pounced toward the monsters.
These filthy tentacles were astonishingly weak. In just a short moment, they were quickly eliminated by the demi-humans.
Gwen stood in the carriage like a snow pine standing against the wind, her gaze fixed on the twisted monster.
Violent cold winds swept through her long hair. Holding the flaming sword, her heart was like ice and her sword like blazing fire, directly facing fear.
The tentacle-covered monster was burning with flames all over its body, as if they could not be extinguished.
Even the yellow eyeball seemed to be stained with ghostly fire.
Its flesh-fused eye stared tightly at Gwen, muttering an incomprehensible ancient language with unclear words.
"God… dess?"
"Why…"
At that moment, it seemed to fall into extreme rage. Its tentacles grabbed the train and wrapped around it tightly.
After drawing a curved arc through the air, it hurled the train violently toward the abyss below.
Whoosh!!
The carriage could no longer withstand such tremendous force. Passing through the howling cold wind, it began falling toward the massive rift below.
At that moment, everyone inside the carriage felt the terrifying sensation of falling.
Even the demi-humans lost their balance and crashed into the carriage walls.
The terrifying weightlessness left the ministers unable to speak. Even their brains had stopped thinking.
Only the roaring wind continuously poured into their ears.
Buzz!
Suddenly, a vast sea of magic completely covered the entire carriage.
The distorted magic seemed to lift the carriages, forcibly suspending them in the air.
The knights and ministers also floated inside the carriage.
Like survivors of a disaster, they looked outside the carriage in confusion.
Then they all saw the black figure outside.
Outside the carriage, Viktor stood with his hands in his pockets, his black coat fluttering constantly.
His legs were straight as he floated in midair.
Behind the coat, five different glowing stripes appeared, forming five enormous elemental hands.
Magic extended from those five hands. The five giant hands gripped firmly, as if grasping something invisible, holding up the suspended train.
He raised his head and looked at the goddess believer who had revealed its true form and was burning with flames, his face cold.
"As expected, you who don't dare show yourselves inside the Empire..."
"How could you possibly miss this opportunity?"