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Since the Train\'s departure from Slosbert, the journey had been smooth with no complications, technical or otherwise.

The gentle hum of the conversations of the passengers seated on the rows of plush, cushioned seats that stretched down the economy class cars mingled with the rhythmic clatter of the wheels on the track, creating a backdrop of tranquil movement.

Unfortunately, this tranquillity was broken when a group of people suddenly got up from their seats and grabbed random civilian passengers, holding up swords and daggers infused with energy to their necks and shouting out.

"Listen up! Don\'t even think about resisting, all right?!!

With this many hostages, we don\'t give a damn if we lose one or two of you!!"

Panic rippled through the previously calm passengers, replaced by a tense silence and wide-eyed fear.

The hijackers\' harsh commands and aggressive gestures sent waves of dread through the bodies of most who heard as they tried to corral all the passengers to the back of each car.

And to make matters worse, some of the hijackers were quite strong, exuding auras on par with weaker A-rank adventurers.

Naturally, there weren\'t just civilians on the train, but adventurers and others with sufficient levels of strength, however, their hands were tied as the hijackers had each gotten their hands on a civilian whom they held as a hostage, rendering any direct intervention perilous.

In one of the cars, a Paladin present wanted to take action, but the moment he saw the dagger glide across the scared elderly woman\'s skin, he stopped in his tracks, knowing fully well that he would not be able to reach the assailant faster than he could end that woman\'s life.

Similar dilemmas confronted others who attempted to intervene in other cars and had them at a loss.

A few tried to talk the hijackers into freeing the civilian hostages who were probably not related to their goals but the hijackers weren\'t stupid enough to do that.

Their leader barked out some orders before taking the stronger ones with levels around the 300 range up to the First-Class cabins whilst the others were sent to round up the other passengers in the other cars.

Going into the other cars with weapons drawn and grabbing a few civilians as hostages, they were able to easily round up the others and prevent the stronger people on the train who held regard for the hostages\' lives from doing anything.

The group sent to the Dining Car reached it to find that it was nearly empty, save for a few staff and a couple of children with their pet.

However, the moment one of the hijackers who was an elf walked in, he instantly realised that these seemingly innocuous \'children\' were, in truth, spirits. And seeing that they were fully humanoid, they had to be at least high-ranked ones.

If the spirits suddenly returned to their immaterial bodies and became invisible to the naked eye, then things would be a lot harder for them as they would have to deal with a bunch of invisible opponents.

So he acted pre-emptively, unleashing his magic power and casting binding spells to restrain the spirits before they could even shift forms.

"Stonehold Grasp!"

Dozens of two-ringed earth magic circles appeared in the air around the two spirits, from which bands of earthen energy emerged from within, snaking around their bodies with remarkable strength.

The bindings solidified, turning into restraints that pressed against their bodies tightly and prevented any movements.

[Huh?]

[??]

The two spirits, who were naturally Kayla and Amy, were naturally dumbfounded as in one moment they were enjoying their late breakfast and in the next, a bunch of strange people just barged in and used magic to restrain them.

It\'d be stranger if they weren\'t confused.

But amidst their confusion, the spell continued its work, coiling around their bodies multiple times over, knocking out everything in their hands and sending them tumbling onto the floor in the process.

And that didn\'t exactly bode well with Kayla.

Her eyes glowed with golden light and the room\'s temperature suddenly surged, this was followed by waves of heat that melted the sturdy bands of earth wrapping around her body and turned them into blobs of molten rock that dripped to the floor.

The hijackers who were looking at their elven companion in confusion a moment earlier, pivoted to a heightened state of alertness and cast wary gazes at the spirits.

"Dude!"

"The heck is going on here?!"

However, this drew the attention of the group in the car next to theirs who rushed over to see the situation. Sadly, these ones weren\'t as patient as the Elf\'s group members.

"A bunch of ki-wait! Their auras!!"

"Boss said to kill anyone who tries to resist, no matter who!!"

"Wait! Don\'t, they\'re-"

Words didn\'t get through to these ones and they attacked with magic immediately, utilizing lightning magic spells and aiming straight for the head.

But for a reason they could not understand, it was as if the spells they unleashed just phased through the previously annoyed—now angry Kayla and hit the wall of the dining car behind her.

**BOOMM!!

With a deafening noise, the wall exploded into a cascade of molten sparks and twisted metal fragments, the force of the blast sending shrapnel flying in all directions.

[How dare you?!]

Kayla\'s enraged voice echoed through the car; the magic energy infused within it shattering the spell circles that the hijackers who attacked her had formed.

Following this was the sound of crackling lightning as in an instant, seven bolts of condensed supercharged lightning ripped through the air and pierced all the hijackers in the room, save the elf, straight through the heart.

After the bolts pierced through their chests and emerged from their backs, they re-entered the men\'s bodies from the backs of their heads and burst out from their foreheads without a second\'s delay.

The elven man\'s eyes widened upon seeing his companions drop dead beside him, fear gripping his body as he weakly dropped to his knees.

\'…perhaps…I made a bad call…\'

Those were his last thoughts right before his shadow came alive and grabbed his arms, before pulling his entire body into its dark depths.

[Did you capture that one, Kuro?]

[Yes. I also shielded the staff. No harm came to them from the explosion.]

The cat that the hijackers had assumed was a pet, Shadow Spirit Kuro, replied to Kayla before using magic to create a wall of darkness that covered the gaping hole that now marred the car\'s body—a temporary measure until someone who could make something better with another element came over.

[But, Lady Kayla. Couldn\'t you have just blocked that attack?]

[Geh! Don\'t try to push the blame on me! I was pissed, okay?!

It\'s one thing if they knocked my food out of my hand—sure it\'s annoying but that\'s about it. But who wouldn\'t get angry if they were suddenly attacked out of the blue like that?! Something like blocking it didn-]

\'Kayla, Kuro, where are you two?\'

Evan\'s voice that suddenly rang out in both spirit\'s heads her words short halfway. Kuro simply informed their contractor of their location and the situation, as well as his intention to get information out of the Elf who had been captured.

◇ ◇ ◇

Right after the sudden explosion that occurred in the dining car, Evan and Eliza quickly moved to check out the situation while leaving Pride and Greed upstairs in case anything happened there.

While Eliza went down using the proper stairs, Evan chose an unorthodox means to get to the lower deck of the train.

He turned his gaze towards the window and activated his blink skill, teleporting right out of the train and appearing beside it.

Naturally, gravity didn\'t hesitate to pull him down towards the ground. Still, he kept his gaze on the train, so the instant the interior of the lower deck came into his field of vision, he teleported once more.

He scanned the car with his gaze and saw the hostage situation in one glance, picking a spot right in between two of the hijackers who were holding civilians hostage and teleporting right there.

"Wha-?"

*CHINK!

The man could not even finish letting out an astonished voice upon sensing Evan\'s presence suddenly manifesting behind him when his entire arms were encased in a thick layer of ice.

Seeing this opening, the Paladin who had been watching them closely instantly sprung into action, knocking the hijacker\'s frozen arm away and freeing the elderly woman whom he was holding.

As for the other, an adventurer who was on board also took action to save them from their now half-frozen captor.

Evan then turned his gaze towards the car door where two of the hijackers who were leaving to go check on the situation in the car where the sudden explosion rang out from.