At dusk, the steam train, having just left the station not long ago, was gradually accelerating through the wide fields of Ulster.
Inside a first-class compartment, which swayed slightly with the movement of the train, a pale arm extended through the solid wall of the compartment, reaching towards a calmly placed code-locked briefcase on the sofa.
Just as the arm was about to touch the briefcase, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed in the corridor outside the compartment, and then the compartment door was abruptly pulled open.
"Who’s there!"
Sodod appeared at the door, holding a pistol and shouting towards the inside of the compartment. However, the compartment appeared completely normal, with no sign of anyone or anything unusual. Seeing this, Sodod’s brow furrowed slightly.
"No one... was it really just an illusion?"
Frowning, Sodod walked forward, picked up the code-locked briefcase from the sofa, and then left the compartment, heading towards the dining car.
As his figure disappeared at the end of the corridor, a pair of eyes silently opened on the metal roof of the carriage, coldly gazing in the direction where Sodod had vanished.
After finishing his meal in the dining car, Sodod did not linger for a moment. Carrying his briefcase, he returned to his compartment, sat down on a single chair, placed the briefcase on the table in front of him, and then sat motionless, watching the briefcase and the rapidly passing scenery outside the window.
Gradually, the dusk and evening glow faded, and night slowly descended. The light both inside and outside the train window gradually dimmed.Seeing the light dim, Sodod turned on the gas Lantern on the compartment table, took out a book from his pocket, and began to read quietly by the light of the Lantern.
As the night deepened, Sodod seemed to feel a bit drowsy. He closed the book, placed it on the briefcase, and began to doze off in his chair.
Just as he started to doze, a shadow suddenly appeared on the floor behind him. From the shadow, a figure clad in black, wearing a black mask, slowly rose and stood behind Sodod.
Then, the humanoid figure reached out towards the briefcase on the table, intending to move the book aside and take the briefcase. As he lifted the book, a small bell that had been pressed under the book rolled to the side, falling to the ground with a clear, tinkling sound.
At that moment, Sodod’s eyes snapped open. He immediately stood up from his seat, drew his gun, and pointed it behind him.
"Don’t move!"
Sodod shouted, looking behind him. However, his initially alert expression turned to one of astonishment, as there was no one behind him. At his feet lay the briefcase that had just been lifted.
“A Beyonder... a Beyonder with some kind of concealment ability!”
Seeing this, Sodod realized that he had been targeted by another Beyonder, one who possessed the ability to quickly conceal themselves.
Realizing this, Sodod began to focus his mind. Gradually, a faint ring of light appeared around the edges of his pupils, and the scene in the compartment became incredibly clear, his concentration greatly heightened.
Sodod was an Apprentice-rank Lantern Beyonder, a highly experienced Guider. Therefore, he knew that the current situation was definitely the work of another Beyonder, most likely a Shadow. He intended to use the Lantern’s Beyonder detection vision to find the intruder!
The Apprentice-rank Lantern possessed excellent vision, allowing the user to maintain a highly focused state of mind. After consuming spirituality, they could activate transcendent vision, enabling them to see objects up to a kilometer away. Within a close range of eight meters, they could detect the spiritual traces of people or objects, distinguishing between ordinary humans and Beyonders.
Focusing his mind and activating his Beyonder vision, Sodod began to scan the compartment, hoping to find the hidden Beyonder. However, after a long search, he found no trace.
At that moment, a shadow appeared on the wall of the compartment behind Sodod. Then, a black-clad figure emerged from the wall, holding a dagger and thrusting it towards Sodod. Due to the Lantern’s heightened concentration, Sodod sensed the movement behind him and quickly pointed his gun in the direction of the black figure.
However, the black figure was significantly faster than Sodod. Facing the gun, the sharp dagger swiftly sliced off the fingers of Sodod’s right hand. The gun, which had not yet been fired, fell to the ground, and Sodod cried out in pain.
"I didn’t plan to kill and cause trouble, but you brought this upon yourself."
Murmuring, the black figure tightened his grip on the dagger and thrust it towards Sodod’s vital points. Sodod’s eyes widened, and then he used his left thumb to swipe across a ring on his left index finger.
A delicate mechanism inside the ring was triggered, containing a Chalice spiritual storage and a small piece of concentrated, miniature Devouring Sigil. After the mechanism was triggered, the storage and the sigil were imprinted onto Sodod’s finger, activating the Devouring Sigil ability.
After activating Devouring Sigil, Sodod’s physical abilities increased several times over. He quickly dodged the dagger aimed at his vitals, but his chest and abdomen were still slashed open, blood gushing out.
"Ugh!"
Clutching his wound with his injured hand, Sodod tried to swing his other hand to counterattack the black figure. However, the opponent was too fast. After landing a successful strike, the black figure disappeared into another wall with the shadow.
The train compartment was cramped, with narrow spaces between the walls. For a Beyonder who could move through walls, this was an extremely advantageous terrain. In such an environment, Sodod had no chance of winning.
Failing to counterattack, and having witnessed the opponent’s abilities firsthand, Sodod realized that danger could come from any direction. He decisively pulled something from his waist and threw it to the ground.
It was not a Beyonder item, but a smoke grenade.
With a "bang," thick white smoke instantly filled the entire space, spreading into the corridor outside. The compartment was soon filled with dense smoke, making it impossible to see anything.
Sodod knew that the only way to escape was to block the opponent’s vision, making it impossible for them to find a target when they emerged from the wall.
Taking advantage of the smoke and clutching his wound, Sodod immediately fled his compartment. Using the enhanced physical strength from Devouring, he ran through the smoke-filled corridor and eventually hid in the train’s restroom.
"Haah... haah... haah..."
Closing the restroom door, Sodod leaned against the wall, clutching his wound. He looked at the mirror above the sink and saw that his face had started to turn purple. He was beginning to feel dizzy. He tore open his clothes, took out the first aid kit and bandages he carried with him, and tried to stop the bleeding, but he noticed that the blood flowing from his wound was somewhat black.
“The blade... was poisoned...”
Understanding his situation, Sodod felt a wave of despair. He knew that he probably wouldn’t survive.
The only reason he was still able to move and not lying on the ground waiting to die was because of the Chalice enhancement from Devouring Sigil, which was sustaining his body.
His Devouring Sigil was specially made, lasting longer than the average, but it wouldn’t last much longer. Once the effect wore off, he would be done for.
“Damn it... I can’t let that guy have the item... even if I die, I’ll take a piece of him with me!”
At this moment, Sodod was filled with hatred. He wanted to make one last stand against the Beyonder who was clearly of a higher rank than him.
But to fight back, he needed to find the opponent’s location!
With his weakened strength, Sodod pulled out a paper sigil from his clothes. On the sigil was drawn the symbol of the Lantern.
Placing the sigil on his body, Sodod activated it with his spirituality. Instantly, his sensing ability spread out, surpassing physical barriers!
This sigil was called the "Area Illumination Sigil." It could ignore physical barriers and forcibly detect all spiritual traces within a fifty-meter radius of the user, whether they were people or objects!
Sodod closed his eyes, consuming his Lantern spirituality to begin the detection. However, he detected nothing. Sodod knew this was normal. Shadow Beyonders could consume accumulated Shadow spirituality to resist mystical detection. This was a common ability among all Shadow Beyonders. To detect them, one had to exhaust their spirituality.
Thus, Sodod, already on the brink of death, began to pour more of his Lantern spirituality into the detection, trying to break the opponent’s concealment. However, it seemed to be of no use. Sodod still couldn’t detect anything. The opponent’s spirituality seemed to be more abundant.
But Sodod did not give up. He poured even more Lantern spirituality into the detection. Finally... after consuming an unknown amount of Lantern spirituality, he detected a Beyonder trace within his sensing range.
However, to his surprise, this trace... did not seem to belong to a Shadow.