The condensed essence shot out from my hand, piercing through one of the eyes and burrowing deep into the flesh.
Then, in the very next moment—
A muffled explosion echoed throughout the black void.
Chunks of flesh were blasted apart and slammed into me, while purple blood splattered all over my body.
I stood there, covered in filth, panting heavily, my body and essence completely drained.
The limbs that had been about to attack fell lifelessly to the ground, devoid of any remaining vitality.
The effects of this battle would reflect on my real body once I woke up, which would be a problem—especially since, at this time, Lucas was supposed to have already killed all the guards while leaving us alive for his next step.
I looked at Elliot as he walked toward me and spoke.
"Nice explosion... so, how do we get out of here now?"
I glanced at the purple thread that had been connected to my chest—it had already vanished.
"We just need to wait a bit."
I redirected my attention to the black void and saw faint cracks beginning to form everywhere, as ethereal white light seeped through them.
This space had been created by the Demon of Dreams, so with its death, it would naturally begin to collapse, and we would be expelled from here.
I looked at Elliot again.
"You know, we might be under attack outside right now. They could be stronger than us, so try to buy time until reinforcements from the Axis arrive. Leave contacting them to me."
That was how things were supposed to go originally.
When everyone woke up and found members of the Void system standing over them—all of whom were rank 3.
Since the guards were dead, there was no real chance to fight back... the only person among them capable of facing a rank 3 was Elliot—and even he wouldn’t be able to do much against advanced ranks.
So, after a fierce battle, they would manage to inform the Axis and buy time until reinforcements arrived.
Professor Lucas would try to pretend he had been asleep like everyone else, but he would be caught cooperating with the Void system members, and that would be the end of him.
Elliot nodded.
"Alright, I’ll rely on you to contact the Axis."
In reality, I had already prepared for this. I had set my phone to automatically send a distress signal to the academy after a certain amount of time had passed since I fell asleep.
The distress signal had likely already been sent.
The cracks in the black void widened, and chunks of its walls began to shatter, revealing glimpses of what lay beyond.
A world of pure white, where celestial bodies of various colors distorted and drifted.
I began to feel an invisible force pushing me out of this place.
And there—among those celestial bodies—
I caught sight of something... or rather, its shadow.
A massive, distorted shadow...
Just a glimpse of it made my mind feel completely empty.
But at the same time—
My vision darkened, and I was expelled from the void.
...
Ten minutes had passed since the train came to a stop.
All the guards had been killed, as they were the greatest threat—especially those of rank 4.
If their minds were strong enough, they might have been able to escape the dream, so they were eliminated first. Now, their corpses lay slumped across bloodstained seats.
As for the students, they were left where they were. For now, they weren’t a priority... they were kept alive because Lucas needed them for his next step—though he might kill some of them later anyway.
Professor Lucas now walked calmly toward one of the armored vaults containing the Relics and opened it.
Inside rested a small box.
He reached out and picked it up, then opened it—only to find a black card resting inside.
He picked it up and flipped it back and forth.
"So this is the piece of metal that was brought out from inside the labyrinth," he said, curiosity clear in his voice.
After examining it a bit longer, he returned it to the box and closed it.
At the same time, he turned to one of the masked men beside him and handed over the box.
"Take this outside and put it with the others."
The masked man took it and did as instructed.
Lucas continued opening the vaults one after another, removing each Relic and having it transported to the ship beneath the cliff.
A vessel capable of moving at high speed and even diving underwater... this way, they could deliver these Relics to one of the Mind Faction’s bases and reap the rewards.
At this pace, Lucas estimated they would need about half an hour to finish everything.
He walked through the train cars, observing the followers his friend had brought as they worked diligently—after all, they had all been promised generous rewards.
He also glanced at the students sleeping peacefully in their seats... and even at the corpses of the guards.
Most of the people here were high-ranking nobles, and their deaths would cause him unsolvable problems—especially since he wanted to pretend he was a victim as well and retain his position within the Axis.
But to complete his plan, he needed to sacrifice some of them... of course, he wouldn’t choose the princess or Elliot Sivrax.
To achieve the most satisfactory outcome, he decided to use those without any background.
He walked into Carriage 6, where two people were sleeping peacefully on the seats, and the corpse of a man lay slumped on another seat, drenched in blood.
One had brown hair, the other black—
Of course, they were Ivan Rexel and Caius Astroweild, whom they had found in the bathroom and placed here.
Lucas looked at Caius the way a butcher looks at a lamb about to be slaughtered.
He stepped closer and placed his hand on Caius’s head.
"You poor child... you had such a promising future, but unfortunately..."
His hand moved toward Caius’s neck—but—
Before he could do anything, the bodies of both Ivan and Caius trembled at the same time.
Lucas tensed, but quickly understood.
They were regaining consciousness.
He stared at them with wide eyes, his voice filled with shock.
"...How...?"
Then, the communicator in his pocket began to vibrate.
He didn’t need to look at it to understand what was happening.
Everyone was waking up.
He clenched his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
"Why... why now?"
He drew his sword, his hand already moving to kill them—but stopped just moments before doing so.
"No... it’s not too late yet. We can still finish the plan," he thought quickly.
He immediately pulled out his communicator and spoke.
"Listen, all of you—pretend you don’t know me, and don’t hold back when fighting against me. Take everything you can and retreat."
He decided he could still come out of this with some benefits. After all, the students wouldn’t be able to defeat five rank 3 opponents.
So he could salvage the situation and pretend he was a victim as well, keeping his position... and maybe another opportunity would arise in the future.
He changed his expression to one of danger and concern.
At almost the same moment, Caius and Ivan opened their eyes to find Professor Lucas standing before them.
Then, they heard the sound of a powerful explosion coming from one of the carriages.