Prologue
Clack—clack—
The train raced toward its destination, making a raucous noise as it moved.
Between the carriages, in that perilous space, a woman was hiding her body.
She pressed her back against the wall, trying to calm her ragged breathing.
Her eyes shone coldly as she raised a sleek silver gun.
“Scatter! Don’t let her get away, no matter what!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The voices of those who had been chasing her all along drew closer.
“Haa…”
There was nowhere left to run.
Screee—
She tore the side of her soft, flowing dress in a long rip.
Then, on the revealed white thigh, she traced a mysterious symbol with her fingertips.
In an instant, she leapt into the air, her movements astonishingly light.
As the men reached striking distance, she stepped forward calmly.
“Stop. Don’t come any closer.”
The men flinched, realizing the muzzle of her gun was aimed at their heads, and hesitated.
“Miss Sierra Kleshade. Follow the orders of the state.”
“Hah. Orders? You call massacring innocent people an order?”
“They are not innocent.”
She spat the words, chewing on her suppressed anger.
“Maybe only to people like you.”
Was getting on the train a mistake?
Or should she have traveled by land instead?
Many options flashed through her mind, but it was already a situation beyond reversal.
“I don’t want to use my power for something like that.”
Sierra muttered, her face stained with guilt and regret.
In an instant, she released the safety on her gun.
“Miss Kleshade!”
“I just want all of this to end.”
Sierra glanced back briefly.
The unfamiliar scenery rushed past.
The train would soon pass its destination.
She placed all her hope there.
“I don’t want to do anything I’ll regret anymore.”
She whispered the words to herself.
The gun pointed forward.
There was no hesitation.
As her fingertip pulled the trigger, the mysterious symbol engraved on the gun shimmered.
Then, an unnaturally bright light burst forth.
“Ugh!”
“No!”
And when the light vanished, there was no one left.
“Haa… ugh…”
Sierra forced her injured leg to move, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and the train tracks.
Her torn clothes were caked in dirt, and perhaps from a bad tumble, one side of her vision was blurred.
‘I have to… escape…’
Rustle—
As she struggled forward, she sensed someone nearby.
When she lifted her head, her eyes met someone in the forest.
A chill ran down her spine at the piercing blue gaze.
Dark skin she was unaccustomed to, silver hair that stood out even under the shaded trees.
A strange red symbol glimpsed beneath unfamiliar clothing, taut muscles visible underneath.
‘A barbarian tribe.’
The pointed tips of his ears, barely visible through the tousled hair, confirmed her suspicion.
He examined her from head to toe with the leisurely gaze of a predator.
She was already like captured prey, unable to move.
The standoff didn’t last long.
Sierra just watched him approach slowly, then collapsed silently.
