Escalation (2)

"Such a thick miasma....so there's a demon among them too."

The atmosphere was filled to the brim with what one would call demonic energy. It's a kind of energy one would only find present when at least a demon is present, but the extent of the current situation could never be attained with just that.

Even June was surprised at how things managed to reach this point, staring at the half-deformed girl in front of him.

Fortunately enough, only her limbs have been wholly transformed with the rest only on the verge of turning. The most distinctive remaining trait would be the frilly brown hair cascading down her back.

"Halting [Corruption] on your own, hm? Such formidable fighting will."

When there's enough demonic energy present, humans exposed to them will begin to get corrupted. This process is called [Corruption] or more specifically, [Demonification], which forces a human's mind and body to undergo a complete transformation.

With that said, only those who have either never gone through any proper mental training aka ordinary civilians, or undergoing extreme emotions are susceptible to this kind of [Corruption].

"Hm....I guess I should isolate her first."

[Space Magic: Isolation]

Thoughts flashed through Jun's head as he carefully separated her from the environment.

Although he will definitely save the girl since she is right in front of him, that doesn't indicate he will heed her request. After all, it would just be adding more needless burden to his load, and while there wasn't exactly any from the beginning, his goal never changed: to find a proper, intact place to sit down. He's more the type to let trouble get to him than to actively deal with them beforehand.

However, part of him sympathized with the girl...and wanted him to press forward with the plea in mind. Her eyes reminded him of a past far gone, a hopeful heroic youth that strived despite facing despair.

At this point, he already considered turning back several times due to his continuous encounters with mostly hostile entities, but he still went on with the hope of meeting an untouched carriage. However, recent faceoffs only seem to further shake his belief.

So far, the only thing keeping him from going in the other direction was the fact that it was where he assumed the main control center resided.

Looking at how widespread the damages and the vacancies were, one could only assume Kreej had completely taken over the train. This meant that vital areas such as the control center would most definitely be stationed with guards, guaranteeing trouble upon meeting.

"An excuse...I need another excuse. A more solid one."

Despite not being a priority, he did have another goal aside from his current one: meeting Harry Lambert.

If his memory didn't betray him, all of the students he had met so far came from the same direction. From this, it can be deduced that there's a concentration of students at one end of the train, part of which may have been demonized by the dense energy.

'Could you be there among them, Harry?'

On a whim, June decided to switch his goal priority. If he were to go save Harry so he could repay the gesture of goodwill, saving others would just be compulsory side events.

"Kuku...since when have I become such a pushover?"

Right after isolating the girl, he initiated a golden circle with Rune Magic. It was the same circle he used to negotiate for his record, but this time it was for something else.

[Access: Human Record]

[Permission granted.....Match Found: Leera Goldazt...]

What June planned to do was an unconventional method. He wants to acquire a perfect model of the girl's soul and body at its best-recorded state so he can completely heal her without risking damage like the usual way.

"I see...Hm?"

Surprisingly, besides the native trace, the girl's soul possessed a trace foreign to this world which granted her a special pair of eyes. Despite that, her soul could be considered that of a native.

'A reincarnator....Interesting.'

He felt that a trend was slowly beginning to reveal itself. First him, now the girl, it seemed that it was only a matter of time before even more cases appeared.

'Right, I shouldn't pry more. It's gonna be a breach of privacy.'

Grasping the model's every measure completely, he closed the record and smiled.

"Be grateful, little girl. My youthful self wanted to help you, so wake up."

[Rune Magic: Remodification]

***

That night, a powerful blizzard swept through the village. Cold air would seep through the cracks, windows would be blown open by the wind, and the shack would shake violently at times as if it would fall anytime.

There wasn't a moment of peace in that place for the three of them.

The girl still remembered the freezing sensation, but even back then, they managed to brave through without a proper fireplace. That, however, wasn't the same for their mother.

"KOFF! KOFF! -----KOOFFFF!"

Letting out intense coughs, she was pale as dead. Her eyes were trembling as her body shook uncontrollably, seemingly tortured by the cold of the outside. Even her distinctive brown hair and wolf ears which once attracted the chief had all gone grey.

Naturally, the girl and her sister panicked at this sight and tried to cover her mother with even more clothes, but to no avail. Unreasonably, any attempts only resulted in the coughs worsening.

"That's...enough....kids. Come here."

Her voice was weak, but one was enough for both of them to be seated beside her mother.

"Haha...such cute and diligent kids....yet he was so willing to cast us aside."

Caressing their face, the mother weakly smiled.

"Sadine, Aaliyah...Mom's sorry for being so useless...KOFF! KOFF!"

"Useless?" The little girl's head tilted.

"Don't say that, mom. You're our greatest blessing, just like we're yours!" The other girl exclaimed.

"KOFF!...Haha...I'm glad I had you girls. But still...I'm sorry you two had to go through this. It's...mom's fault after all."

KOFF! KOFF! KOFF!

Even though the two didn't understand much back then, they listened to their mother with the utmost attention.

"Listen...here, girls. Mom doesn't think she'll make it through."

"" ! ""

"Don't show such expressions. You two must be strong...when I'm not there."

KOFF! KOFF!

"Mom promises she will try her best, but...nothing is guaranteed. That's why...you two must protect each other."

She glared at the cracked window, her mouth continued to speak with contempt.

"This place....this land....Nothing rules but power. Mom hates it...that it's filled with ugliness....that even the likes of us are suppressed. They feared us....they detested us.....they envied us...and thus destroyed us...just because they couldn't control us."

"Mom- UM UM UM UMMMMM!"

The little girl spoke up, only to be stopped by her sensible sister.

"We were foolish...believing in the sweet lies of peace they uttered....it's only inevitable that things would turn out this way."

KOFF!

"All that's left was a broken toy, rendered powerless...."

"Toys? I like toys!" Escaping her sister's grasp, the little girl yelled excitedly

"Shut up, idiot!"

"Hahaha...it's fine, Aaliyah. Leave her be." The mother reassured the sister before turning to the little girl. "Sadine?"

"YESH?"

"You're too loud, idiot."

"Is it okay...if Mom asks you....a favor?"

The little girl nodded her head vehemently.

"You're strong…so, at all cost,...protect your sister, okay?"

***

Jolted awake, Sadine found herself lying on the floor next to the wall. Her body felt rather painful to move, but it appeared that she didn't suffer any serious injuries.

"Urgh!"

She sat up and leaned on the dirty wall, letting out a pained moan as she did so.

With her body shaking, Sadine attempted to channel Ether around her body, which was crazy hard.

For some reason, the flow within her body had become a disoriented mess, forcing her to untangle each of the flow just to muster a little Ether. It was a huge chore to Sadine, who just woke up a minute ago.

"Seth? You there?"

"..."

She tried to call out for her spirit, but no answers came.

'Is he sleeping?'

"Oh? You're awake? How do you feel?"

A quiet voice muttered from her left, taking her aback.

"!"

"Please don't be on guard. I'm also a student like you."

A blonde-haired boy popped up from behind a chunk of debris. Although they were the same age, she could sense a different air from the boy, something she couldn't describe in words.

'He's also on guard.'

Behind the amicable act, she could see the cautiousness hidden within the boy's eyes. He wasn't glaring or anything of that sort, but his eyes definitely were scanning her.

'Indeed...I'm just doing the same.'

There was not much to say about the boy other than that he had a well-built body for someone his age, as well as "refined" movements she hadn't seen much before.

He was beatable, that's all there is to him.

'In any case, I must move out soon. I have to get to her.'