The Night Owl

It was as though it had fallen from the heavens, like a magnificent dream.

Radiance streaked by like a thousand suns, each tiny spark of light feeling like its own world.

The light grew ever brighter, washing everything in white, leaving only blankness in its wake.

···

With a solid step onto the ground.

Clang—

Chains clinked as Kurumi gripped the gunblade in her hand, listening intently to her surroundings, her senses on high alert.

Kurumi quickly adjusted to the brightness around her.

The sight was beautiful—a vast, clear lake spread out before her, where the gentle ripples distorted the moon's reflection.

The dense, verdant forest surrounding the lake was almost untouched, and a single winding railway cut through it, extending toward the distant mountains.

"Where… is this?"

Kurumi looked around in confusion. The voice that had brought her here was vague and offered no hint. After leaving [Fate/Zero], she had arrived here.

Despite the beautiful scenery, Kurumi's brows remained tightly knit.

The reason? The unsettling quiet.

The lake was clear, and under the moonlight, she could see every pebble at the bottom.

Yet this vast lake didn't contain a single fish.

The forest was equally silent, without even the chirp of insects—an eerie tranquility.

Strange occurrences often had sinister causes.

With her powers unrestricted, Kurumi's godlike perception surveyed the area, her shadows rippling out to probe her surroundings.

Not a single 'living' soul for miles.

True, not a single 'living' soul at all.

A faint breeze brought with it an unnatural scent of iron.

The snapping of branches shattered the silence, and what appeared before Kurumi were several stumbling figures, shambling her way.

They were certainly not human.

In each creature's chest glowed a bright light, as if an open furnace, radiating from their hearts in fiery tendrils along their veins.

It was as though molten steel flowed through them.

Their eyes burned like torches, as if they themselves were aflame.

They roared, speeding up as they neared Kurumi from about a hundred meters away, charging at her with twisted, jerking strides.

"Oh my, oh my, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if I just killed these things outright."

Kurumi raised the flintlock in her hand, only to find a serious problem—she couldn't pull the trigger.

It was only now that the elusive voice returned, finally offering a belated explanation.

[You have accepted an invitation to a world on the brink of ruin.]

Kurumi frowned. An invitation?

···

[Due to limitations of this world's structure, you cannot use your original firearms here.]

Oh? Unable to use them?

···

[We wish you a pleasant journey.]

···

"Pleasant, you say?"

"Oh my, oh my, I think I've had enough of 'pleasant' for a while."

Even without her guns, Kurumi remained calm, her full power gave her confidence that she could take on anything.

For a moment, she considered using a major abilities, or perhaps… Bloody Dance.

But then she imagined actually touching these creatures with her gunblade or her feet and decided against it.

The monsters were fast, closing half the distance within seconds.

Kurumi could already smell their nauseating stench of rotting flesh and iron.

"Neh, neh—watch your step now," she teased.

Kurumi tilted her head, a playful grin spreading across her lips as she tossed a few greenish spheres.

G-14 hand grenades.

"As I thought… only the guns are restricted."

A thousand possibilities flashed through Kurumi's mind in an instant.

The creatures had no time to react before the grenades exploded. In a burst of blazing orange, they were instantly vaporized, leaving scorched circles on the grass.

Clang—

Clang—

It sounded like something metallic had fallen to the ground.

Kurumi strolled over, her smile growing deeper.

···

From high up in the branches, a monster dropped down with brute force. In its left hand, it held a long katana, and in its right, a short blade, swinging both down at Kurumi.

The creature moved swiftly, arriving within striking distance in an instant, its furnace-like heart leaving a trail of searing light.

But Kurumi had anticipated this. With a light sidestep, she deftly dodged the blow.

"Oh my, oh my, has anyone ever told you~~~ your heart really stands out?"

"There's no hiding it."

The creature hidden in the trees was like a dragon crouching in the grass—a pathetic sight.

The undead monster stomped the ground with its right foot, hissing like a bellows, swinging the sword back toward Kurumi.

Though a mindless creature, it still retained a decent level of swordsmanship.

The short blade's edge was mere inches away.

···

"Ah, sorry—I forgot. You don't understand a word I'm saying."

Kurumi laughed, lifting her right arm, positioning her gunblade under the monster's short blade, and then gave a quick flick.

The short blade flew high into the air, the monster unable to match Kurumi's strength.

Kurumi's right leg shot out, striking the monster's waist and sending it flying.

The blade fell, and Kurumi caught it, launching it forward. It pierced through the creature's furnace-like heart, pinning it to a tree.

As soon as the short blade penetrated its heart, the undead creature lost all signs of life. Its glowing veins dimmed, and its limbs went limp.

"So, the weakness is the heart?" Kurumi scoffed. "An obvious weakness at that."

The heart glowed so brightly in the darkness, and while piercing it had felt a bit unsettling, it had been trivial for her.

Wiping her hands off in mild distaste, she scraped her shoe against the grass a few times.

Kurumi strolled leisurely to where the grenades had exploded.

There on the ground lay several dark, metallic cores, each just the size of a heart.

···

Creatures neither human nor alive, these undead beings bore steel hearts.

Beneath the clear night sky lay a world thick with foreboding.

But first, she needed to find somewhere with people.

Eyeing the winding railway, Kurumi was lost in thought.

Should she follow the tracks toward the distant mountains? Or head toward the plains stretching out in the opposite direction?

She flipped a coin, and the answer landed in her mind.

With her back to the mountains, Kurumi set off into the distance.

"Well then, I wonder who invited me here?"

A glint of anticipation appeared in her eyes.

"Oh, and just to make things clear, I absolutely hate short swords."

...

Kabane.

Undead monsters that first emerged in Western Europe and swiftly overtook the world.

—Since the British Industrial Revolution, they rapidly swept across the globe.

They are ferocious beings with steel membranes covering their hearts—no longer human.

···

A heavily armored steam locomotive roared down the tracks, hurtling into the depths of the night.

The sound of compressed steam filled the air, interwoven with the clanking of axles and gears, as this iron beast accelerated.

Perched atop the engine, barely visible in the dim light, stood a slender figure—Kurumi.

When this moving fortress thundered past her, Kurumi had promptly decided to hitch a ride.

The train sped at nearly seventy miles per hour, and a thick, nauseating smell of iron permeated the cold wind. Blood and bits of viscera were splattered across the armored exterior.

Perhaps they were from Kabane… or maybe… from humans.

Kurumi stood there in stillness, serene as if in a meditative state, like a shadow cloaked in ink.

There was no reason to enter the carriages; it was entirely unnecessary.

Kurumi felt a slight twinge of melancholy, for this speeding train was nothing but a dead city on wheels.

A "ghost train."

Not a single pulse of time flowed here—there was no sign of life.

Except for the roar of steam and machinery, the silence was absolute.

Kurumi could almost "see" the scene within this mobile fortress—bodies scattered everywhere, and in the center of each chest, a fiery glow igniting, like small furnaces.

Becoming those shambling, lifeless monsters.

A train loaded with death, hurtling toward the end of the tracks.

——

To counter the Kabane threat, Japan's Shogunate had constructed fortresses known as [Stations] across the country, where people lived in confinement.

The only transport capable of traveling between these stations were armored steam locomotives known as [Hayajiro].

Thanks to these trains, it was barely possible to survive by distributing resources across regions.

Sogabe Station.

Atop the lookout tower, a sentry in armor peered southwest through a telescope, spotting a [Hayajiro] spewing steam as it thundered toward them.

"Hm, it's the [Kurozumi Fortress]," he murmured. "But why's it arriving so early this time?"

···

It had been a long time since Sogabe Station had been attacked by Kabane.

Feeling the ground tremble, a guard stationed by the gate gripped the lever to release the drawbridge, nonchalantly preparing to lower it.

Then suddenly, a series of sharp metallic clinks sounded in quick succession.

The alarm!

Kabane were coming.

Quickly grabbing the steam_ gun slung across his shoulder, he dashed toward the city wall.

···

The young sentry holding the telescope was trembling all over.

Through the narrow scope, he could see the rear half of the Hayajiro aglow with furnace-like hearts in a dense cluster, alongside pairs of lifeless, torch-like eyes.

At last, he understood why the Hayajiro had come barreling in at full speed without slowing.

Because there were no living souls left on board.

But… on top of the engine, did he see… something?

It was a shadow, dark as ink. He adjusted the focus of the telescope, trying to get a better view.

Then he saw it—a pair of eyes, blood-red and cold as ice.

The shock sent him reeling backward, his body slamming into the alarm bell, triggering its loud, incessant ring.

——

A squadron of samurai rushed up the city walls, one after another, gripping their guns with shaking hands.

The soldiers had heard far too many stories of trains filled with Kabane barreling into stations and setting everything ablaze.

These undead monsters were nightmarishly difficult to kill; unless their hearts were destroyed, they would not die.

And breaking through the steel shell protecting a Kabane's heart was a feat only the most skilled swordsmen or sharpshooters could achieve.

[Kurozumi Fortress] was accelerating, sparks flying where wheels met rails. The guards feared that the Hayajiro might leap the drawbridge, and at such speed, there was a real chance it could breach the city walls on impact.

···

"Finally… a place with people?"

Kurumi stifled a yawn, gazing at the fortress in the distance.

"Good, good—somewhere to get some rest."

Stretching her limbs, she could make out the shapes of guards atop the walls, alert and ready.

"Oh, right. I should probably think of a way to stop this thing."

Kurumi raised her right foot, then slammed it down hard.

With that, a sizable dent appeared in the inch-thick armor plating.

Screeeee—

The wheels shrieked against the rails, sending up a shower of sparks. The entire Hayajiro shook, swaying side to side.

Rattling noises echoed from inside the carriages as if a tin can were being shaken.

Kabane clinging to the outer cars were flung off by the jolt, scattering across the tracks.

But despite the jolt, the armored train didn't slow, barreling toward the looming fortress at full speed.

Kurumi frowned, then stomped down with a bit more force this time.

With a deafening screech, the top armor of the Hayajiro's engine crumpled, forming a gaping hole.

A vein bulged on Kurumi's forehead.

That train...

Without a second thought, she threw a heap of green grenades into the newly-formed hole before transforming into a shadow and leaping toward the fortress.

Boom—

The engine of the [Kurozumi Fortress] exploded violently.

The first car flipped and twisted, followed by the others piling up in a black, twisted heap, like cans stacked on top of each other. Thick black-red blood oozed from the mangled wreckage.

Cheering erupted from the fortress walls.

Compared to a fully-loaded death train crashing into the station, a few scattered Kabane were nothing at all.

It was as if they had received divine intervention.

The young sentry slumped in the lookout tower, dumbfounded, clutching his telescope.

Was it really divine intervention?

He didn't know.

The only thing he could think about was that blood-red, wine-colored eye.

Cold, detached, yet with a glint of compassion.

···

Like an owl of death, a night bird from the legends.

——

Gunshots rang out from the city walls behind her, but that no longer concerned Kurumi.

All she wanted now was to find an inn and get some proper rest.

Oh, and she should also find an opportunity to try out one of those steam_ guns.

She disliked this world on the edge of collapse, where the sounds of muffled sobs and repressed despair spoiled her mood.

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