CHAPTER 12: SIDERAL-GOLIATH

  The trains moved around a gigantic mechanical body that floated in the center.

  —"Waah!" Haru screamed, tripping off the wagon where everyone was riding.

  Kumiho grabbed Haru by the leg. The wind was very soft; the trains were moving slowly for the moment.

  —"What is that?" Nao asked, looking at the giant along with everyone else.

  —"Is it dead?" Haru asked, seeing that it wasn't moving.

  —"I don't know," Kumiho responded with indifference.

  —"What is this place? Everything looks so... lonely," Mugen said, observing the surroundings.

  There was nothing—only the orange-black void, besides the trains that kept going up and down in an infinite cycle. By the time they looked again, they were almost level with the giant's head.

  —"I’m going to see if the other train is any different," Mugen commented, taking a leap.

  As he jumped, the train cycle continued to move, causing Mugen to land in the middle of the other wagon.

  CLANK-CLUNG!

  It echoed through space; the bolts in the mechanical giant's body began to activate.

  —"Spread out. Nao, go with Mugen. Kumiho, watch over Haru," Yumi ordered quickly, even though he was also surprised.

  Nao didn't wait for Yumi to finish speaking. With a sharp-fanged smile, she leaped into the void, using her ink threads to propel herself and land with agility next to Mugen.

  —"Don't let the shorty have all the fun!" Nao shouted as the wagon they were on began to gain speed.

  Suddenly, a metallic groan shook the void. The Sideral-Goliath opened its "eyes": two train headlights that emitted a blinding beam of light.

  The wagons increased their speed slightly.

  With a heavy, almost majestic slowness, the giant raised a hand composed of hundreds of intertwined rails. It was aiming for Yumi.

  As the hand slammed down on the wagon, it was crushed and transformed into force.

  Yumi had jumped the moment he saw the giant's hand.

  The impact of the Sideral's hand didn't just destroy the wagon; the shockwave of residual force pushed the floating tracks in opposite directions.

  —"YUMI!" Haru shouted from the rear wagon, watching his companion's figure hang suspended in the air for a second before landing on another wagon.

  —"This is going to be difficult," Yumi said to himself, turning to face the beast.

  Yumi stood up calmly, brushing non-existent dust off his sweater. Around him, the silence of the orange void grew heavy. The Sideral-Goliath roared—a sound that was a mix of a steam whistle and a metallic scream.

  Its four headlights, which looked like eyes, began to illuminate the three teams. The giant's headlights didn't just provide light; the intensity of the beam felt like a physical weight that made the metal vibrate beneath their feet.

  —"Mugen, Nao, watch the top," Yumi said, calm but not indifferent.

  From the upper part of the Sideral, several faceless subway conductors and passengers began to emerge. The shadows leapt toward the protagonists' wagons. As they landed, the wagons moved frantically from the impact.

  —"Whoa!" Haru cried out, suspended in the air by the wagon's movement, falling back down once it stabilized.

  The minions landed with a metallic thundering. They weren't organic creatures; their bodies seemed to be made of the same static and rusted metal as the giant. The "passengers" crawled along the wagon walls with spasmodic movements, emitting a hiss like steam escaping from a pipe.

  —"There are too many of them!" Haru exclaimed, barely regaining his balance. One of the faceless passengers lunged at him, but was intercepted by a bullet from Kumiho that disintegrated it into black particles.

  —"Don't count them, just cut," Kumiho replied.

  Kumiho began to swing his sanchaku, increasing his speed as he advanced toward a pack of ten shadows. He struck one in the face, followed by a blow to another with the opposite end. A shadow approached from behind, but Kumiho kicked it into the air, and while it was airborne, a bullet pierced its head.

  Kumiho didn't stop; his sanchaku was a silver blur that kept the tide of metal and static at bay. Haru, inspired by his companion's efficiency, unsheathed his sword, even though his hands were trembling.

  —"Concentrate," Haru said, closing his eyes.

  —"I can't summon my horse in this place; it would be more of a hindrance than a help, so..." Haru thought, watching the shadows climb the wagon.

  Haru imbued his sword with his force and waited for the shadows to draw near.

  The shadows lunged at Haru and Kumiho's wagon with metallic screeches. Haru let out a small breath. When a shadow got close enough, Haru sliced it in two with his sword; as if following a choreography, he began to sever heads, chests, and limbs.

  Haru moved with a fluidity he didn't even know he possessed. The green glow of his sword left trails in the orange air, cutting through the minions' static with every spin. However, for every shadow that fell, two more climbed up the sides of the wagon.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  —"These shadows are weaker than C-ranks," Haru thought, pausing for a moment.

  But a shadow had approached from behind, about to grab him.

  BANG!

  A bullet from Kumiho killed the shadow.

  —"Don't get distracted," Kumiho commented while continuing to fight the "passengers."

  —"Sorry!" Haru shouted, immediately jumping back into action and delivering an upward slash that split two minions trying to climb over the edge.

  At the other end of the void, Mugen and Nao's wagon was an absolute war zone. Mugen wasn't performing any choreography; his style was purely destructive.

  —"Trash! Get out of my way!" Mugen roared.

  Three shadows tried to tackle him, but he eliminated them with a single punch.

  Nao, on her part, was the fastest at killing the shadows; her movements seemed to flow like water, and every strike from her curved daggers—made of purple and green ink—was lethal.

  —"Die! Die! Die!" she screamed, slashing through the shadows.

  Mugen and Nao were turning their wagon into a metal junkyard. Mugen, fed up with the numbers, imbued his fist with red force and struck the floor of the train, creating a shockwave that sent a dozen shadows flying into the void.

  —"You're just hindrances!" Mugen roared.

  Nao was also suspended in the air, about to fall, but she stabbed a dagger into the side of the wagon. As she watched the shadows fall into the void, they began to disintegrate.

  —"Be more careful!" Nao barked while using her daggers to climb back up.

  —"Shut up and keep cutting!" Mugen shot back without even looking at her, focused on a group of conductors jumping from an upper track.

  On the other side was Yumi; for every shadow that stood before him, a single blow was enough to send them flying. The Sideral was focused on him, tracking his direction with its light.

  —"How annoying," Yumi said to himself.

  The Sideral's hand began to descend upon Yumi’s wagon as he ran to jump to another. Yumi raced across the roof of the wagon while the metal creaked under the massive shadow of the rail-hand. He took a precise leap just as the impact destroyed the rear of the train, but the Sideral-Goliath was faster this time. In mid-air, the giant swept its other hand, forcing Yumi to activate his blue shield to avoid being crushed against the void, sending Yumi flying.

  Yumi said nothing as he rose to a great height. Falling due to gravity, Yumi surveyed the surroundings and, using his shield, began to steer himself toward a wagon. Upon landing, thirteen shadows surrounded him just as the Sideral's hand was closing in from the side.

  Yumi then imbued his hand with spiritual force and struck the train. The impact was so strong it launched the shadows away, and with the force of the blow, Yumi was also propelled toward another wagon, narrowly dodging the Sideral's hand.

  Yumi landed perfectly on the roof of the new wagon, but the giant gave him no respite. The Sideral-Goliath let out a roar that made the orange air vibrate with pure static. Its four headlights locked onto Yumi's position, and from its mechanical shoulders, a much denser horde of "passengers" dropped down.

  In a blink, Yumi was surrounded again. This time they weren't just common shadows; these were subway conductors, taller and with rusted rail-claws—and once again, the Sideral's hand began to fall upon the wagon.

  Yumi watched the hand descend and narrowed his eyes.

  CRUNCH-CLANG!

  The hand pulverized the wagon.

  —"Master Yumi!" Haru screamed, watching the scene while he fought.

  The roar of the wagon being crushed resonated throughout the void, kicking up a cloud of scrap metal and orange light. For a second, there was absolute silence. Mugen even stopped his axe mid-swing, his gaze fixed on the spot where Yumi had disappeared.

  —"That damn guy... he can't be that weak," Mugen muttered, though his eyes reflected an unusual tension.

  However, Yumi came leaping out over the Sideral's hand, shield in hand, advancing toward its head.

  —"That almost killed me," Yumi said, focused. His left arm had been wounded.

  —"I’m returning the favor," he commented with a serious voice, imbuing his shield with force.

  Reaching the Sideral's shoulder, Yumi took a massive leap toward its head; the shield grew in size.

  DONGGG!

  Yumi struck the Sideral, forcing it to shift from its position, while Yumi used the momentum of the jump to reach another wagon.

  The giant staggered. The impact of the shield imbued with spiritual force caused several of the rails forming its "neck" to bend, releasing sparks and a dense black steam that flooded the void. For the first time, the Sideral-Goliath didn't roar out of dominance, but because of the interference in its systems.

  Yumi landed on a wagon moving at high speed in the opposite direction. He held his left arm, where an open wound stained the sleeve of his sweater. The red blood stood out sharply against the orange backdrop of the void.

  —"Master Yumi!" Haru shouted, relieved to see him standing, though his face darkened as he noticed the wound.

  Mugen let out a snort, resuming his carnage against the shadows with more ferocity than before, as if Yumi striking the giant had ignited a spark of competition in him. —"Don't be such a show-off!" he yelled loudly.

  Nao, from her position, licked one of her purple ink daggers with a disturbing smile. —"If he could make it move, we can make it fall. Mugen, the shoulder is exposed!"

  The Sideral-Goliath regained its balance. Its body began to change, sprouting two more arms, and its eyes turned blood-red. Several trains appeared, each seven wagons long, moving like serpents.

  SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

  A massive blast of steam echoed through the area; the wagons circling the Sideral began to spin even faster. The serpent-trains zigzagged through the orange air, colliding with each other and creating a web of moving metal that blocked any easy escape route. The Sideral-Goliath was no longer just a static giant; it was the center of a mechanical whirlwind.

  —"They're coming for us," Kumiho warned, firing giant bullets to deflect the wagons that were being launched like projectiles at their position.

  Haru gritted his teeth, imbued in his green aura, slashing through the shadows that jumped from the metal "serpents." The speed of the cycle was such that the wind began to cut like blades.

  Yumi, observing the giant's new form from his wagon, felt the sting of pain in his wounded arm. But he couldn't stop; whenever shadows tried to attack him, he crushed them with one hand.

  A serpent-wagon was about to attack Mugen and Nao.

  —"Behind me, girl," Mugen said seriously.

  Mugen began to materialize his axe, and when the wagon got close enough, he brought it down, splitting the train in two. The divided wagon passed by Mugen and Nao's sides, exploding into a thousand pieces of static and metal before disintegrating into the void. Mugen didn't even blink, though the effort of cutting through an entire "serpent" made his muscles tense.

  —"Don't call me 'girl,' you idiot! I could have handled that!" Nao shouted at him, though inside she was impressed by the power of the strike. Without wasting time, she leaped over the floating debris to slit the throats of three shadows trying to take advantage of the chaos.

  Seeing what was happening, the Sideral began to use its hands, attacking all three teams at once, though Yumi was targeted by two arms. One of the Sideral's arms was about to strike Haru and Kumiho from the side; Kumiho hadn't noticed the hand because he was busy fighting the shadows.

  Kumiho grabbed Haru by the waist and took a massive leap, dodging the hand. In mid-air, he fired a bullet toward the Sideral's head with his other arm, but a serpent-train intercepted it.

  —"Tsk!" Kumiho hissed as they fell back down.

  But beneath them, there was no longer a wagon; it had shifted positions. Kumiho threw Haru toward a nearby wagon.

  —"Master Kumiho?" Haru asked as he watched Kumiho, still at a great height, falling toward the void.

  Kumiho fell with an unshakable calm, his coat billowing in the violent wind of the orange void as the wagon moved out of his reach. Haru, from the edge of the train, stretched out his hand desperately.

  —"MASTER KUMIHO!" Haru screamed.

  In mid-air, Kumiho reached his hand out to the other side. A shield struck Kumiho, pushing him back toward the wagon—it was Yumi, who had thrown his shield toward Kumiho.

  Kumiho landed heavily on the wagon next to Haru, rolling to dissipate the force of the impact. Yumi's white shield was now on Kumiho and Haru's side, far from where Yumi stood.

  —"Idiot," Kumiho whispered, looking at Yumi, who now only had his fists.

  —"If this keeps up, there are only two scenarios: either we run out of strength or we die," Haru thought, staring with determination at the figure of the Sideral.