Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece-Chapter 99: Mana Rail 17 [5]

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!"

The sound tore through the train like a knife to the ears. high-pitched, metallic, and so loud it made Kyle’s head ring.

It was the kind of noise that made your body freeze before your mind could even catch up. For a brief second. Everyone just... stopped.

Even the train itself seemed to shudder under the scream.

And then. They came.

From the connecting carriage up ahead. The first shape lunged out of the shadows. Then another. And another.

Monsters.

Misshapen, twitching things. Some small and fast, others massive and hulking.

Their bodies looked like they had been torn apart and glued back together with rot and rage.

Foul black tumors bulged from their flesh. Bone jutted out.

And all of them had the same glowing red eyes. Like dying embers burning in a pit of ash.

Some of them crawled on all fours. Teeth snapping like wild beasts.

Others dragged themselves forward. Their joints cracking with every step leaving smears of black sludge on the floor.

They are infected by long exposure of demonic mana.

They were... Corrupted.

Kyle felt it the second they entered. An invisible pressure in the air that wrapped around his lungs like a cold chain.

The wave of demonic mana was suffocating. His grip tightened on Zalrielle.

The blade trembled faintly in his hand humming with energy. Sparks of blue lightning licked across the black surface.

As if the spirit also had sensed what was coming.

To his left, Eleanora raised her estoc. The violet edge coated in darkness that curled like smoke. Her lips pressed into a thin line, calm but focused.

Reo, on Kyle’s right. Crouched slightly, adjusting his stance. Threads of wind mana coiled around his spear.

And then—

They attacked.

A four-legged corrupted beast barreled toward Kyle first. Claws screeching across the metal floor, eyes locked onto his chest.

Kyle didn’t think.

He moved.

One quick sidestep. His tachi flashed in an arc of lightning.

Slicing across the monster’s neck. The cut wasn’t deep. But it was enough to stagger it.

The beast roared, twisting mid-air. Already preparing to pounce again.

Before it could—

CRACK!

Reo dropped from above like a hammer. His spear spinning with a gust of wind before it drove clean through the monster’s throat.

The corrupted thrashed. Choked on its own corrupted bile, and fell still.

"Nice timing," Kyle muttered, barely sparing him a glance.

More came.

A crooked humanoid charged forward on two legs. Long arms swinging like clubs.

Beside it, another corrupted scuttled low to the ground. Moving with twitchy, animal-like speed.

Eleanora stepped up.

Her estoc moved like a sewing needle, quick and precise. With every thrust. Bursts of darkness exploded outward, slamming into the monsters.

One of them was pinned to the wall. The other was slowed, just for a second.

But a second wasn’t enough.

The fast one slipped through the shadows and lunged at her with a heavy swipe aimed at her ribs.

Kyle reacted instantly. He lunged between them, swinging upward. Lightning burst from his blade, crashing against the beast’s arm. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

The corrupted staggered. Its face half-charred. But still alive.

It hissed.

It leapt again.

This time. A spike of darkness tore clean through its stomach, yanking it back mid-air.

"Keep moving," she said. "They are not stopping."

And they weren’t.

The corrupted didn’t feel pain. They didn’t retreat. Even the ones who had lost limbs kept crawling, dragging themselves forward with twitching fingers or broken claws.

And that’s what makes them more dangerous than normal monsters.

Another group burst in.

Kyle stomped his foot down, and ice bloomed outward in jagged lines. Catching a few underfoot and making them trip.

Before they could recover. He charged in slashing left and right. Each strike layered with crackling lightning.

The air buzzed with energy. Every time his blade connected, jolts of electricity lit up the corridor.

Reo was everywhere at once.

He dashed through the chaos like a gust of wind, his spear flashing.

A twist—throat pierced. A leap—eye stabbed.

One tried to ambush him from behind. But Eleanora’s darkness tendrils wrapped around its leg and hurled it to the floor.

Reo didn’t even look back as he finished it.

But Still. They were getting overwhelmed.

Then someone shouted—

"The door won’t open! It’s malfunctioned!"

Reo’s eyes widened. "Shit."

Kyle turned toward them. "I will handle it. Hold them for a minute!"

Without waiting for a reply. He took off down the corridor. Weaving through terrified passengers.

Back near the front. Reo and Eleanora kept fighting.

They didn’t slow down.

Kyle could still hear the clash of weapons. Eleanora’s darkness whipped through the air in bursts. Reo’s wind howled like a storm inside the train.

A claw scraped down Eleanora’s arm tearing through fabric and skin.

Reo took a hit to the thigh when a corrupted knocked his spear aside. Blood poured down his leg. But he gritted his teeth and kept going.

They were breathing hard now. Cuts littered their bodies. Fatigue was setting in.

Still. The corrupted didn’t stop.

More spilled in. Crawling, limping, screaming. It was like they were endless.

"Where the hell are they even coming from?" Reo growled, his voice tight with pain.

Blood seeped through the torn fabric of his pants. The gash on his thigh deep but not fatal.

Kyle was already sprinting toward the front of the carriage. Weaving between panicked passengers and slumped bodies. Screams echoed all around him—raw and real.

He skidded to a stop in front of the control panel near the sealed starsteel door. Sparks danced around its edges. The circuits flickering in and out.

He placed his hand on the panel.

"Come on..." he muttered, pushing a thread of lightning mana into it.

Static crawled along his fingers, feeding into the circuits. He could feel them inside his mind like a web of broken paths.

Some lines were still alive. Faint, but working. Others were dead.

He could almost hear the shorted-out glyphs. The ones that needed just the right touch of power to reawaken.

His lightning sparked harder. Controlled, focused. He guided it like threading a needle. Jumping gaps. Restoring flow.

"There you are," he breathed.

With a final surge. He bridged the last broken rune.

Click!

The lock released.

The door hissed open with a mechanical groan. Sliding sideways to reveal the next carriage.

Kyle spun around.

"Go! Go!" he shouted, waving to the civilians.

They rushed forward. A few looked at him with tear-filled eyes. He didn’t have time to comfort them.

The corrupted were almost on top of them again.

Kyle stepped forward raising one hand toward them.

Blue-white lightning began to spark and coil around his finger. Wild and alive.

It twisted in the air like a snake ready to strike. The crackle loud and sharp.

"Get back!" he roared to Reo and Eleanora.

They understood immediately.

Eleanora yanked Reo away. Her darkness lashing out to hold back the closest corrupted. Reo blasted a wave of wind to clear space. Then dove behind Kyle.

Kyle’s mana surged.

His arm shook under the pressure as more power flooded into the forming spell. The lightning took shape.

Growing longer, fatter, more dangerous. It hissed like it was alive. Spitting sparks onto the floor.

Kyle’s eyes narrowed. His lips moved.

"[Voltis Krait!]"

A sharp hiss cut through the air as lightning surged from Kyle’s hand.

The bolt twisted into the shape of a massive serpent maw. Its glowing fangs bared, its coiled body buzzing with deadly energy.

The lightning snake shot forward tearing down the train car like a storm unleashed.

BOOM!

The explosion hit like a thunderclap.

The floor shook. Walls groaned. Seats shattered.

A wave of heat and blinding blue-white light flooded the carriage. Followed by the stench of burnt flesh and metal. Smoke filled the air, thick and choking.

Screams echoed from behind, but for a moment... there was silence near Kyle.

He stood still shoulders rising and falling as he panted. His hand trembled. the last sparks of lightning fading from his fingers.

His heart pounded in his chest.

’It’s done...’

But then. A low, rumbling growl cut through the smoke.

From the heart of the scorched wreckage, something moved.

A shadow emerged, slow but steady.

Kyle’s eyes snapped open wide.

The shape came into view. A massive wolf-like corrupted.

Its fur was burned away in places. Revealing muscle and black tumors pulsing underneath. Its eyes locked onto Kyle with pure hatred.

And then. It charged.

Kyle tried to move, but his knees gave way. He had used a lot of mana in that spell. His limbs felt like stone.

The beast lunged. Jaws open, sharp teeth glinting in the dim light—

A hand grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him backwards. The air rushed past his face as he stumbled.

Eleanora stepped in front of him without hesitation. Her estoc was already in motion.

With a scream of steel and shadow. She drove the blade straight into the beast’s open mouth.

The creature howled, thrashing violently. Blood and black mist spraying everywhere. But it didn’t die.

It writhed, claws scraping at the walls. Trying to tear her down.

"Move!" Eleanora shouted.

They didn’t wait. Kyle pushed himself up. Eleanora pulled her estoc free, and together they ran back through the threshold.

Reo was already at the panel.

The second they crossed. He slammed the emergency button.

The door hissed shut behind them with a heavy CLANG.

For a moment. The three of them stood in silence. Breathing hard. Sweating. Bloody.

The corridor was dimly lit flickering lights casting long shadows across the steel floor.

Around them, passengers were huddled, terrified. Some were crying. Others sat frozen, clutching their children or holding bloody wounds.

Kyle leaned against the wall. Trying to catch his breath.

Reo knelt beside him, gripping his bleeding side.

Eleanora wiped dark blood from her arm, wincing.

But then—

A soft wet growl broke the moment.

"Grrrr..."

The sound came from within the crowd.

Their heads turned—

A man had collapsed on the floor.

His body twitched unnaturally. Fingers clawed at the ground. His back arched in pain.

Black veins began to spread across his skin like ink in water. His eyes rolled back. Tumors burst through his neck and chest with sickening pops.

People backed away, screaming.

He was also the hidden demonic cultist.

With a horrible snap. His spine twisted and then he bit into the person next to him.

Blood sprayed. The scream was cut short.

More passengers ran. Some fell. Some froze.

The trio’s faces went pale.

Kyle’s stomach turned. Reo gritted his teeth.

Eleanora’s grip tightened on her bloodstained estoc.

"This... isn’t over," she whispered.

———