Lloyd felt like he'd just been hit by a truck. At this point, he was starting to become an expert in that kind of pain.
His arms throbbed—probably fractured—but that was still better than taking the full hit head-on.
A groan escaped his throat as his back flared with agony.
"What the hell is going on?" said a voice. People had started pouring out of their compartments, alarmed by the noise.
"What's all this racket?" came a familiar, feline tone. Catherine peeked out, and when she saw Lloyd's condition, her face froze. "Boss, are you okay?"
She rushed toward him, but Lloyd stopped her with a raised hand.
"Forget me—go get help. Now," he ordered.
Catherine hesitated, clearly torn, but one look at his eyes convinced her. "Right away, boss," she said, her figure flickering and vanishing from sight.
Lloyd forced himself to stand, his whole body screaming in protest. He needed to do what he'd done back in the factory—to replicate that strange phenomenon if he wanted to heal.
"Hey, man, you alright?" asked one of the passengers who'd just stepped out.
Lloyd was about to answer, but—
"Watch out!"
He tried to shout a warning, but it was already too late. A translucent hand wrapped around the man's face, its long fingers covering everything. The poor guy didn't even have time to react—the thing just squeezed.
In an instant, blood exploded everywhere.
It was as if someone had crushed a can of juice.
Lloyd froze as warm blood splattered across his face. The translucent hand was now tinted red—visible for the first time thanks to the stain.
Panic spread through the car like wildfire. Confusion turned to terror in seconds. Screams filled the air.
The temperature dropped. Fear itself seemed to seep into the walls, as if the train car had become a vessel for something ancient and cursed.
A crushing wave of dread hit Lloyd. His heart started hammering uncontrollably as panic seized him.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..."
He couldn't move. The fear wasn't just in his mind—it had invaded his body, poisoning his blood like venom.
The thing raised a hand toward him, slow and deliberate. Lloyd could barely make out its outline—a distorted shimmer in the air, humanoid but grotesquely misshapen. Its limbs were far too long, its head shaped like a deer skull.
He could only perceive it through faint flickers of pale light—a ghostly, shifting mirage.
Then the creature grabbed him and lifted him off the ground.
"I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, so scared..."
Pressure crushed his chest, bones creaking under its grip. The creature's mouth—if it had one—seemed to curl into something like a grin.
"Glepnir!" a voice shouted.
Lloyd's eyes found Jaz. She was terrified too—maybe even more than him—but she hadn't lost her mind.
From every surface of the train, chains erupted—black, viscous, writhing things that lashed out and wrapped around the creature from all sides.
It thrashed violently, but the sudden distraction gave Lloyd a moment—just enough for clarity to return.
"Snap out of it."
The fear wasn't natural. It wasn't 'his'. It was magic—an aura. Which meant it could be resisted.
The pressure on his ribs intensified, but Lloyd ignored it, forcing himself to focus through the panic.
He called upon that inmaterial power again.
The mark on his hand flared—and an eye opened in its center. His Grimoire had awakened once more.
Crack.
The chains started breaking, one by one.
Lloyd barely noticed.
Power surged through him—wild and raw—and he directed the flow upward, to his head.
Tick.
It was like flipping a switch. The fear vanished instantly, replaced by sharp, crystal-clear focus.
The chains shattered completely, and the creature began to squeeze again.
"Shit. I need to fight back!"
Lloyd raised his hands toward it, and a chaotic burst of invisible force blasted out of his arm.
The wave struck the thing—but it didn't even flinch. Lloyd could 'feel' its amusement, like laughter in his skull.
"Ugh!" The grip tightened, ribs cracking audibly—but pain wasn't going to stop him.
"Think, Lloyd, think!"
He gritted his teeth, scanning for any kind of weakness.
His senses sharpened—and then he saw it: a heart, pulsing faintly between the creature's chest and abdomen, completely exposed.
"Bingo."
He steadied his aim, refusing to waste energy this time. His fingers extended, forming a mock pistol. Energy gathered at the tips—not wild, but focused.
"I need to condense it. Maximum output, minimum waste. Precision over power."
He felt the buildup of tension, like stretching an elastic band to its limit. Blood trickled from his nose and ears. His body screamed in pain, but he didn't release the energy—not yet.
Only when he knew he couldn't hold it any longer—He fired.
Bang.
The air snapped, like a whip cracking through the world. The recoil slammed his arm backward violently—but it didn't matter.
A wet thunk followed. The shot hit dead center—straight through the creature's heart.
Its scream tore through the place, a deafening shriek that shattered glass and eardrums alike.
Lloyd was dropped. He hit the ground hard, barely conscious—but this wasn't the first time he'd almost died.
While the creature staggered, clutching its wound, Lloyd released what remained of his inner energy through his body. His reserves were fading fast—but at least the structural damage to his bones was erased.
He rose shakily to his feet, still healing.
"We need to run!" Jasmine yelled as she dashed to his side. "This is insane! How the hell are we being attacked by a Djinn?! Isn't this place supposed to be 'safe'?"
She was panicked but not paralyzed. The creature's aura must've weakened after the hit.
"The problem is, it's blocking our way out," Lloyd muttered. The Djinn stood between them and the only exit.
"Can you see it?" she asked, frowning. To her, it was still invisible—she could only track it by the blood mark on its hand.
"Doesn't matter. We move while it's distracted," Lloyd said.
Jaz nodded sharply. "Glepnir!" she called, summoning more chains. They lashed out, wrapping around the Djinn once more. "Now!"
Both of them sprinted down the corridor. Jaz was incredibly fast—agile like a cat. But this time, the Djinn broke free almost instantly.
Its arm tore through the chains and came crashing down toward her. Lloyd reacted on instinct—flinging a blade-shaped burst of inmaterial energy.
It hit—but it wasn't enough. The creature's strike still landed, slamming Jasmine violently into the floor.
"Jasmine! Dammit—" Lloyd's voice cracked as rage burned through him. Even drained, he forced his energy to obey. Another surge blasted from his arm, hitting the Djinn just hard enough to stagger it.
"You bastard! This is between you and me!"
He yelled the words and bolted toward a nearby compartment. The Djinn took the bait, turning its attention to him and breaking the last of Jaz's bindings.
"Shit, I've used too much energy..." Lloyd felt dizzy, but he refused to stop.
"Ugh!" A choked grunt escaped him as the Djinn struck again, launching him straight through the window.
"Uwaaaaaa!" Acting on instinct, Lloyd grabbed the window frame with his right hand, glass shards cutting deep into his skin. But that wasn't his biggest problem.
He was hanging outside a moving train, dangling by a single arm. His muscles screamed, and only adrenaline kept his grip from slipping.
"Glepnir!" Jasmine's voice rang out again—but this time, her chains were thin, barely threads. "Damn it…"
The Djinn approached slowly. Even with a skull for a face, its translucent form radiated sadistic glee.
"Oh no... he's not going to—"
Crack.
Lloyd's finger broke. A wave of pain and terror surged through him. This was it.
"No! Stop!" Jasmine's scream cut through the rattling of the train. She was at her limit. Desperate, she threw herself at the creature—even blind, arms wide—and managed to latch onto it.
Crack.
Another finger snapped. Lloyd screamed, his grip failing.
"NOOO! LLOYD!" Jasmine's voice trembled with panic. She bit down on the creature's invisible arm, her teeth cracking painfully against its skin.
Crack.
The third finger broke.
Lloyd's hand slipped free.
"NOOOOO!"
And under Jasmine's tear-filled eyes, Lloyd vanished from sight, swallowed by the velocity of the locomotive.