The scene before them froze the blood of everyone in Carriage 10.
Under the horrified gazes of the onlookers, about ten figures from the opposite train, which had already come to a stop, cleanly leaped out of the windows as if freed from gravity’s constraints!
They weren’t simply jumping; the moment they leaped, an invisible force lifted their bodies, holding them steadily aloft in mid-air.
This was the masterful application of the [High-level Levitation Spell].
Immediately after, visible currents of cyan air swirled around them, propelling them through the night sky in sharp trajectories as they swiftly pursued the Carriage 10, which was being dragged backward by the giant eagle.
To combine the [High-level Levitation Spell] with Wind Element acceleration magic so fluidly was not something an ordinary mage could achieve.
This meant that these ten enemies before them possessed strength at least at the mid-level of a Sixth-tier Mage.
Ten Sixth-tier Mages…
Sefina’s fingers tightened slightly around her wand, her wine-red eyes holding a cold, grave intensity.
As a Seventh Tier Mage, if she fought with everything she had, she might stand a chance against four or five Sixth-tier Mages alone. But facing ten simultaneously…
That was an almost impossible task.
Moreover, behind her were all the students in the carriage and a few innocent ordinary passengers.
Even the most outstanding among these senior students had only just touched the threshold of the Fourth Tier. Before true sixth-rank power, their fledgling magic was like a child’s toy, utterly non-threatening.
“Heavens… heavens! They’re flying over!”
“We’re doomed…”
“T-ten… all of them are sixth-rank?!”
“I… I want to go home…”
Panic spread through the carriage like a plague.
Some students collapsed into their seats, faces pale; some ordinary passengers hugged their heads and curled up in corners, letting out stifled sobs; others began to scream uncontrollably. The air was thick with despair.
A few of the braver senior students, though equally pale-faced, still tremblingly raised their wands, trying to gather mana to fight back.
A few feeble fireballs and slender water arrows shot uselessly into the air, only to be easily deflected and annihilated by the natural mana shields swirling around the floating figures before they could even get close, failing to create a single ripple.
The gap in strength was like an unbridgeable chasm.
“Calm! Everyone, stay calm! Don’t panic! Take cover behind the seats!”
Teacher Shalina’s voice held a tremor, but she fought to maintain composure.
While loudly trying to soothe the nearly broken students and passengers, she waved her wand again, attempting to summon more creatures to cause interference.
Only Sefina stood in place, like a cold statue, deaf to the surrounding panic.
All her mental energy was highly focused. The air around her seemed to grow cold from the surging, turbulent mana within her.
She could not retreat, nor could she hide.
The ten assassins raised their wands. Multiple magic arrays appeared in the air.
Fireballs, lightning spears, ice spikes, and shadow arrows were about to unleash their assault on Carriage 10.
At this critical moment, the ice-blue wand in Sefina’s hand erupted with a dazzling blue light more brilliant than ever before.
An extreme chill, as if from the depths of the northernmost ice plains, erupted violently from her as the center!
In that instant, the entire exterior of Carriage 10 was instantly and completely enveloped by a layer of crystalline, massive ice wall.
Simultaneously, accompanied by a low, resonant hum of mana—
Seventh-tier magic—[Extreme Cold Ice Wall]!
The surface of the ice wall was smooth as a mirror, but its interior contained countless overlapping, interwoven mana structures, making it far more durable than steel.
“BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!”
Almost the exact second the ice wall formed, the assassins’ long-prepared magical attacks descended with ferocity.
Fireballs exploded, lightning spears pierced, ice spikes crashed, shadows corroded…
Violent energies of various attributes slammed fiercely against the massive ice wall, creating deafening roars.
For a moment, ice shards flew, cold air overflowed, and countless web-like cracks instantly appeared on the sturdy ice wall, as if it might shatter completely at any moment.
The people inside the carriage were thrown about by the tremendous impact, watching in terror as the precarious ice wall above and outside the windows, along with the shimmering lights of various magics beyond it, made their hearts leap into their throats.
Sefina’s body swayed slightly, her brow furrowing a little.
Maintaining such a large-scale seventh-tier defensive spell while withstanding the combined assault of ten Sixth-tier Mages was an extremely heavy burden for her, too.
The cracks on the ice wall were slowly self-repairing, but the speed was far from matching the destruction caused by new attacks.
The first wave… blocked…
Sefina’s brow remained tightly knit, her wine-red eyes fixed intently on the floating figures beyond the ice wall, her mind racing with calculations.
‘I hope Flovi and her… can be quicker…’
As for the truth behind this bizarre train, combining the map with the current situation, it was already clear in Sefina’s mind.
It was actually quite simple.
During the time she and most passengers were in deep sleep, the train had made a brief, inconspicuous stop at a small station.
The enemy had already been lying in wait there. They used that opportunity to silently disconnect the last carriage, Carriage 10, from the nine carriages ahead.
Then, they coupled Carriage 10 with a train of similar appearance that the enemy had prepared in advance. Using railroad switches, they diverted it onto this remote branch line.
But that other train only had eight carriages, hence the eerie phenomenon of one carriage being ‘missing.’
As for their goal, it was also obvious.
At the end of this branch line, or at some hidden section, there were bound to be more ambushers waiting.
They wanted to abduct or kill these students from Oselenka in a place where no one would know.
As for a deeper purpose, Sefina had related conjectures in her mind.
And as for who the perpetrators were…
A sharp glint flashed through Sefina’s cold eyes.
This style of operation, and the audacity to target exchange students from the East continent within the borders of the western continent…
It should be them, without a doubt.
They were also Sefina’s “old acquaintances” on the western continent…
However, right at that moment, the attacks from outside abruptly ceased.
It wasn’t that they had given up, but they were repositioning, or perhaps waiting for something.
The ice wall stabilized temporarily, but the cracks remained a horrifying sight.
The atmosphere inside the carriage was oppressively tense to the extreme; every breath carried an icy fear.
The giant eagle summoned by Teacher Shalina was still struggling to drag the carriage, but its speed was clearly no match for the flying enemies. The distance was slowly, bit by bit, being closed.
Sefina could feel that her mana had been significantly depleted.
But she had to buy more time for Flovi and that “contingency plan.” She also had to protect every single person behind her.
Sefina took a deep breath of the cold air and raised her wand once more, pointing it beyond the ice wall.
The battle was far from over.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.