The Cornflower Witch

The Northern Metropolis of Candela

Blizzards howled, everything in sight swallowed by the vast expanse of falling snow. No trace of any living creature could be seen on the ground. The low, dark layers of clouds pressed down with an overwhelming sense of oppression, making even breathing feel psychologically difficult.

Amidst the boundless wind and snow, a pair of bright yellow lights pierced through, like a solitary meteor streaking across the pitch-black night.

Boiling steam surged within the cylinder furnace, driving the gears to turn, and the thundering roar of forward motion tore through the silence between heaven and earth.

The train advanced between the gray sky and the land, its form occasionally drowned in the raging snowstorm. Its battering-ram-like locomotive pushed through layer after layer of accumulated snow, charging forward like a ship cutting through waves, gradually drawing closer to the magnificent giant city on the distant horizon.

On the North Wind High Tower, hurried footsteps climbed the stairs and knocked on the door above.

"Enter."

The officer in his cloak turned the lock and strode into the room at the top of the tower.

"Lord Sage Kiran, the Third Train has arrived!" he reported with excitement in his voice.

"So it's finally here." Kiran slowly turned around, walked out of the room, and came to the other side of the tower, overlooking the train slowly pulling into the station below in the city.

"Now both the First and Third Trains have arrived, meaning we only need to wait for one more, and the entire North Wind Defense Line can be activated." The officer spoke with excitement.

"Yes, just one more train." Kiran withdrew his gaze, returned to the room, and looked at the map spread out on the table.

"All three trains on the western route have failed. They were blocked by a dormant plesiosaur-like dragon. Despite the combined efforts of both train crews, they still couldn't overcome it. The trains were torn apart, and many personnel died."

"The First Train on the eastern route has arrived, but the Second Train broke down midway, blocking the entire line and causing delays."

"As for the central route, the Third Train arrived a day later than scheduled. How much later will the Ninth Train behind it be? Will they also encounter unexpected obstacles and fail to arrive on time?" Kiran's voice was filled with concern.

"Now the storm is already bearing down on us. Candela's location has entered the ring of that massive storm."

"If we can't tear and divert the storm's eye as it passes through the North Wind Defense Line, the subsequent damage to the northern regions of the Alliance will be beyond our imagination."

"Ask the Academy stationed in the city. Have they calculated the results? How much time do we have left?"

"Lord Sage, I just asked. We only have twelve hours. And after deducting the time needed to load the Furnace and start it up, we're left with just nine hours." The officer's voice grew heavy at this point because he realized that waiting for a second support train to arrive within nine hours was a slim hope.

"Nine hours..." Kiran said nothing more, silently walking to the window to gaze at the darkening distant horizon.

"Then let us pray. Pray that Their Majesties and the Hours above can help us get through this crisis."

If such words came from anyone else, they might be unremarkable. But spoken from the White Sage Kiran, their meaning was entirely different. He had never believed in any Hours before and had always thought that the path the Mage Alliance was taking would eventually put them in conflict with the existing Hours, so he had always remained vigilant.

Yet today, he couldn't help but place his hope on distant, ethereal beings.

...

The Ninth Train Team

Master Ge Zhen had already received a long-distance message from Candela. After checking the time, they only had eight hours left.

"So you're saying we need to cover 920 kilometers and reach Candela within eight hours, right?" Novadon asked.

"Correct. That's exactly it."

"That's very difficult to pull off." Novadon rested his chin on his hand as he replied.

"The train has been running at full speed all along, and it's hard to push it any faster. If you've studied the relevant knowledge, you'd understand that once speed reaches a certain point, wind resistance increases exponentially. That is, the energy required to increase speed from 90 to 100 is greater than from 60 to 90."

"Even if we overload the power furnace, we don't have enough fuel on board to sustain it."

"As for fuel, I recall there's a city called 'Golanni' on another rail line. They produce special mineral ores, and there are frequent ore-transport trains running back and forth, so Golanni should have enough fuel stockpiled."

"But if we take a detour, we won't make it in time." Novadon pointed out the branching line on the map. The route to Golanni didn't lead to Candela, meaning if we went there, we'd have to return to the original path."

"We can't take the whole train over. We'll have to send a small team to get there quickly, transport the fuel out, and deliver it to the train's next stop."

"I see..." Novadon began to ponder.

"Currently, the only thing on this train capable of carrying out this mission is that unassembled Sixth-Tier war machine. If we specially transform it into a form suitable for fast transport and rapid movement, it should barely be able to achieve the goal."

"I have to participate in this mission. After all, controlling and maintaining this machine is my responsibility. Besides, I wouldn't trust any of you others to pilot and control it."

"But there's no guarantee we won't run into any unexpected trouble during this mission, so I'll need an assistant." As he spoke, Novadon's gaze fell on the black-haired girl with the ribbon standing nearby.

After exchanging glances for a few seconds, everyone nodded in agreement.

Just half a day ago, they had learned that Sylutia had brought back the forty crates of Scorching Sun Crystals. They also understood that it wasn't a simple recovery. This young woman had actually chased down those Blood Clan members, killed every last one of them, and only then retrieved the lost Scorching Sun Crystals.

Such strength and resolve were astonishing. It took the train crew a good while to digest and accept this.

People with extraordinary talent who could dominate their own tier weren't particularly rare. Or rather, the elites who could enter the Mage Alliance's top three schools were all such prodigies.

But being able to transcend rank and defeat an enemy was extremely rare. It was like an ordinary person defeating an armed enemy with their bare hands—the danger and difficulty of the process was hard to believe.

Even more astounding was that she hadn't faced just one, but five powerful Blood Clan members.

Compared to ordinary Transcendents, Blood Clan members were very difficult to kill. They had powerful regenerative abilities, moved at lightning speed, and could evade many attacks and escape through shapeshifting.

In the past, the Mage Alliance's investigations and pursuits of Blood Clan missions often ended in failure. It was truly difficult to capture high-ranking Blood Clan members.

But Sylutia had accomplished it. No one knew how she did it, but the fact that she could pull it off seemed unsurprising, given how many times this young woman had already demonstrated her extraordinary talent and power.

From single-handedly chasing down and killing a Fifth-Tier City Lord in the Worze District to now single-handedly pursuing and defeating five Blood Clan members, everyone had gradually come to accept this reality. They just wanted to know where her limits truly lay.

After learning that Novadon needed her assistance for the operation, Sylutia nodded in agreement. The train crew's engineers quickly assembled the large Sixth-Tier war machine.

Half an hour later, large limb components were thrown off the train and assembled by the mages who had also disembarked.

Soon, a towering, majestic figure emerged in the blizzard. Then it began to sprint, charging toward another track route.

After lying down on the tracks, its core furnace activated. Then its four legs transformed, and the gears pressing down on its limbs engaged with the rails, propelling the mechanical body forward at lightning speed.

[Furnace War Wagon] (Sixth Tier · Gold Steam · Castle)

"A massive armored war wagon, its form can transform through different combinations."

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