Even after a few minutes had passed, June was still mulling over the girl he had just seen.
While it is totally possible for alternative worlds to have lookalikes, those who appear similar to a T are extremely hard to come by, especially if it's unintentional. With that kind of luck, an ordinary human can die of old age even if the whole world's after their ass.
Another thing to take note of is that similar shells tend to be completely different from their otherworld counterparts.
'It's completely normal to recycle parts of a "thing", but never the entire package at once.'
The only distinguishing features are that she looked prim and proper compared to that girl and that neither despair nor resentment was present. Additionally, she wasn't harnessing the energy from the Philosopher's Stone despite actually being on the same train as somebody who did just that a bit ago.
"Coincidences...so many of them?"
"U-um..."
Harry, unable to bear the awkward silence, spoke up.
"Yea?"
"This lady here asked if there was something strange on her face for you to be staring so long."
"Ah..." Before he knew it, he ended up staring at her longer than necessary. It was definitely rude coming from him. "My bad, Harry. I thought she looked way too similar to a certain somebody I met before."
The girl whispered into Harry's ears, prompting him to convey her words.
"She said you're being creepy."
June sighed. He knew he was being rude there, but the fact that he had worsened their impression of him this much was problematic. He only came to make sure Harry was doing fine, not to rub them the wrong way.
"And um, I personally don't hold anything against you, but calling me by my first name is, you know, kinda weird considering we don't know each other."
"..."
June was stuck. He was about to blurt out "I didn't mean it like that" but stopped in time, knowing it wasn't an appropriate response.
He wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind. The more he pondered, the louder his heart beat.
Should he just say sorry and leave? Even if he never meant it like that?
'Huh?'
Something's not right. Why is he even fumbling like this?
Even if he's a bit reluctant when it comes to troublesome stuff, he was never one to overthink so much.
And yet that wasn't the case for today.
'Odd...'
For some reason, this situation brought a tinge of nostalgia. Not that he liked it.
'I wonder if it's because of my synchronization with that...'
It had been such a long time since any problem regarding this thing arose, but if it was indeed because of it, he would have to check it again when he was free from all of this.
"!"
BOOM!
The wall behind June suddenly collapsed, reverberating throughout the shaken carriage. Turning around, June sensed two figures emerging from behind the dust and debris.
"So that's the source of Corruption...and a Corrupted as well. Quite a strong one at that."
"W-What happened?" A nervous voice spoke up amidst the chaos.
"Step back. I don't have a good feeling about this one," muttered Harry.
June wasn't too surprised. From the tremors happening below his feet, he already knew something was coming from miles away; and that if he got stalled, he'd have to face that "something" soon enough.
However, at least this time it's out of self-obligation. But that'd have to be after getting those two behind him out of sight first.
"Retreat! We can't beat the"
In an instant, a ghost-like figure appeared next to him, its hand on his shoulder.
"[Splendid body you got there. Mind letting me borrow it for a sec?]"
***
THUMP!
June's body collapsed onto the ground much to the surprise of Harry and Aaliyah.
"Did a ghost just enter him?"
"Gulp!"
Beyond the dustscreen, Harry could sense a frightening aura that almost made him choke. If not for Jun falling over distracting him, he was sure to have collapsed under such pressure.
"Idiot! What do you think you're doing?" Aaliyah grumbled quietly, her eyes locked onto the shadow emerging from the dust.
Somehow, even though his body was trembling nonstop and his heart beating loudly, he managed to keep his cool and slowly approach the collapsed June just as his heart urged him.
Soon enough, he managed to get ahold of June and dragged the guy back much to the astonishment of Aaliyah.
...
After a couple of minutes passed…Nothing happened, surprisingly.
After moving some broken parts around to create a cover, the two sat around unconscious June, observing his condition while watching the monster's move.
After the dust cleared up, they were able to make out the face of the monster, which was a crimson human face gorilla.
It was strong, freakishly so, but it didn't seem interested in pursuing them. Rather, it only ever flinches when either they or June get a bit too far from where it stands, each time releasing the same frightening aura.
"It's quite odd, isn't it?"
Peaking over the makeshift barricade, Aaliyah muttered curiously.
"You mean the fact that it stayed put?"
Sitting back down, she proceeds to answer Harry's question.
"Yeah. Normally, something like that would've rushed toward us with no hesitation, seeing how weak we were compared to it. However, it hasn't moved an inch since this guy collapsed, and whatever we do to him always somehow triggers a reaction out of it."
"What do you suggest?"
"Just a bit ago, I saw something scary entering his body right before he passed out. I suspect it has something to do with that thing. Maybe...it has been given some kind of command?"
"You're saying somebody can order monsters around? Ridiculous! Isn't that just fantasy and all?" Harry retorted, confused by the girl's sudden claim.
From what he've learned in history books, no human in recorded history have ever shown to be able to do that. There were indeed attempts at trying to control them, be it for personal gains or even something as noble as pursuing world peace, all've ended in failure and tragedy.
Just like demons, monsters have always possessed an unexplained hatred for human, one that can never be extinguished until the day they die.
Unlike spirits, their souls can't resonate with that of humans, meaning a proper contract can't be established no matter what. Usually, the human soul would be consumed by the monster, creating monstrous terrors that would eventually force the shutdown of such projects.
Taming it the normal way is worse, as even experienced Hunters have died, acting carelessly at the last moment.
With enough time and direct experience, they can even learn spells previously owned by a human, rendering any niche spells that could, for example, control their body against their will like a puppet.
The Massacre of Town Mafeng was a painful reminder of this recently-known aspect.
Experiments after experiments have only proven this more true with time - that in reality, it was impossible to tame monsters.
It's a story that only existed in fantasy stories, and should be so.
In fact, if somebody suddenly came out one day and proved that they could control monsters, even just remotely, the whole world would be turned upside down. The ensuing chaos would be unimaginable.
"Calm down. I know it may sound hard to believe, but I can't just not account for such a possibility. How would you explain its mild behaviors then?"
"Maybe...something else is more worth its attention?"
"Well, hmmm...certainly is a possibility too." Aaliyah nodded in agreement. "But then what would be worth enough for its very own nature to be set aside-"
ZOOOOOMMMMM----BANG!
Out of nowhere, the gigantic grotesque gorilla crashed into the barricade, growling loudly as if in pain.
"That's payback for ya."