"Brace for impact! You have fifty seconds to get as far away from the train as possible!"
These were the last words that most of the youths on board heard before a loud screech filled their head, making their skins crawl.
What followed after was a loud bang and a sudden jerk as the train began tilting without losing speed.
Boom!
The train shook, a few parts flying off as it crashed into mud. A few youths lost hold of the train and directly flew to the ground while those that managed to retain their hold felt a strong vibration pulse through their bodies.
The heavy rain had yet to cease, its heavy downpour drowning out the following commotion.
The youths hurriedly began standing up, staggering, limping and assisting each other to move away from the train as fast as possible.
Those with the black ribbons recovered the quickest, a few of them jumping down the train into wet ground and running up the mountain path, hoping to give themselves as much headstart as possible.
While the sight of various examinees, who had previously been fighting, helping each other out in a bid to survive was moving, only a fool would allow it affect their thinking.
Humans were unpredictable creatures and those who were given black ribbons weren't given for show. They were the most skilled amongst the examinees and they've all spent some time hunting either for bounty or as assassins.
They knew human nature well enough and they knew that although the blue ribbons were only alive because of the black ribbons, that wouldn't stop them from hunting them.
Greed was the downfall of man. And in this situation, the reward was way bigger than the risk. Being a member of the special squad was an honor all craved but only a few ever got.
The special squad had only four ranks and even a cadet of the special squad had more authority than a Captain of the royal military. They received more pay and way better equipment. On top of that, they got to know things that a lot of nobles didn't.
The youths taking the exam were either orphans, came from poor families or were nobles. And from the pitiful amount of nobles, one could immediately deduce the origin of most examinees.
Such an offer was tempting for people of their class and to think that a gesture of kindness would suddenly change their nature was nothing short of being foolish.
The ones behind were the nobles. Percy looked behind for a moment before heading up the mountain path, taking a different route than Yvonne and Marceline.
Ichor walked to the train even as the youths were rushing away from it, slipping and trying their best to retain their footing.
He arrived at the wheels and pent down to pick his umbrella. Surprisingly, although the fabric was torn, its frame remained intact.
Ichor gave a wry smile, opened the umbrella and raised it up. It blocked out a decent amount of rain. He smiled in satisfaction and walked up the hill.
Just as he got to almost a hundred feet away from the train, a loud explosion rang out.
A strong gust of wind blew out, swaying the trees even more as a pillar of fire and smoke rose into the sky, burning furiously.
The youths who had barely managed to get away from the train in time breathed a huge sigh of relief as they sat down in the mud, soaked in the rain. Their hearts were still pounding in their chest as they watched the billowing flames soar into the sky.
Even in the heavy downpour, the fire seemed to be burning even more.
Zandov, Lassen and the strange girl that had joined them remained with the youths, the only black ribbon that stayed behind.
It wasn't because they were oblivious to the dark thoughts that went through the human mind or because they were fools.
No.
It was instead because of one reason, the same reason why the nobles remained unbothered. It was because they believed that the three of them alone were enough to completely defeat all the remaining examinees.
A few minutes later, Percy, who had covered quite the distance looked behind him at the Train, his brows furrowed. He was a bit puzzled, the train seemed to somehow be burning even more than before.
"Strange."
At that moment, he wasn't the only one thinking the same thing. Yvonne had noticed the issue and even Zandov and Lassen who were now leading the other blue ribbons up the mountain path seemed to have realized that something was wrong.
"Hey! What's that?" A youth among Zandov's party suddenly asked and all eyes followed his finger, looking in the direction he was pointing at.
"Yvonne, look…" Marceline pointed to Yvonne. The latters eyes narrowed the moment she saw what had attracted Marceline's attention. She had seen through the crux of the matter immediately.
Percy and Ichor were no different, their eyes locked onto the same object in the same direction.
At the top of the mountain path in presumably what was supposed to be the camp that was their destination, a red beam pierced into the sky.
Although it was night, the darkness caused by the storm made the red beam stand out even more. But what caused the knowledgeable ones among the examinees to react was something else.
Almost simultaneously, they all looked back, back at the train that was burning furiously under the heavy downpour.
"Hehe, what a bunch of old crooks." Ichor chuckled as he grabbed his telescopic baton, extending it to its full length.
Percy coldly held his words tighter.
Yvonne pulled out her belt, it immediately took the form of a strange metallic whip. She was battle primed while Marceline subconsciously took a step behind her.
Zandov looked at Lassen,
"Prepare for battle." He said, his expression grave.
At that moment, they all seemed to have come to a similar realization. The red beam in the distance was a beacon for the examinees to show them the camp. And so was the Train.
It was a beacon for the mutants that roamed the Unbrye mountain path. And its aim was to attract the beasts to the youths.
In fact, it already has.