The Ether activity around him grew stronger and stronger, the concentration rising higher and higher.
The overwhelming pressure made it hard for Cass to even breathe.
Was he scared?
Thinking back to the hellish scene from ten years ago—of course he was terrified.
But the thirst for revenge burned even hotter, enough to overcome his fear.
Gripping the Guardian Angel W-Engine in one hand and the Ether observation device in the other,
Cass suddenly hurled the observation device to the ground with all his strength.
"Come on! Smash into me again like you did ten years ago—this time, I won't be afraid of you!"
As Cass shouted into the mist,
a clanging, metallic rumble echoed from behind him.
The moment he heard it,
Cass whipped around, stumbling a bit before catching his balance.
He stared down the abandoned track into the distance.
At some point,
thick mist had risen under the influence of the intense Ether activity, shrouding everything around him.
Clutching the Guardian Angel tighter,
Cass trembled uncontrollably, his eyes locked on the depths of the mist.
"Come on... come on..."
he muttered, his lips shaking.
Clang, clang...
The train sounds grew louder and clearer, like some grim funeral song...
Suddenly,
Cass's pupils shrank.
He saw it.
A massive shadow loomed from within the mist, growing larger, sharper by the second.
Only a few moments passed,
and then—through the swirling fog—a giant form revealed itself.
It was a monstrous train engine.
Or rather, it was a horrifying Ethereal, its grotesque head fused with a ruined locomotive.
Clang, clang...
There were wheels beneath it,
but it wasn't those broken wheels driving the creature forward.
Dozens of human-like legs, thick and unnatural, moved like a giant centipede, propelling the Notoriety Ethereal—the Locomotive—down the tracks.
The clanging sound was from the wrecked wheels scraping the rails.
Ten whole years.
And now, Cass was finally face-to-face with it again.
He had prepared himself countless times in his mind.
But now, confronted with the true terror of the Notoriety Ethereal,
Cass still couldn't stop his body from trembling, couldn't banish the instinct to step back.
No—
He couldn't retreat.
Trembling, Cass bent down, grabbed a rock off the ground, and hurled it at the monstrous head.
"Once, a Notoriety Ethereal appeared before me, and I couldn't stop it.
If heaven gave me another chance, I would put all my strength into defense."
"I'll use that golden light to make you taste what I felt."
Cass muttered as he grabbed another rock and hurled it again.
"Come on! Smash into me!"
As if provoked,
the monstrous Ethereal let out a low roar.
Inside the locomotive's ruined frame, metal groaned and clashed, sounding like death itself drawing near.
Clang, clang...
Hundreds of legs slammed into motion,
charging along the abandoned tracks straight at Cass.
At first, it wasn't moving fast—
but it accelerated terrifyingly quickly.
Under the force of all those limbs, its speed skyrocketed.
Far faster than any train in New Eridu.
The ground shook violently.
Seeing the beast closing in,
Cass took a deep breath, steadied himself, spread his arms wide—
—and waited for the collision.
The faster, the better.
The harder, the better.
If he could kill the monster in one blow, it would be worth everything.
He had sacrificed so much for this day—
endured scorn from his leaders, expulsion from the research institute, endless years of humiliation.
Ten years of pain and waiting—
and now, finally, the day had come.
The Ethereal grew closer.
Cass instinctively wanted to shut his eyes, but he forced himself to keep them open.
He would witness this with his own eyes.
The creature raced across dozens of meters in a blink, charging straight at him.
Still accelerating, faster and faster.
BOOM!
The colossal Ethereal, heavier and more terrifying than any real train, slammed into the small figure of Cass.
An earth-shaking crash rang out.
Without the A-rank Guardian Angel W-Engine, Cass would have been pulverized on the spot.
He wouldn't have even left a body behind.
But at the moment of impact—
As the front of the Ethereal gathered more and more Ether energy, a golden glow ignited across it.
The Guardian Angel W-Engine activated.
Its Ether field flared violently, triggering its one-time defense skill.
It blocked everything.
The Guardian Angel W-Engine burned through 100% of its power, throwing up a shield that withstood the impossible collision for Cass.
At the same time,
its secondary skill triggered—
reflecting the blocked damage back onto the attacker.
A full-force counterstrike,
using the Ethereal's own might against it.
In an instant, the Guardian Angel exploded with light, engulfing Cass and the Locomotive in a blinding radiance.
Before the light even faded—
BOOM!
A tremendous blast erupted.
The force slammed directly into the Ethereal's grotesque head.
The monstrous creature—
the massive, train-sized Notoriety Ethereal—
was blasted into the air.
Like a monstrous centipede, it twisted and flailed midair before crashing to the ground with another massive thud.
Not only that.
The Ether energy that had built up inside it—
unable to be released properly—
finally collapsed in on itself.
BOOM!
Another explosion tore through its head.
...
On Cass's side—
Even with the Guardian Angel's protection,
even though he hadn't taken the full impact,
the shockwave still battered him brutally.
He was just an ordinary human.
His body simply couldn't withstand a blast at such close range.
It felt like all his internal organs were shattered.
Agonizing pain wracked him from head to toe.
The next second,
he collapsed with a heavy crash onto the ground.
But—
Even as he lay there, broken and bleeding,
Cass looked at the massive Ethereal sprawled on the earth—and smiled.
He had done it.
With nothing but the body of an ordinary man,
he had defeated a Notoriety Ethereal.
He had won.
Leaning weakly against a stone, Cass couldn't hold back a mouthful of blood that spilled from his lips.
Yet...
Before he could even savor the victory,
he saw it.
The monstrous body of the Ethereal twitched slightly.
Then—
The grotesque legs began to stir again.
Slowly, the Notoriety Ethereal rolled over—
and started to rise.
...