Chapter 43: Vision on the Tracks

One day later, on a morning at the station, Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie stood on the platform. Before them sat a train prepared to depart, puffs of white steam venting from the gaps between its carriages. The train looked quiet, as no one else was traveling besides the four of them, and it appeared to be automatically controlled.

"Hey."

The four turned around and looked back. They saw Mary standing behind them with a smile,

"Safe travels, alright? Remember... whatever happens out there, whether you’re welcomed in Utopia or not, and whether you manage to find your sister or not... never forget that you have a home here," Mary said.

"Yes, Sister Mary, we won’t forget. I’ll definitely come back here because my friends are here," Craig replied.

"Like Sister Mary said, we’ll return together with Sister Celes," Casca added.

"Good. I’ll be waiting for you here. Come here, you guys," Mary said, stepping forward with open arms.

Mary embraced Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig, who hugged her back tightly in return. Releasing her hold,

"Don’t worry, Sister Mary, this isn’t goodbye. I promise all five of us will come back here," Clyde said.

"Yeah... just make sure to prepare a welcome party, ehehe," Corie added.

"Haha... of course. Now go, and stay safe on the road. I pray that you succeed and make it back here," Mary said with a smile.

"Alright, Sister. Thank you," the four replied.

After that, they shared one last hug with Mary before turning to step inside the train. Shortly after, the train doors sealed shut. Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie stood by the window and waved to Mary outside, who smiled and waved back. Then the train bell chimed, and the three-carriage train finally set off. Inside, it was clearly empty save for Clyde, Casca, Craig, Corie, and three older individuals who seemed to have their own respective destinations in Utopia.

As the train pulled away into the distance, Mary smiled and wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes. She turned around and walked out of the station, her hands tucked deep inside her long coat. Inside the carriage, Clyde and Casca sat across from Craig and Corie. The four stared out the window, watching the city that had crumbled into overgrown, forest-like ruins.

In the middle of the roads and near the ruins, they could see massive creatures that looked like slime formed from soft, sticky organic hair. Pitch-black in color, they squirmed and writhed like a knot of bait worms fused into a single wriggling mass, spanning a massive size of roughly seven to ten meters across. Whenever two met, they absorbed each other, growing even larger.

"Is that... a swarmer?" Corie asked, staring at the disgusting, deeply unsettling creature.

"Yeah... but the one I saw back then was much smaller than those over there," Clyde answered.

"Ugh... are those... eyeballs? Arms and legs? Why is it made of squirming hair like that... and is that a head too? Disgusting," Casca said.

"Completely barbaric... what kind of experiment produces something like that?" Craig muttered.

"They say it was a failed experiment and they were just dumped out here... anyway, stop looking," Clyde said, drawing the curtain over the window.

The four fell silent once more, listening only to the music echoing from the carriage speakers and the rhythmic clacking of the train wheels along the tracks.

"How long do you think it’ll take for us to reach Utopia?" Corie asked, suddenly breaking the silence.

"Sister Mary said it takes about two to two and a half hours," Clyde answered.

"I see. Still, I didn’t expect trains to still be running between cities in this day and age," Craig said.

"I wonder what Utopia is like? They said the city is on the surface, not underground like Neo Ark," Casca said.

"We’ll see when we get there," Craig replied.

They fell silent again, settling in for the ride. But roughly thirty minutes later, Clyde suddenly went rigid. Both of his hands gripped the armrests as his body stiffened and trembled, his face turning pale with his mouth agape. Seeing this, Casca, Craig, and Corie immediately went on high alert; they didn’t understand what was happening to Clyde, but they could sense that something was wrong.

"Aaaaah!"

Clyde suddenly cried out, looking around in a panic. He shoved open the window and stared at the ruined cityscape outside, his face pale with dread,

"What’s wrong, Brother?" Casca asked.

"This is bad... we’re going to be attacked by a giant monster... a massive one... this train is going to be destroyed... and we’re going to die inside with it," Clyde answered.

"W-what? Are you serious, Brother? When is it going to happen?" Craig asked.

"I don’t know... but... very soon," Clyde answered, clutching his face in panic.

The carriage fell dead silent. Seeing Clyde so dead serious and with Casca and Corie already knowing that Clyde could see the future, their faces drained of all color, realizing that whatever Clyde saw was bound to happen.

"W-what should we do then? Should we jump off the train?" Corie asked in a panic.

"No," Clyde answered.

Casca, Craig, and Corie turned back to Clyde, who appeared to have regained his composure. Clyde looked at his three siblings,

"There’s no other way. We have to fight that monster," Clyde said.

"Wow... a giant monster? Like 50 meters tall?" Corie asked, turning pale.

"Alright. Do we head outside now?" Craig asked, slamming his fist into his palm.

"Yeah... we need to get up onto the roof of this train," Clyde answered.

"Let’s go... what are we waiting for? Get ready and climb up," Casca urged.

"Ugh... I have a really bad feeling about this," Corie grumbled.

Finally, the four stood up and walked toward the empty rear carriage, the only one behind theirs. Reaching the far end of the carriage, clack, Craig turned the wheel-shaped door handle and opened the door. They stepped outside and climbed the ladder leading up to the train’s roof. Once all four stood atop the train, they noticed it was currently crossing a high bridge.

Below them lay ruined roads and buildings overgrown with wild vegetation, alongside rusting, vine-draped car wrecks lining the streets.

"Hey... look at that," Casca said, pointing off to the side opposite them.

Clyde, Corie, and Craig turned around. They looked in the direction Casca pointed, and sure enough, Clyde’s vision proved accurate: a massive, kaiju-class monster standing roughly 50 meters tall was lumbering forward. Shaped like a giant tortoise with a spiky shell, a long, spiky tail dragging behind it, a thick-necked dragon head, and four stocky legs, it dragged its massive body forward, kicking up a thick blanket of dust and fog around itself as it headed straight for the train tracks. The monster’s skin was a dull brown, making it look like a moving hill from afar.

"SKREEEECH!" "SKREEONK!"

The monster roared fiercely, its booming voice reverberating across the landscape. The wind whipped through their hair as the faces of Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie turned deathly pale. The four exchanged glances, then entered their combat mode by whistling together. But even as their forms shifted, they stared at the monster advancing step by step,

"How are we supposed to do this, Brother? Can we really fight a kaiju-class monster like that?" Corie asked via telepathy.

"I don’t know... I’m a bit pessimistic. Brother Clyde, say something," Craig replied, turning to look at Clyde.

"Yeah... this is exactly what I saw in my vision. That monster comes and completely demolishes these tracks along with the train... then just walks away," Clyde said.

"Gosh, Brother... what we need to figure out right now is how to fight that monster, not get a confirmation of your vision!" Casca chided.

"Ah... right... sorry. But I don’t know how to fight it either. We find its weakness and beat it up... that’s pretty much all we can do," Clyde replied.

Hearing Clyde’s words, Craig, Casca, and Corie naturally went quiet, realizing that Clyde was just like them, clueless on how to fight a monster that kept lumbering toward them, one that was undeniably massive in size.