Accomplishment lasted for only a moment before a rock the size of a meteor descended upon the city once more. It was too far away for Levi to stop it—not that he could, anyway. Just stopping the previous boulder was enough to not make him want to try it again.

  Mana container taking a hit, he was about to retreat to meditate when a Railway Slayer slid down a roof, and landed right in front of them. It was Balin, the Major of the Railway Slayers. He looked surprised, relieved, almost, to see them.

  Then the enormous boulder slammed into the earth, raking all the buildings in its path. The ground trembled and screams echoed throughout the streets. Levi grit his teeth. The titan needed to be stopped.

  “Gregory,” he said, glancing with severity at the wall above. “I need your help at the station.”

  “Here I was thinking about helping you on the wall,” Gregory said, revealing his trademark smile.

  “The train must always move,” the Major replied grimly. “You of all people should understand that, Gregory.”

  Gregory placed his hand on Levi’s shoulder and turned him around. “Alright, well, good luck with that beast, Balin.”

  The Major nodded and turned. He mumbled, his voice barely audible, “We’ll all need it.”

  Balin launched himself forward thanks to the portable engines tied to his waist, and soon made it to the top of the wall. The moment he landed, he barked his commands. Levi could hear his voice even from where he stood. It was the voice of a leader.

  “Can Aleric really not stop it?” Levi asked, glancing over his shoulder.

  “No one knows the true strength of the royals,” Kara explained.

  Bram added, “We just need to hope that it's a fight he can win. Besides, it’s not something you should concern yourself with, Levi. We pick our battles when we can. We regroup, get stronger, then act from there.”

  Levi drew in a dusty, smoky breath, taking in the teaching along with it. Levi nodded. “Then let’s enter a battle we can win.”

  “There’s the spirit,” Gregory said with a grin, slapping Levi’s back.

  With the added momentum, Levi ran ahead. With Bram there as a wall, and Gregory to support them with his accurate, and supernatural level of discernment, they rushed through the streets. The station was getting closer, and along with it, the sounds of shouting and chaos.

  Approaching, it was made apparent why. The streets leading up to the train station were packed. There was no space to walk as people were lined shoulder-to-shoulder. They screamed, their attention sparking to the front.

  Levi leapt on a box and barely peered over everyone's heads. He saw at the far side of the street, there was a blockade. The soldiers of the wall had all congregated here. That was where they all were, Levi thought as he saw the soldiers push back the civilians. Only a select few were allowed on through, and judging by the primness of their clothes, and the tidiness of their hair, it was easy to figure out why.

  Only the nobles were being allowed on through.

  “Why aren’t the soldiers protecting the wall—or even the streets?” Levi asked, turning to Gregory for answers.

  Gregory smiled, but there was a coldness behind it. “The train is the lifeline of the cities. In the old days, it was the only thing connecting civilizations. It still plays that role in some ways, though we’ve got flight paths now. Back then, though, with the outside walls crawling with monsters and most cities unable to farm, the train was the only way in or out.”

  “And because of that,” Kara cut in, her voice laced with anger, “the soldiers abandon the streets to get the people out—the rich first, of course.”

  “And why aren’t they defending the wall?” Levi pressed.

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  Kara’s expression hardened. “Years of sitting around, playing games, and drinking have turned them into spineless cowards. Now, they’re here, waiting to grab a spot on the train the second they can.”

  “Or maybe they believe they don’t stand a chance against the titan,” Bram said. “It’s easier to surrender than fight when the odds are stacked against you.”

  “But still, that’s their job.” Levi clenched his fists. “Won’t they be punished for this?”

  Gregory chuckled darkly. “It’s easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. Sure, they might face a firing squad later, but they’ll live for now.”

  “In the end… they’re just human,” Levi said in understanding. It was human nature to think of yourself first. Only those who were truly ready to sacrifice their life for mankind, or the greater good, were the strange ones.

  “Quite a mature response, Levi,” Gregory teased.

  “I’ve been forced to grow up quickly,” Levi fired back.

  Laughing, Gregory's eyes flashed white. All humour was washed away in an instant. “Bats are approaching. A lot of them. Quickly, to the roofs.”

  Nodding, Levi launched himself up onto a nearby roof. Even without Gregory’s eyes of foresight, he saw them. It was difficult not to. In the thousands, they blotted the skies in its entirety. It was mid-day, and yet, the sky turned dark.

  Levi forced the mana out of his container and threw a highly condensed fireball in the centre of the bats. The ball exploded in a blazing storm, only for more bats to pierce through the blanket of fire. He had killed 13 in one use of his magic, and yet, it had barely made a dent.

  The bats were fast approaching.

  Summoning another ball of fire, Levi shouted, “I take it we’re trusting the soldiers to get everyone on the train and get it ready for departure?”

  “Aye,” Gregory said, loading red bullets into his six-shooter. “Buying time’s the best we can do.”

  Levi grit his teeth and launched the ball into the centre again. Sped up by the power of his Stats, the projectile slammed into the bats. The explosion rocked their formation. He had killed 10 this time, and had Levelled up. He placed the two points straight into Mana. He had the power necessary to defeat his opponents, now he needed endurance to the distance.

  “And you’re not doing it alone,” a sudden voice said, landing close to Levi. He wore a black robe embroidered with grey… lines? Lightning, maybe. Levi glanced at his vibrant blue eyes behind his curtains of raven hair.

  He clapped his hands together and then spread them apart. Lightning crackled all around him. Levi felt a strange sensation approach him; like it wanted to interrupt his own mana. The man seemed to realise a little too late. The lightning element got too close, but the moment it did so, Levi’s own counteracted it as if his mana had a mind of its own. Like a guard dog, Levi’s mana bit back.

  The man looked at him in shock and stepped away. He inspected Levi, only for his eyes to widen. “Third Tier?”

  The world cracked. A molten bullet swished by the lightning wielder’s hair, and pelted the oncoming horde of monsters. An explosion—at least three times the size of Levi’s—consumed the beasts. Dozens of them fell, like kites with their strings severed.

  “Keep your eye on the fight,” Gregory reminded the man.

  More like him arrived, joining the fight. Each of them was experienced, Levi noted as he watched how they created a defensive perimeter across the streets. Perhaps this was what the soldiers of the city were meant to do. And it made sense the more Levi inspected the buildings. They were all created in a way that allowed soldiers atop them to see and attack anything coming their way. There were also blind spots from sudden drops in height on the roofs. Presumably created for ambushes.

  But they weren’t soldiers. All of them were just adventurers. People who had travelled here to earn some coins.

  Levi gained a new understanding of the people of this world, working together. It didn’t last very long. After the spell casters had used up most of their mana reserves, they descended back down to the trains. The warriors, however, stayed.

  As the battle raged on, some of the bats had made it onto the streets. Gregory’s command arrived a moment later, telling Levi to fend off the stragglers—alone. Kara disagreed with it, but Levi had already acted.

  Leaping down thanks to the durability of his body, he sensed a sudden, and immediate ambush from the shadows. A bat, with its blade-like wings, slashed at Levi’s throat from the darkness of an alleyway. The civilians nearby screamed. Ducking under it, he felt the air swish his hair.

  Smiling, Levi met the monster’s gaze. It lasted only a second before Levi snapped forward a blazing fist. Pure, concentrated mana engulfing his fist, bore a hole through the monster’s chest, killing it instantly.

  Levi spun on his heels. “Stop,” he said, his words irresistible. Two bats were commanded to halt, and they did. Baring the brunt of the mana expenditure from stopping time, Levi assaulted them with a barrage of fire bullets.

  Not even taking the time to watch their bodies drop to the ground, Levi moved onto the other targets. Alone, he defended the streets. But he couldn’t last for long. There were too many, and as a mage, there came a time where his mana reserves would only spew fumes.

  That time came sooner than he hoped, and along with it, was a hulking bat that crashed out of a building.