Rubble scattered and dust billowed, obscuring the surroundings.
Although Kevin quickly swept it all away, the spot where Lee had stood was now empty.
She had vanished once more.
"..."
Kevin silently lowered his head, looking at the strand of long hair he had grasped during the previous battle. Although Lee's figure had once again disappeared from his sight, this lock of hair in his hand now proved that she was no longer as distant from him as if separated by life and death.
This wasn't his only solace... She now existed in this world, just as he did.
Although there seemed to be many problems at present, for Kevin, the mere existence of this fact was enough to bring peace to his heart.
However, her power was truly terrifying. To be frank, the current Kevin had no confidence in defeating her.
If the entity lurking in the shadows, compelling Lee, controlling her against her will to attack Elysia, then things were indeed troublesome. How could such a formidable enemy be defeated, and how could Lee be saved...? He currently had no clue about such questions.
As for other matters—like when exactly Lee was controlled, whether she was hiding something from them, or whether what she showed them was her true heart—these things weren't important to Kevin.
Even if Lee was truly deceiving him, he didn't care. In fact, it would be better if Lee herself was the one being deceived. Because then, her past suffering might not have been so agonizing for her...
Kevin put away the strand of hair and looked up at his former comrades around him. Their strength had indeed improved compared to the past, but to Kevin, they were still too weak. If he were to bring them along to fight that entity... could they even manage to play support?
Although he was skeptical about it, Kevin felt it was still necessary to engage with them further. After all, while "strength in numbers" wasn't necessarily the ultimate truth for solving all problems, at least he alone was certainly helpless in the current situation.
But discussing things with them and Otto's group was a matter for later.
His gaze focused on the train that had crashed entirely into the ground before him. Kevin sheathed the Judgment of Shamash and slowly walked over.
Although he didn't know what this thing was, the current Kevin was battle-hardened and had seen much. He could tell it was most likely another group of visitors from another world, dragged here just like them—isekai'd, so to speak.
It was just that the aura from before seemed to have fluctuated and vanished because it sensed their presence... Whether it was his own delusion or not, as long as there was even a slight possibility, Kevin wouldn't give up the chance to investigate.
Paying no mind to what Elysia and the others were saying, Kevin walked silently alone to the front of the train, which somehow reminded him a bit of the Cosmic Juggernaut.
He directly reached out to touch the carriage door.
Just as he reached out, the carriage door, slightly buckled from the recent impact, was suddenly yanked open from the inside with a click. It revealed a somewhat haggard, brown-haired man whose glasses, perched on his face, were even faintly cracked.
Then, his eyes met Kevin's expressionless, silent gaze.
"..."
WHAM!
Using all his strength, Welt slammed the door shut again, hiding the face of the white-haired man before him.
Hiss... Seemed like he was hallucinating... Weren't they here to find Twilight? How come when I opened the door, it looked like Kevin was standing outside?
This shouldn't be happening. My world shouldn't be this place...
"Uncle Yang, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly close the door? I just saw someone outside."
Just then, Caelus and the others, unaware of what was happening, had come over from various parts of the carriage. Although the train had suffered a slight impact causing it to fall when they crashed into this world moments ago, for the few people inside the train now, such a small jolt couldn't hurt them at all.
Although March 7th was the weakest in terms of strength, because she was sitting relatively close to Caelus, Himeko, and Dan Heng, they easily helped her steady herself.
On the other hand, Welt, who was sitting alone to one side, was caught off guard and almost had an embarrassing mishap.
"Uh, it's nothing... Maybe the impact just now damaged my glasses, making my vision a bit blurry."
Welt silently took off his glasses, repaired them with a thought, and put them back on.
That's right, it must be. This world is so big, and there are so many white-haired people, it's normal. I just got PTSD from Kevin before, that's why I associate any white-haired man with Kevin... Thinking back carefully, that face just now didn't quite look like Kevin, did it?
Calm down, Welt, calm down... This is a critical moment, having arrived in an unfamiliar world. And there's also the important task of finding Twilight. If I panic, I'll only set a bad example for Caelus and the other juniors.
That madman Kevin isn't a Nameless. He wouldn't just randomly show up in other bubble universes...
After successfully calming himself down and reasoning things out, Welt let out a sigh of relief. He adjusted his mindset and silently reopened the door he had slammed shut. "Sorry, that was rude of me. Just now, I—"
The closed door opened once more. This time, standing outside and meeting Welt's gaze were, besides the ice-block-like white-haired man, an insidious and cunning blond man.
WHAM!!!
An illusion, it must be an illusion!!! How could that Kevin be here? And that Otto Apocalypse, he shouldn't be here even more so! How could they possibly appear before me, and be casually chatting amongst themselves?!
Did I fall for some trick by Aha or a Remembrancer, and have I gone mad?
"Uncle Yang, why did you slam the door shut again?"
A confused voice sounded from behind him, but Welt just stared intently at the door, as if ferocious beasts were lurking behind it. But after an intense internal struggle, he finally, with difficulty, reached for the doorknob.
I should really take one more look...
The next second, Welt slammed the door shut yet again.
...Damn it, this is so weird! Why are those two here?!
The two men who had cast the greatest shadows over his life had now actually managed to rendezvous, and were even blocking his doorway together in this new world... In that instant, the intensity of Welt's stress reaction began to skyrocket, explode, and surge!
These two damned bastards were right in front of him, and he had no way to defeat them—what should I do? Who can I find to help me with this?!
In that split second, his agitated heart and memories that had resurfaced from who knows when—coming back online, as it were—exploded in Welt's mind into a subconscious reaction.
"Twilight, help me!!!"