"We have arrived at the last station of Lumithar!"

The announcer’s voice echoed throughout the massive train station while loud steam burst out from beneath the metallic train.

Pshhhhh...

The doors slid open slowly as white steam clouds flowed outward across the platform floor.

Passengers dressed in expensive coats and elegant noble clothing stepped out one after another with composed expressions, servants following closely behind them carrying luggage and bags.

Ezra and Lucy stepped out of the station together.

The moment they exited the building, the lights of Lumithar spread before their eyes like a glowing sea beneath the night sky.

Tall buildings covered with glowing circuit lights stood across the city roads while steam-powered signs flickered above stores and restaurants.

Luxurious steam carriages continuously passed through the streets with the noise of engines, the whistles of traffic guards, the chatter of nobles and servants.

The capital city felt alive.

The two of them immediately boarded a steam carriage cab after leaving the station grounds and started heading toward Castle Hall Grandus.

"Driver."

Lucy slightly leaned toward the carriage window.

"The roads seem crowded. At this rate, we might not arrive on time if this continues."

Her tone carried slight worry while she watched the endless line of steam carriages blocking the main road.

"Well, that is to be expected, dear Lady."

The driver looked back slightly while steering the carriage.

"Many nobles from different parts of Britannia came to attend the unveiling ceremony, so the roads are naturally busy tonight."

He chuckled proudly.

"But if you are in a hurry, I know a shortcut we can use."

Lucy turned toward Ezra.

Ezra remained seated quietly beside the carriage window, his dull black eyes staring outside silently as the city lights reflected across the glass.

"If you can do that, then please go ahead."

His calm voice sounded flat as usual.

"Understood, sir."

The driver smiled confidently.

"Trust me, I’ve been driving through Lumithar my whole life. I know all the best routes to pass through and reconnect to the main road faster."

The moment the traffic ahead loosened slightly; the driver turned into another street, which that road was still busy, but far less blocked than the main one.

After driving straight for several minutes, the carriage turned again into another road with fewer steam vehicles moving through it.

Then another turn.

This time...

No carriages could be seen at all and the area suddenly became strangely quiet with only snow slowly drifting downward from the night sky while dim lamps illuminated the stone road and old buildings around them, making the silence almost feeling peaceful.

"So, from here, we only need to go straight for a bit, turn right, then continue until we reconnect to the main road again."

The driver pointed ahead while explaining proudly.

Then...

"Lucy."

Ezra’s voice suddenly sounded calm and low.

BOOOOM!!!

Massive stone spikes violently pierced through the side of the steam carriage from both buildings opposite them.

CRASH!!

The spikes tore through metal and glass instantly and the carriage exploded violently afterward as flames swallowed the entire vehicle whole.

The driver barely managed to jump out before the explosion completely consumed the carriage.

"What the hell are you people doing?!"

He shouted angrily while rolling across the snowy floor.

"I could’ve died!"

He pointed furiously toward the shadow-covered alley nearby.

"But you didn’t die. Hehe... Hehe..."

A woman’s voice slowly echoed from the darkness.

A slim female figure casually walked out from the shadows with a playful smile on her face.

"Huh?"

The driver looked at her in disbelief.

"Take this and leave before I cut off your mouth."

She tossed a pouch toward him while lazily scratching her ear with her pinky finger.

The driver hurriedly caught the pouch and opened it.

The moment he saw the gold coins inside...

Greed immediately appeared on his face.

"Thank you! If you ever need help aga..."

Slash!

Part of his head suddenly slid off.

Blood sprayed violently across the stone road like a fountain while the pouch fell from his hand and scattered gold coins across the ground.

Clink, Clink.

The metallic sounds echoed softly across the quiet street.

"Ehn..."

The woman folded her arms with visible surprise after noticing the two people who should have died now standing outside the burning carriage completely unharmed.

Ezra calmly dusted snow off his coat.

The moment he sensed danger of fluctuating Cognis earlier...

He had already grabbed Lucy and pushed both of them out through the back window before the stone spikes pierced through the carriage.

"Lucy."

Ezra calmly glanced left and right.

"How many?"

Lucy lightly flicked the blood off the Stiletto needle in her hand before narrowing her eyes carefully around the area.

"I sense three people on the rooftop to our right."

She pointed slightly.

"Four on the rooftop to our left."

Then another direction.

"And five behind us hiding within the building corners."

Finally...

She pointed the Stiletto needle toward the woman standing openly before them.

"And her."

"Kyaaa~ I’m scared."

The woman hugged herself dramatically while speaking sarcastically.

"One remains."

Ezra suddenly interrupted.

His eyes remained on the woman, but strangely, it didn’t feel like he was actually looking at her.

"One?"

Lucy looked at him in confusion while scanning the area again.

Then...

"Haha... Haha... Hahaha..."

A man’s laughter echoed from behind the woman.

"Not only did you survive the surprise attack...you even sensed me."

Wallace slowly stepped out from the darkness behind Betty with a smug grin on his face.

"You really are something, kid."

He casually walked forward while Betty leaned her arms around his shoulders lazily.

"To find you, I had to use my connections through the train transport systems."

He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"And even then, it was still difficult locating you."

His grin widened.

"So, I decided to do the reasonable thing. Why search for the prey... when I can simply wait for the prey to reveal itself?"

Wallace pointed toward Ezra.

"And you did exactly that."

He lightly laughed.

"I paid every driver connected to your last train station to secretly guide you into this area."

Then his expression slowly darkened.

"But honestly...How did a weak-looking brat like you survive that attack?"

He shrugged.

"Well...It doesn’t matter. You’re still dying either way."

The moment he pointed...

A barrage of arrows suddenly flew toward Ezra and Lucy from both rooftops.

Lucy instantly moved.

Shing!

Her second Stiletto needle appeared in her other hand after taking out from her space bag as Cognis surged through her body.

She spun swiftly.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Every incoming arrow got sliced apart with precise movements while sparks flew around her.

The barrage completely stopped without a single arrow reaching them.

"Wow..."

Wallace smirked.

"So, this hot lady is actually a Novice-rank Alchemist."

"I’ll handle her."

Betty removed her arms from Wallace’s shoulders before drawing the short blades behind her back.

A dangerous grin appeared on her face immediately.

Throughout all this...

Ezra simply stood there silently watching them, but...

"Ahhh..."

He sighed quietly while adjusting his gloves.

"I was already expecting this."

He turned toward Lucy.

"No time wasting."

His voice remained flat.

"Yes, Master."

Lucy nodded immediately as Cognis surged from her body again.

The instant Betty moved...

Boom!

She rushed forward at terrifying speed while slashing toward Lucy’s face.

Clash!

Lucy blocked the blade with her Stiletto needle.

Then...

Betty’s eyes suddenly widened.

A dagger was already inches away from her eyes.

Clap!

Cognis surged violently from Wallace’s palms as an alchemy circle instantly formed between his hands.

Before Ezra’s dagger could stab Betty...

Wallace slammed his hands onto the ground.

Brown glowing lightning spread rapidly through the stone floor.

Boom!!

The ground beneath Ezra and Lucy suddenly rose upward violently.

That kid...

Wallace frowned slightly.

Not long ago...

Ezra was genuinely about to stab Betty without hesitation.

"Fire!!!"

Wallace’s voice exploded through the quiet street like a gunshot itself.

The goons positioned across the rooftops immediately reacted.

From the tops of the two opposite buildings...

The hidden men finally had a complete view of Ezra and Lucy standing below.

Their arrows instantly aimed downward while Ezra’s eyes swiftly moved left and right.

In that brief second...

He already calculated everything.

The angle of the shots, the distance, the timing and the moment the arrows released almost simultaneously...

Cognis surged into Ezra’s leg.

Boom!!

He stomped the stone violently.

Crack!!

The extended stone platform beneath him shattered apart as massive chunks of stone launched upward into the air while they fell.

At the same moment...

Lucy moved her weapons.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Her Stiletto needles flashed repeatedly as sparks exploded around her.

Every incoming arrow got sliced apart before even touching them while both of their bodies were still airborne from Ezra’s breaking the stone platform that took them up.

The speed of her movements looked clean and controlled.

Not rushed and not panicked.

Like she had already trained for situations exactly like this.

Immediately after blocking the final arrow...

Lucy stepped onto one of the floating broken stone pieces, using the falling debris itself as support...

She launched her body toward the rooftop on the right side like a bullet.

Her new maid dress fluttered violently behind her while snow scattered around the air from the force of her movement.

Wallace stared at everything happening before him.

For the first time...

Slight confusion appeared inside his eyes, but the feeling only lasted briefly.

Years of fighting and surviving quickly calmed him down again.

No matter what strange abilities the boy showed...

His job remained simple.

Kill the target.

Whether the brat is actually talented or not...

He will still die tonight, and he will die by my hands.

Wallace clapped both hands together.

Cognis surged violently out from his body while a large brown alchemy circle instantly spread beneath him.

He slammed both palms onto the ground.

Boom!!

Two massive stone spikes burst upward from the frozen street toward Ezra with terrifying force.

The spikes ripped through the ground violently while snow and debris exploded upward around them.

At that moment...

Ezra calmly reached into his coat and pulled out two black steel bars.

A faint smile finally appeared on his face.

I’ve honestly been wondering when I would finally get to use this gun.

His thoughts remained calm despite the incoming attack with no panic nor rush.

Only focus.

The black steel bars immediately melted through Alchemy.

The metal twisted and reshaped rapidly in his hands.

After finally reaching Binder rank...And after studying under Uncle Rogers...

The weapon was finally complete.

The steel molded into two massive black handguns.

Two Desert Eagles.

The moment Ezra grabbed them...

The weight instantly settled perfectly into his palms.

Bang! Bang!!

The gunshots exploded through the street violently.

The recoil pushed against Ezra’s arms hard while fire burst from the muzzles.

The bullets struck the incoming stone spikes directly.

Crack!!

The massive attacks instantly shattered apart from only one bullet each.

Broken stone exploded across the air while the entire attack collapsed midway.

The difference in power compared to the Big Four-Barrel Revolver is enormous.

Ezra faintly smiled.

This destructive force alone could already qualify it as a true Binder-rank gun even though it’s just a handgun.

Without even turning his head...

Ezra casually raised his left Desert Eagle toward the rooftop.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!

The shots rang out almost continuously.

And immediately afterward...

Blood exploded across the snowy rooftops.

Headshot.

Headshot.

Headshot.

Headshot.

Four bodies collapsed instantly before they could even react properly.

The remaining goons froze in horror.

Too bad the capacity is only nine.

Ezra calmly landed onto the frozen street afterward.

Boom.

The snow and cracked stone beneath his boots shattered apart from the impact while small debris slowly floated around him.

Then...

Ezra slowly raised his head.

His dull black eyes locked directly onto Wallace.

And for the first time since the ambush started...

The smug confidence on Wallace’s face finally disappeared.