“Hey, Stupid Cat.”

“What, lizard?”

“There’s something I want to know.”

“And that is?”

“How the hell did we end up in this situation?!”

Reina shouted at the top of her lungs.

She and Amelia were currently inside a cage, which was suspended over a cliff, and had a raging sea underneath them.

“How? Did you hit your head?”

Amelia asked. She looked rather relaxed considering the fact that they were hanging for their lives.

“Let me refresh your memory.”

After they left the marigold kingdom, Rory, Amelia, and Reina travelled east until they came across a crossroad which led to two different countries. Rory proposed that they decide which direction to take with a flip of a coin. They did, and went on the winning path.

That path led them to an isolated town, similar to the one they went to before reaching the Marigold Kingdom. There Rory hit it off with a clearly shady guy, and went drinking together. He later came back with all the guy’s possessions, saying that the guy tried to rob him, so he retaliated by robbing him back.

He didn’t stop there. He made the guy bring him to his home, where he proceeded to rob him of everything he had. This guy was, however a lackey to some crime lord. That crime lord declared war on Rory.

“Anyway, we destroyed the gang, but we were arrested and sentenced to death. Rory ran away leaving us behind, but not before telling us to get caught. He said that there’s something he wanted to test out. So we did as he said, and now we’re here carrying our sentences. We’re suppose rot in this cell.”

Amelia said.

“Thanks for the flashback, but we’ve been here for days right? Where’s that bastard?”

“Who knows?”

“You’re quite laid back about this.”

“Yeah. Experience can do that to you.”

She stretched her hand to the side and caught a bird flying by, by forming a hand out of fire to catch it. The bird squirmed in pain, but was quickly put out of its misery when it was nearly burnt to a crisp. Amelia brought the bird to her mouth, and started to eat it. This was how she and Reina survived these couple days.

“I no longer get worked up by what that idiot does. You’ll get used to it soon.”

She said while munching on a drumstick.

“Besides, we can escape from the cage easy.”

“You do know that these bars are made from Animite, right?”

“Ani-what?”

“It’s the same material used to build those anima absorbers that the Sacred church brought during the war. It’s very resilient against Anima. Meaning that we can’t break out with anima, and will have to use our physical strength.”

“Rory!”

Amelia suddenly grabbed the cage bars and began shouting.

“Rory, you bastard! You get here right now! Free me from in here!”

“What happened to your experience?”

Reina mocked her.

“Fuck experience!”

Amelia tried bending the bars, but it couldn’t budge.

“Crap….I suddenly feel the urge to use the bathroom.”

“It’s all in your head. You’re just panicking.”

“Alright.”

Amelia drew her sword.

“I’m gonna cut it.”

“That won’t work. Animite is incredibly hard. Unless you’re a master swordsman, you won’t be able to cut it without Anima.”

“I’m starting to despise this Animite thing.”

Amelia grumbled.

“Hm?”

Something caught her eyes and made her look down at the ocean. She saw a huge shadow in the water.

“Say…..Do sea monsters exist?”

“What are you asking all of a sudden? But if you must know, there are several intelligent sea races, so in a way, yes.”

Reina replied.

“I see.”

Amelia could see the shadow growing larger as if it was emerging. She could now see that it was shaped like a giant snake.

“What have you been looking at for a while now?”

Reina walked over and looked down and saw the giant silhouette.

“Nope.”

She turned her back to it and sat in a corner.

“I didn’t see anything. There’s nothing circling menacingly underneath us while we’re trapped in this cage.”

She closed her eyes and said.

“Ha…Hahaha. I guess you’re right. I must be seeing things from being in here for too long.”

Amelia also took a seat in a corner and closed her eyes.

“I’m sure it’ll be gone by the time we wake up.”

*Bam!*

Suddenly an explosive sound came from underneath them. The two slowly opened their eyes and saw a gigantic snake creature looking at their cage.

“Nope, nope, nope, nope.”

That was all they said as the creatures eyed them.

“Roar!”

It roared and caused them to cover their ears.

“Shit! This is no time to be in denial!”

Reina shouted.

*Bam!*

The snake slammed its head into the cage, and caused it to swing from side to side.

“Ah, fuck it! It’s kill or be killed!”

Amelia pointed her sword at the snake.

“Bring it!”

“Roar!”

The snake roared again, but it didn’t attack this time.

“Hm?”

The girls soon noticed that it looked like it was in pain.

“I said sit boy!”

*Bam!*

They heard a loud sound coming from behind it, along with someone’s Voice. It roared out in pain and fell back down. It was then that they could see who it was.

“Rory?!”

They saw Rory on the snake’s head, with his hand lodged inside its neck. He was partially naked and was only wearing a loincloth.

“You’re still resisting, huh?”

*Bam!*

Rory hit it with another punch, which caused it to roar in agony. It fell back into the ocean were the girls saw it twisting in pain.

“What is he doing?”

Reina asked.

“Like always, I have no idea. But I’m sure it’s something either stupid or dangerous. Hell, if it’s a good day, maybe both.”

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

Explosive sounds rang out from the ocean as Rory and the snake’s battle was coming to an end. After a while, the girls saw the snake rise up towards them again. But with some knots on its head. It was obvious that it took a beating.

“Hey, girls.”

Rory was sitting on one of the knots, with all smiles.

“I got us a new ride.”

“Ride? That thing?”

“Yeah. It’s a transit snake. They’re a species of giant sea serpents that can travel extremely fast through the ocean, even in the deepest depths of the ocean. It can move at 300 km/h. Fast, right?”

“….Yeah. But how are we going to ride that thing?”

“Like this.”

Rory tapped his hand on the snake’s head and it opened its mouth.

“The inside of a transit snake is really soft and ventilated. That’s because it absorbs oxygen from the water through its skin, where it becomes fresh air inside. Also, it has no liquids which could cause you to melt inside it. In the old days, these bad boys would be customized and turn into living vehicles.”

He said.

“You mean, you want us to travel in that thing? No way!”

Reina protested.

“Don’t worry. I spent hours beating the shit out of him. He’s tamed. Besides, do you know how long it took to find one these things? Even though I knew they lived somewhere around here, it still took a few days. You’re either riding in this snake or I’ll show you my snake.”

Rory said with a laugh.

“You say travel, but where are we going?”

Amelia asked. Rory smiled and spoke-

“To the Kashmir Continent.”

Shortly after, Rory freed the girls by pulling the cage on top of the cliff, and breaking the Animite bars with his bare hands. His physical strength, once again impressed the girls.

“Why are we going to the Kashmir Continent?”

Amelia asked.

“There’s an acquaintance there who I want to meet with. The situation has gotten a bit odd, so I need their help with something.”

Rory replied while petting the transit snake.

“I’ve heard about the Kashmir Continent. Apparently it’s like one flat plain with no mountains or hills.”

Reina said.

“That’s in the past. There are a lot of artificial hills, mountains, and valleys now. But it’s still mostly like a flat plane. Or rather, just a huge forest. There’s greenery everywhere, despite the countless cities and settlements there.”

Rory replied.

“And we’re taking…..this thing?”

Amelia looked at the giant snake again. She started wondering if people really rode in these snakes in the past.

“Hey, you said that people used to customize these things, how?”

“I’m about to show you.”

Rory made the snake open its mouth, and suddenly dove inside it. The girls waited in silence to see what he was going to do.

“Rah?!”

Suddenly the snake released a cry of agony. It started wiggling its body in pain, and even slammed its body on side of cliff, every now and again.

“What is he doing?”

The girls were perplexed about what was going on inside the snake. After a while, things started to calm down and the snake leant on the cliff, looking exhausted.

“Finished.”

Rory opened the snake’s mouth and walked out.

“Want a tour?”

After being persuaded by a persistent Rory, the girls entered the snake via its mouth. When they got inside, they were shocked. Inside looked like it was a room rather than inside a living thing. There were furniture made out of weird materials. There was even a fireplace.

“If I had the equipment, I would’ve created a generator so that we can have electricity.”

Rory said.

“How did you do this?”

“I used his flesh. I carved pieces of it and turned it into furnitures, so that we won’t ride in discomfort.”

Rory tapped the walls of meat beside him.

“Their flesh is soft yet durable. When removed, they harden a little bit and can be used as material to make stuff like furniture. Also, they have high regenerative abilities so the carved up flesh will grow back in an instant.”

He explained.

“Amazing. Inside is moist at most. It really doesn’t have any digestive juices.”

Reina said while touching the flesh that was being used as a ground.

“These snakes like plants can live on sunlight and water alone. They only eat as a habit, and even when they eat, it’s plants. So there was no danger of you being eaten by it.”

Rory said.

“Now then, its time for us to gather some supplies for our trip. Like food and drinks, wood and gasoline for light, and other living essentials. We’re going to be in here for almost a week.”

“Wait. What about when we need to use the bathroom or bathing?”

Amelia asked.

“Just tell me when you need to do that and I’ll make the snake go to the surface. There are several uncharted islands along the way. You can go there and do your business. Of course, you can just buy chambers and do it in here. Just go to the back of the snake. I have no such fetishes like watching you.”

“We’ll go to the islands!”

The girls spoke in unison.

“Good.”

“Wait. There should be conventional ways to travel from one continent to the other. Why must we use this snake?”

Amelia asked.

“Oh, I forgot.”

Rory put his hands inside his loincloth and took something out. The girls looked at him with disgust, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Why are you even wearing a loincloth in the first place?”

“To put myself in the hunting mood.”

Rory threw three flyers in their direction. They avoided them and made them touch the ground.

“?!”

When they looked at the ground, they were shocked to see their faces and name on wanted posters.

“These were issued worldwide a few days ago. The Sacred Army has publicly declared you two as enemies of the Sacred Race.”

Rory spoke with a proud tone.

“Elemental Queen, Amelia Rosa; wanted for conspiring with Devil King Rory to defy the Sacred Church and killing its members, as well as countless innocents in the Marigold Kingdom.”

“Crimson Claw, Reina; wanted for conspiring with Devil King Rory to defy the Sacred Church and killing its members, as well as countless innocents in the Marigold Kingdom.”

The girls read their crimes listed on their posters.

“They even gave you two aliases, that’s quite the achievement for your first wanted poster.”

Rory said.

“This isn’t right? How do they even know about us? Didn’t the news report that everything was done by you?”

Reina said.

“Don’t underestimate the Sacred Army’s intel. They can find out what you ate for dinner last week if they want. Well, they can’t find anything out about me unless I want them to.”

Rory replied.

“Look, you even got bounties.”

Rory picked up the posters and said.

Amelia had a 50,000,000 Ani bounty, while Reina had a 47,000,000 bounty.

“Wait, our crimes are the same, so how is it that my bounty is less than hers?”

Reina took the poster and protested.

“That’s because Amelia has been with me the longest, so they deem her more of a threat to the world than you.”

“Heh.”

Amelia smirked at Reina when she saw their bounties. That just pissed Reina off even more.

“Well, if they knew about your origins, your bounties would of definitely been higher.”

Rory took up a wanted poster of himself.

“Well, I doubt you’ll catch me up though.”

“Devil King Rory; too many crimes to count. Recent crimes involves taking over a country, destroying two armies of the Sacred Church, killing several Sacred Race members, etc.”

The girls read his crimes and looked at his bounty.

“7, 500,000,000 Ani?!”

They were both shocked out of their minds. In comparison to his, their bounties looked like chump change.

“What can I say? I’ve done a lot bad things back in my day.”