“…..Mhmmm”

When Amelia opened her eyes, she had to close them back because the light was too bright. She opened them again and gave her eyes time to adjust. Once she did, she saw that she was laying on a bed of flowers.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Rory soon appeared in her sight, looking down on her.

“Where am I?”

She sat up and asked.

“The Kashmir Continent. Did you already forget?”

She then remembered being brought up the godly tree by Rory.

“Ah, that’s right. I passed out after we made it to the top.”

“About that, I might have to apologize, because that might’ve been my fault.”

“It’s definitely your fault.”

“Huh?”

“The moment you start off by saying that, it’s definitely your fault.”

“Hmm, I guess your right.”

Rory didn’t look sorry in the slightest.

“What did you do?”

Amelia asked with a sigh.

“Well, I kind of climbed too fast and then didn’t allow your bodies to adjust to the altitude and the thin air around you. So when I came to a stop, you were hit with a severe case of shortness of breath, close to suffocating. But luckily I stepped in and handle it.”

“Why do you look so proud when you’re the cause in the first place?!”

Amelia angrily shouted.

“Well anyway, you’re suffering from high altitude sickness because you’re not used to being so far above sea level. For the time being, your body won’t be able to perform at its best and you’ll be in a weakened state until you’ve fully adapted.”

Rory spread his arms wide.

“But don’t worry, I’m here for you. If you want me to hold you, protect you, caress you, and shower you with affection, I’m your guy.”

He said boldly.

“I still can’t understand why you can shamelessly say such things after almost accidentally killing us.”

Amelia sighed as if giving up.

“By the way, where’s the lizard?”

She asked, after realizing that Reina wasn’t around.

“Oh, she woke before you so I told her to have a look around.”

“I see.”

Amelia stood up.

“Ugh..”

She Immediately realized that her body felt significantly heavier, and it became hard to move.

“How long does it normally take to adjust to up here?”

“It depends on the person, but I heard that a few days would be enough.”

“How long did you take when you first climbed up here?”

“Around 15 minutes. But I didn’t really feel all that restricted back then either.”

“Monster.”

Rory laughed when he heard that.

“I get that a lot.”

He said.

“But look at it this way. If you two train up here for some time, you’ll be far stronger when you return to the lower continents. So coming here really is a golden opportunity.”

“Golden Opportunity, huh?”

Suddenly the two heard a rumbling sound coming towards them.

“Ahhhhh!”

Soon they heard a scream and saw someone running out of a thicket. It was Reina.

“Hey, lizard. What’s…..wrong?”

Amelia had to stop midway through her speech, when she saw what Reina was running from. It was huge, scaly, had two heads, and was on all fours. It looked a giant two-headed lizard.

“What the fuck is that?!”

Amelia exclaimed.

“Help me! My body feels too heavy! It’s closing in!”

Reina pleaded.

“Oh? Is that a Bacura Lizard? It’s been a while since I’ve last seen one.”

Contrary to the girls' panic expressions, Rory looked at the monster with excitement.”

He walked forward and block the lizard’s path, allowing Reina to reach where Amelia was.

“Pssst!”

The lizard hissed at him, while sizing him up.

“Rory, just what is that thing?!”

Reina asked him.

“It’s a Bacura Lizard. They’re pretty common in the wild on this continent.”

Rory turned and said.

“Don’t worry. They’re completely harmles-”

Rory was unable to finish what he was saying, because his upper body was inside one of the lizard’s mouths.

“Eh?”

The girls watched as the lizard lifted Rory off the ground with his legs kicking, before completely swallowing him.

“………”

“………”

There was nothing but silence between the two parties as they stared at each other. And then-

“Run!”

The girls started running for their lives. The monster roared and quickly followed behind them.

“Harmless, my ass! Didn’t he just get swallowed?!”

Reina shouted.

“This is why I hate lizards!”

Amelia looked at Reina.

“Hey, can’t you do something? Aren’t you guys related? Maybe he’s just trying to court you?”

“Fuck off, bitch! I’m not related to that thing!”

“Are you sure? It’s white and you have white hair. It’s not good to deny your heritage.”

“I see that being around Rory too long makes you an idiot like him!”

Reina shouted angrily.

“If you have time to question my heritage, go stop that thing!”

“That’s impossible. I can’t use my anima properly since I came here.”

“Oh, you too.”

The two sighed in unison and then came to a halt.

“I’ll see if I can cut it with my sword.”

Amelia said.

“I’ll search for its weak points and attack them.”

Said Reina.

“Ready?”

“Go!”

The two rushed towards the lizard, ready to bet their lives on their next attack.

*BAM!*

That’s when the lizard was devoured in a pillar of fire, which looked like it came from inside it rather than from the outside. The lizard, that was now roasted, collapsed on the ground.

“What a rude, lizard.”

One of its mouth opened and Rory stepped out from inside it.

“It’s pretty stupid too, for not being able to realized that it was clearly outmatched.”

He kicked the corpse and said.

“?!”

He suddenly turned around and stopped a sword with his hand, and a dagger with his fingers.

“You have some nerve bringing us to such a dangerous place only to get eaten, and leave us behind.”

Amelia said.

“You should be punished for this.”

Reina added.

“While being punished by the two of you seem like an exciting experience, I’m more of the punishing type rather than the punishable.”

Rory flicked the sword and dagger from their hands and pulled them closer to him.

“Then again, they say every sadist is a secret masochist. Maybe you two can draw out the masochist within me.”

“Go die.”

“Drop dead.”

“Is that so? How unfortunate.”

He let the two them go and laughed when he saw their scornful expressions.

“Now with all jokes aside, we have a dilemma.”

“Which is?”

Rory pointed at the roasted lizard.

“How are we going to divide this guy up?”

“Divide? Don’t tell me you intend to eat that thing?”

Reina asked with a disgusted expression.

“Why not? It’s perfectly good meat. It would be a shame to waste. Besides, it’s considered a delicacy in many parts of this continent.”

“This thing?”

Amelia looked at the lizard and frowned.

“I’m good.”

“You can take it all.”

“I see. That’s too bad. You guys don’t know what you’re missing.”

Rory then proceeded to eat the lizard in front of the girls.

“Well, there goes any chance of me sharing a kiss with him. Not that the chances were high in the first place.”

Amelia said, and Reina nodded in agreement.

After around 30 minutes, Rory had finished eating.

“I can’t believe he ate the entire thing.”

“For someone who claimed that they can survive on alcohol alone, he can sure eat.”

The girls looked at Rory, who was wiping his mouth, with amazement.

“That hit the spot.”

He said.

“Now then…..What do we next?”

“Huh? Aren’t we supposed to be the ones to ask that?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t have any plans?”

Rory shook his head.

“I have a plan to meet up with someone, but other than that I’m completely clueless. It’s not someone I can just meet whenever I want after all. Certain criteria needs to be met. But other than waiting until the right time, I have no other plans on the continent.”

“There’s gotta be a limit to how irresponsible one can be you know.”

Amelia said with a sigh.

“Since that’s the case, then let’s look for Rei.”

Reina suddenly said.

“Rei? Ah, the one who created the Boomslang Style.”

Amelia suddenly looked like she just realized something.

“Wait, he’s here?! They’re members of Pandemonium on this continent?!”

“Hmm….”

Rory didn’t answer completely and looked like he was pondering something. After a while, he spoke.

“There’s indeed a chance of there being Pandemonium members on the continent. In fact, I think they are at least three.”

“That many? How are you sure?”

“Instinct, and my experience I guess.”

“That’s an unreliable answer.”

Amelia looked at Reina after saying that.

“How do you know he’s here?”

“I just know it.”

Reina replied with a sharp look in her eyes.

“So you’re both going off feeling. If there are indeed members nearby, who would it be?”

Amelia asked Rory.

“Adonis, Tigris, and maybe Rei. Adonis and Tigris shouldn’t be that hard to find, but Rei is on a completely different level. If he doesn’t want to be found, then even I will have an extremely hard time finding him.”

He looked at Reina.

“Also, finding him won’t grant you your revenge. You’re not nearly strong enough to beat him. In fact, I doubt you can even touch his shadow as you are now.”

“If you’re telling me to give up, you’re wasting your time.”

“I would never try to convince someone to not pursue their personal vendetta. I just don’t want you to careless throw your life away.”

“Would Rei really kill her if he knew who she was?”

Amelia asked.

“In a heartbeat. As long as he’s paid to, or you’re someone that threatens his life, Rei would kill you regardless of who you are.”

“I don’t care. I want to meet him.”

Reina said stubbornly.

“Then, how about this? Work on getting strong enough to reach him, once you are I’ll make you to meet him.”

“…..Alright.”

Reina nodded after thinking some for a bit. She could always run away and search for Rei herself if Rory breaks his promise. For now, there’s a lot of benefits from being around someone as strong as him.

‘Is probably what she’s thinking.’

Rory thought with a smile.

‘Well, whatever. I’m sure Mio will make them meet eventually.’

He looked at the two girls and smile.

“Alright, lets go tour this wild continent.”