Waking up

'Where am I?' asked Kevin mentally as he opened his eyes. The aching throughout Kevin's body inquired that he didn't die after being hit by the ocean wave.

'Was I rescued?' wondered Kevin as he blinked a few more times, still plagued by the immense headache. After calming down a bit, Kevin looked around the dark place, which was filled with a strange smell of freshness.

Despite that smell, the area didn't look too bright, dark walls that peeked out from all sides sent shadows all around, and coupled with not even a hint of light, the place looked really creepy.

Kevin tried to stand up, but a strange feeling came over. Only now did Kevin realize that he was restrained in the brown rope that seemed to be made of some solid material.

However, what worried Kevin the most was a cold sensation on his wrists that seemed to be from some sort of restraints.

With his hands bound together by handcuffs, and the robes around him, Kevin had no way of escaping.

'Those handcuffs...aren't they the same ones used by the guards in the Forest of Death?' Kevin asked himself as he felt the mana, which he tried to pour into his hands, getting instantly absorbed by the cuffs.

'Whoever did this to me will pay for it,' Kevin declared in his head before attempting to call out to his servant, but a sudden sound of footsteps from the distance forced Kevin to pause as he moved to his previous position.

Before acting, it's better to find out who the mastermind behind all of this was, and only attack after confirming that the enemy is vulnerable enough.

"He's still asleep?" came a girlish voice from behind him.

The voice sounded somehow familiar to Kevin, yet he couldn't detect the traits of who it might be. Depositing on the ground without moving, Kevin was reassuring himself whenever to act or not.

'There's no other way,' Kevin said in his mind as he summoned Wolf, who obliged from the darkness right next to his body.

The person couldn't even react in time as Wolf rushed with its claws spreading forward.

Unprepared to defend herself, the woman dodged backward, trying to avoid the dark beast's unexpected attack. But to her surprise, the path of retreat was already blocked by two similar wolves who had creepy smirks on their faces.

The person was by every mean, shaken. The black robe that hid the person's entire face slipped away, causing long golden hair to spread out, almost reaching her knees.

A mask settled over the woman's face, keeping her identity a secret. As the woman straightened her body, an intense aura unfolded as her gaze wandered to the Hulu and Huru, who waited with their teeth bared.

But before she could proceed forward, a roar echoed through the area, sending a shiver down her spine. Even through the mask, deep fear could be felt incoming from her body after seeing the source of the sound.

Kevin was sitting on top of Rum's head, who bore its fangs and stood upfront like a true servant. Kevin's eyes were filled with malice and killing intent while looking at the lady from above as if he were the king of the world himself.

The tight ropes and handcuffs were already no longer visible on Kevin's body.

"Laura, right? Although I don't understand how you're still alive, you made a bad decision when you attacked me" Kevin's eyes flickered with killing intent.

"Wait a minute," Laura involuntarily took a step back, startled. The scene of Kevin sitting on the head of the enormous beast really memorized itself in Laura's memory.

"You do realize that I could have killed you while you were unconscious?" Laura tried to justify her actions.

"Then what was your reason for ensnaring me and putting restrictive handcuffs on me? Were you, perhaps, thinking of taking revenge for your classmates?" Kevin drew his black blade, preparing to attack if Laura's answer wouldn't satisfy him.

No matter human or demon, the moment they show hostility towards Kevin, he will attack immediately.

"I - I thought you were going to kill me right after waking up, so I had to limit you," she replied before continuing, "Besides, aren't you the bad guy? Why are you acting like I did something wrong here? I didn't kill anyone to keep my skin alive"

Kevin's eyes filled with even more deadly intent as he said:

"Considering you're still alive and no one rushed to your aid, means you escaped the plane alone too. You're not exactly the kindest person I've seen either. How do you feel when you think that all your classmates you spent your childhood with are now dead? How do you feel after losing Gale?"

"SHUT UP," Laura exclaimed loudly, trying to stop the torrent of words coming out of Kevin's mouth.

Kevin eyed the woman only once more before settling his intent to kill. Although he was still suspicious of this girl, the fact that she hadn't done anything to him during the time he had been unconscious at least gave him the assurance that she harbored no ill intentions.

'I shouldn't have said that, some animosity will always exist between us now' Kevin said in his mind, 'My emotions are still not under full control....I just got angry since it was the first time I had been caught in such a helpless state'

"Anyway," Kevin jumped off the Rum's head and walked straight towards the already prepared to fight back Laura, "I'll forget you attacked me and do you no harm....but"

Kevin walked closer and closer until stopping right next to Laura looking straight into her mask as if he could see through it.

"As soon as I see even a hint of killing intent against me, you're dead," Kevin finished his sentence before sheathing his blade back and turning around.

'This person...he's scary,' Laura thought inwardly before reconciling her uncontrollably shaking hand. Standing face to face with Kevin, Laura couldn't even properly breathe because those devilish eyes staring right into her soul.

"Alright" Kevin unsummoned all his beasts and motioned towards his backpack, which was in the corner of what it seemed to be the cave.

'If she took anything from the backpack..' cruel thoughts flashed through Kevin's mind as he opened the dark backpack. Fortunately, everything seemed to be in the right places. In the depths of the backpack, a golden scroll was still visible, glowing flickeringly and bringing a weary smile to Kevin's face.

"Now for the current problem," Kevin turned back to Laura as he placed a bracelet on his hand, "Where are we? Is it that Island?"

Laura just nodded before answering:

"Yes, after I got off the plane, I landed right next to this island....and after att-attacking you, I brought you in this place on the island"

"I won't question how did you manage to stay alive after such a fall, and you don't question either," Kevin said as Laura nodded.

"Now for the next question...If I remember correctly, there shouldn't be any big islands near China"

"That's right, there are no islands on the map" Laura put her black robe back on as she looked around "And considering how big this island is, it's really bizarre that it still went unnoticed"

"So there's something wrong..." Kevin muttered, having noticed a slight hint of frenzy in Laura's voice.

"In fact, the reason it still left unnoticed is actually quite simple" Laura began walking towards what seemed to be the exit of this dark place while Kevin followed her from behind, his hand still on the handle of the blade, ready to attack at any moment.

Laura pushed aside the gray rock, giving way to the exit. Kevin stood from behind, marveling as rays of sunlight fell on his face, brightening his features.

After adjusting to the sunlight, Kevin looked ahead at Laura, who stood in place, gazing into the horizon, with her golden hair flickering in the light, and a slight hint of terror in her eyes.

Curious, Kevin looked towards the already open exit of the cave and surveyed the entire horizon. At first glance, everything seemed normal.

Brown sand, palm trees with coconuts growing on the top of them, and a few clumps of grass just below where Kevin stood. What confused Kevin, however, was the fact that there was no ocean.

There wasn't even the hint of a water source nearby, just a huge sun that peered right through the soul with its frightening heat.

"The ocean..." Kevin muttered to himself as Laura stepped out of the place, signaling Kevin to move on.

Kevin stepped out of the exit as more sunlight examined his body. Looking back, he only now realized that what he thought was the cave, was actually a huge brown tree with a deep hole in the middle. This already indicated that the island was not so simple, as Kevin had never heard of any trees of such hugeness.

"Come on" Laura was already standing on the sand while looking further into the horizon, seemingly memorized by something.

Promptly, Kevin walked forward and stood next to Laura, glancing towards the range as well. But the sight that met his eyes made Kevin doubt his own sanity.

A pair of white clouds could be seen below the island, while the sand that was supposed to be colliding with water, was just a massive cliff that lead straight to death.

Kevin glanced further into the island itself, poking his head forward, only to see a huge chunk of land with visible traits of roots, floating in the air without any disturbance.

"This is...the island is in the air?" Kevin asked as he gazed even more intently into the horizon.

"Yes...the reason this island hasn't been stopped by anyone yet is because it is...floating"