A few days after they had entered Grace town, Amelia and Rory were inside a shabby looking bar in a dangerous corner of the town.
“Hah~! This beer is great!”
Rory said, as he slammed a glass mug on the table.
Sitting across from him was Amelia, who was drinking coffee and had a plate of food in front of her.
“I still can’t believe that you can get by on alcohol alone. I’ve never seen you drink anything besides it.”
She said.
“Why do I need to drink anything else? Booze tastes good and it makes me feel happy. What can water offer me other hydration?”
Rory replied as he ordered another round of beer.
“Healthy organs.”
“If my organs were weak enough to fail because I don’t drink enough water, I would’ve died countless times already.”
“That logic makes no sense.”
“It doesn’t need to as long as I believe it.”
Rory replied.
“Seriously, I don’t think there’s anyone more self-centered than you.”
Amelia used her fork to take up a piece of sausage, and put it in her mouth and chewed with a frown.
“You know you should smile more. You have a beautiful face after all.”
Rory rested his elbow on the table and leaned his face on his hand.
“Your beauty is enough to enchant even the so-called gods. I’m sure if you smile more, you’ll be able to conquer even this ice cold heart of mine.”
“Are you urging to me to hit on you?”
Amelia pointed her fork at him.
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Your future.”
“………”
Amelia didn’t know how to answer to that and kept quiet.
“I see that you two are still flirting.”
A waitress approached their table and said, with drinks in her hands. She was quite a beauty even though she couldn’t compare to Amelia.
“Oh, Sara.”
Upon seeing the waitress, Rory slapped his thigh.
“Have a seat.”
“No, I’m fine.”
The waitress, Sara replied with a wry smile.
“Nonsense.”
Rory stood up and took the drinks from her and placed them on the table. He then made her sit in his chair while he stood up.
“I can tell that you’re tired from how stiff your body is.”
He said as he placed his hand on her shoulders and started to massage them.
“H-Hm, you’re pretty good.”
Said Sara.
“Your joints are so stiff for a young woman.”
Rory said as he massaged her.
“What’s with you? You moved from saying you’re my future to massaging another woman.”
Amelia said as she watched him.
“I’m a man of great magnitude, Elia. As such, it’s my responsibility to take care of frail women.”
Rory answered.
“Besides, Sara is clearly anxious from the threat that is murder jack. She needs someone to make her relax.”
Sara was Kevin’s sister who Murder Jack wanted to take back to his hideout, and this was a bar where she worked.
“You say that, but your hands are slowly creeping towards her breasts.”
Amelia said as she took a sip of coffee.
“I just wanted to check if she’s breathing properly.”
Rory shamelessly answered.
He then stopped massaging her and gestured her to stand.
“Wow! My body feels so light and refreshed!”
Sara said.
“Of course. While I originally did it to touch your soft skin, after I found out that you were really stressed I did the pleasure of ridding your body of the fatigue it was accumulating.”
“……I don’t know if I should thank you or not.”
“Don’t bother, he already got what he wanted.”
Amelia answered.
“I wonder if it was the right thing to bring this guy to sis? He doesn’t act that different from Murder Jack and his crew.”
The young Kevin said after watching the interaction between Rory and his sister.
“Can you two really defeat Murder Jack?”
Sara asked.
“Don’t worry.”
Rory grabbed hold of her hands.
“I promise you that he will be defeated.”
He said with sparkling eyes.
“I’ll be the one who’s fighting him though…”
Amelia muttered.
‘Well, Rory is a legend. I’m sure if nothing happens he’ll handle it.’
She thought.
She didn’t know, but the moment she thought that, a frown appeared on Rory’s face.
*Boom!*
That’s when an explosive sound suddenly echoed through the town.
“It came from the direction of the town’s gate.”
Amelia stood up and said.
“Looks your guest has arrived.”
Rory smiled at her and said.
Amelia found his smile suspicious, but she went along with him and the siblings to check out the situation.
When they got near the source of the sound, they saw everyone fleeing in their direction as if running from something.
They continued to walk and soon came across a huge hole in the wall that protected the town. Not too far away, they saw someone standing there quite unnaturally.
Their back was hunched and their arms were swinging from side to side, despite standing in one place.
“Is that murder jack?”
Amelia asked while looking at the bulky man with a bald head.
“Y-Yes.”
Sara answered.
“He has a strange vibe about him.”
Amelia said as she observed him.
“Looks like he noticed us.”
The moment Rory said that, Jack looked up and stared at them.
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“Hm?”
Amelia immediately noticed that his eyes were completely white, which were obviously unnatural.
“Oooooohhhhhhh!”
Jack suddenly released a deafening roar and charged towards them.
“Tsk.”
Amelia clicked her tongue in irritation when she saw that.
“Rory, look after Kevin and Sara.”
“No prob.”
Rory said as he drew Sara into his embrace. That action irritated Amelia even more. However, with a strange enemy approaching her, she couldn’t afford to waste time on him.
She looked towards jack and met his charge with one of her own.
Amelia jumped and hit him with a flying kick which sent him flying back. She then quickly chased after him and drew her saber.
Jack got up, but by that time Amelia’s saber was already right in front of him.
Wind quickly gathered at the tip as it approached jack.
*Bam!*
When the tip came in contact with Jack's body and powerful gist of wind slammed against him and forced him up into the air.
“Twister Thrust.”
The wind began to make Jack’s body ascend further in the sky with spinning with a top.
“No hard feelings, but I feel that something strange is going on, so I want to end this as fast as I can.”
When Amelia said that, the wind surrounding jack disappeared, allowing him to fall back towards the ground.
Amelia watched him fall while concentrating all of her anima into her sword. The sword started to give off a luminous light and started vibrating as if it couldn’t handle the power.
She then put all of her power in her legs and made a jump. She jumped so high that it seemed like she was flying towards the sun.
She quickly reached and surpassed Jack. After the momentum of her jump disappeared and she started falling, she flipped herself upside down and fell towards him.
Jack seemed unresponsive to Amelia who was like a vulture swooping down to devour his remains with her attack.
*Bam!*
His body hit the ground and bounced off it a little.
“Goodbye.”
At that moment, Amelia saber forced jack’s body back onto the ground while it was in the middle of rebound.
*Boom!*
When the two hit the ground, large cracks ran through the earth like it was glass being shattered. Jack was even forced a foot into the ground.
Amelia who was hit by the rebound, laid beside him with her body feeling a bit sore.
“Wow! She’s strong!”
Little Kevin shouted after seeing Jack being quickly taken care of.
“A-Amazing…To think that someone could reduce jack to a mere child.”
Said Sara.
“What are you two talking about?”
Rory suddenly said.
“The fight is just about to begin.”
“Hm?!”
Amelia suddenly sensed danger and rolled to her right.
*Bam!*
Immediately after, the spot that she was laying was destroyed. It was done by Jack slamming his backhand on it.
Amelia quickly got up and looked at him with caution. That’s when she noticed that his limbs were being flung all over the place. It was then that she realized that Jack hadn’t attacked her, he was just reacting to feeling sudden pain.
“Did my attack caused it?”
She mumbled, but soon realized that something was off.
Jack’s anima was suddenly increasing and has become really unstable.
She watched as his skin began turning purple and his body becoming even more muscular.
“This is…..Doping?!”
She immediately realized what was happening to Jack after seeing his pigment changing.
Anima Doping. This is when a person takes a drug to temporarily boost their anima volume and force. There are many types of these drugs which all gave different results, but they all had a similar trait.
They were destructive to the user.
It can either shorten your life or kill you on the spot after you used up your anima. It goes without saying that they were banned in most countries because of how dangerous they were.
“This drug, is it Demon Tear?”
She mumbled to herself.
She looked at Rory and saw him wave at her.
“That bastard! Is he trying to get me killed?!”
She became furious.
“As it stands I can’t rely on his support for this since he obviously planned this.”
She gripped her saber.
“I’ll just kill him now!”
She jumped in the air and thrust her saber towards Jack, who was still on his back swinging his limbs.
She thrust the saber straight at his heart.
*Snap!*
“?!”
However, her saber unexpected broke when it came in contact with his skin. Because she was still in shock when it happened, Amelia was unable to avoid being grabbed by Jack who suddenly stopped writhing in pain.
“Shit!”
He grabbed her by her face and slammed the side of her face on the ground.
*Bam!*
The impact caused her to black out for a few seconds, which allowed Jack to freely throw her away like she was garbage.
Her body bounced off the ground a couple times and rolled a little before stopping.
Jack immediately sprung on his feet like a beast. He looked around with vacant eyes before spotting where Amelia was laying.
He slowly walked towards her before breaking out into a sprint. He then jumped and aimed a stomped towards Amelia’s head.
*Bam!*
Amelia was able to roll out of the way in the nick of time. She got up and aimed a sweeping kick at jack’s legs.
He jumped over it, before aiming a kick at her head. She desperately flung herself to the ground to avoid it. She then swung both legs towards her own chest and rolled to her feet.
She covered her fists in anima and threw a punch at his face.
*Bam!*
The fist connected, but the one who felt pain was Amelia. It felt like she had punched iron with her bare hand.
*Bam!*
Jack slammed his fist into her stomach and caused her eyes to roll to the back of her head and all the air in her lungs was forced out.
She fell to her knees, holding her stomach. Jack lifted his thick leg and swung it towards her head. She quickly lifted both arms in front of her and blocked it.
“Ahhhhhh?!”
She screamed out in pain as it felt like her bones were cracked from blocking the kick. She retreated and stood with both her arms swinging in front of her.
“H-He’s too powerful.”
Kevin shivered in fear as he saw the difference between Amelia, who seemed invincible, and Jack who barely looked human.
“Mr. Rory! You need to help her!”
Sara grabbed Rory’s clothes and said.
“No can do.”
Rory replied.
“My job is to protect you two.”
“But Amelia!”
Rory laughed at Sara’s reaction.
“You’re really a kind girl. You’re worried about her who is a total stranger.”
He smiled and looked at Amelia.
“But no need to worry. Elia is the woman who is my companion.”
He looked at Sara and Kevin.
“Don’t you two want to see just how amazing the companion of someone like myself is?”
He said with a bright smile.
“………..”
They didn’t know how to respond to that bright yet mysterious smile that was being shown by this unreadable man.
They both looked at each other before looking at Amelia.
Amelia was keeping her distance and was observing Jack.
Jack looked at her for a while before charging at her. Amelia immediately jumped back and gathered anima at her feet, her feet was soon covered in flames.
“If I can’t win in hand to hand combat, I’ll just use my specialty….Elements!”
She swung up her leg and swung it down like an ax. This caused an arc of flames to be produced and shot towards jack.
“Rah!”
Jack roared and literally destroyed the arc with a punch.
“Wha?!”
Amelia was once again shocked.
‘I see…..The difference between our anima output is too great. Demon Tear boosts all aspects of one’s anima in exchange for their sense of reason. The user will also die after the effects wear off.’
She thought to herself and glanced at Rory again.
“Just what the hell were you thinking using such a drug on him?!”
She shouted.
Rory didn’t answer her and kept smiling.
“Tsk!”
Amelia ignored him and turned her attention back to jack, who was still charging towards her as she continued to back off.
“Hm?”
That’s when Jack disappeared from her sights.
*Bam!*
“Guh?!”
She was hit in the stomach by jack who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
‘He accelerated?’
She thought as the pain spread to her body.
*Bam!*
She was then hit in her back by an elbow.
*Bam!*
He then kneed her under her chin.
Jack began to hit her all over her body in instants, not allowing her to escape or counter. She was at his whim.
Her body was quickly dyed in her own blood and her clothes were being slowly reduced to rags.
Even so, Rory kept smiling and showed no signs of interfering.
“It’s about time.”
He stepped in front of Sara and Kevin, but did nothing more and watched Amelia closely.
Meanwhile, Amelia who found herself in a desperate situation was in a strange state.
‘Ah, I can’t feel anything anymore.’
She thought.
She also noticed that everything seemed to be slowing down around her.
‘It’s just like that time when I fought Marcus. That time I was about to die as well, but I don’t think I can think my way out of this one.’
That’s when a thought crossed her mind.
‘I’m gonna die…’
She looked at jack.
‘I’m gonna die to this thing? This ugly excuse for a human?’
‘Am I okay with that?’
Thoughts started racing through her mind.
‘No, I don’t want to die like this.’
‘But is there any way to win?’
‘None.’
‘He outclasses me in every single way.’
‘Anima, strength, and durability.’
‘He’s too much.’
“Hm?”
Rory who was watching from the side suddenly frowned.
‘That girl, she’s allowing doubt to stop her.’
He sighed.
“I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll give her a hint.”
After he said, that he pointed his finger at her and dim light shot from it and into to her.
At that moment, a word echoed inside Amelia’s heart.
“Smilodon.”
The moment this word echoed in her mind it was as if Amelia’s entire body started burning. It was like her blood had caught fire, as the image of gigantic beast appeared in her mind.
Time started to move normally and she moved to avoid a strike from Jack. She then spun around and slammed her leg on the side of his head.
Jack’s entire body shook and his merciless assault stopped. Amelia leaped back and distanced herself again.
She was breathing heavily, but not because of her injuries. Those weren’t important anymore.
“It’s so hot.”
She said.
Even her breath felt like it was really fire. She was burning up so much that she didn’t even notice that her wounds were beginning to regenerate.
Strange marking appeared on her cheeks. These markings were like whiskers tattoo, only they were three times broader than normal whiskers.
By this time jack had already recovered from her attack, and was charging towards her again. While he charged, she started to quickly think up countermeasures against him.
“Ah!”
That’s when she came up with a plan.
She charged towards him and met him head-on. Her kick clashed his fist, but this time her body was able to bare his strength.
“Ugh!”
However, that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell.
Jack swung at her head, which she ducked under, jumped and then headbutt his defenseless chin. His brain rocked and he stepped back.
He tried to attack but because his chin was hit, his brain received a heavy blow and that cost him his balance.
He stumbled forward, Amelia smiled when she saw that. She thrust her fist upwards in an uppercut and hit him under his chin again. This caused jack’s senses to become even more distorted, leaving him completely defenseless.
Amelia grabbed his head and pulled it back before ramming her fist inside his mouth and as far down his throat as she could.
“Even if you look like a monster you’re human, which means that you’ll become distorted if your brain is rattled enough.”
She then smiles.
“That also means that even if your defenses are incredible, your insides are still without protection. Especially since you lack the reason it needs to protect your organs with anima, because of the doping side effects.”
Her fist began illuminating in Jack’s mouth.
“Take all this heat of mine!”
A huge burst of flames was released inside jack and caused his body to be burnt from the inside.
After Amelia released him, he fell flat on his back with smoking coming out of his orifices.
“It’s my win.”
After she said that she also fell on her back and the whisker-like marks disappeared from her face.
This ended her tough battle Murder Jack.
Rory was smiling as if everything went as he like, he spoke.
“Seriously, descendants of the Smilodon are always fun to watch.”