Arlan stopped leaning against the tree and started pacing anxiously.
"Wait, wait"
They had both said basically the same thing, but neither of them really believed it.
"This can't be, it's just not possible"
In the last few weeks, Arlan had seen things that if he told someone else who hadn't seen anything, they wouldn't believe it at all.
"There's no way two worlds exist...the monsters, the strange abilities, places that didn't exist before..."
The more things he said, the more confused he became. Each and every thing he said was simply unthinkable in the world he lived in, there was simply no way they could exist.
When Lia showed him the picture of the arm coming out of the volcano, Arlan was really surprised. It was something very strange, but it could be explained, after all, it was a photo that could be manipulated.
That was why he went to the island, to investigate what was in the photo and for the deal he had made with his sister.
He never expected to find what was waiting for him on the island, but another world... it was simply unthinkable.
"...How can I continue to believe the words of...?" said Kaylynn with a dark expression on her face.
The young woman stroked the bandage over her face, her hands shaking slightly.
They were both thinking different things, but the end result was the same.
Arlan stopped pacing and looked at Kaylynn.
"Before we jump to conclusions, let's get things straight"
The young woman tried to calm down and nodded.
Arlan bit his nails as he thought about what to ask Kaylynn and when he knew what to ask, he looked at the young woman and asked seriously.
"How many continents are there on Earth?"
The young woman thought for a second, but before answering the question, she corrected Arlan.
"I think you made a mistake, it's not Earth, it's Terra. And there are 6 continents"
Arlan almost fell to the ground at the young woman's answer, he was sure that the Earth was called Earth... not Terra.
Arlan tried to ignore Kaylynn's comment and continued to ask questions.
"...Well...And these continents are?"
The answer from both of them was the same.
There were 6 continents, their names were different, but according to Kaylynn's description of where these continents were located, they seemed to be the same as on Earth.
'…At least the geography seems to be the same'
Arlan scratched his head, not knowing what to ask. There were a thousand things he could ask, but deep down, Arlan was beginning to accept it.
Two worlds, there were two worlds that were starting to connect somehow.
Parallel dimensions, multiverse. There were many theories Arlan had heard of. They were interesting topics, but Arlan never took much interest in them, he didn't have the time.
Suddenly Arlan noticed a detail he had overlooked.
"But it doesn't make sense..."
Kaylynn looked at Arlan, who had started walking in circles again, and asked.
"What is it?"
Arlan stopped again.
"If I'm in your world... why is the bunker on the island?"
The young woman frowned.
"What's a bunker?"
Arlan was a bit surprised by Kaylynn's question.
Either she simply didn't know what a bunker was, or they didn't exist in her world. Both possibilities were possible, but there was no way to confirm it, at least not yet.
There were many unanswered questions and little time to answer them. They had rested for a few minutes, and they didn't know when the monsters would arrive.
"We should go, we can finish talking once we are somewhere safe" Arlan said as he looked around, trying to get his bearings.
Kaylynn bit her lips slightly as she thought about what to do. She had to get back to the town, but without power to create barriers it was impossible to defend herself against the monsters, and even without power she would not be able to do anything. The monsters would just wait until she ran out of energy to get her.
Kaylynn looked at Arlan who was still looking around, she wasn't sure if Arlan would let her go either. He had said he needed her for something, and now that he seemed to be from another world, Kaylynn needed answers.
With that last thought, Kaylynn decided to go with Arlan for now. At least until she found all the answers she needed and knew it was safe to return to the town.
***
Fire raged throughout the city, corpses of both monsters and humans littering the streets of blood and misery.
A young man walked through these same streets, his katana drawn as he stared straight ahead with cold, stern eyes.
The young man came to a wooden frame that led to what had once been a great building, the symbol of his town. But now, it was nothing more than a pile of rubble.
The young man did not dare cross the frame and continued to stare at the rubble.
Soon, a woman approached the young man and bowed her head slightly before offering a respectful apology.
"I am so sorry, Lord Kalen, because of me..."
Kalen raised his free hand and the woman immediately fell silent.
Silence filled the place for a few seconds as Kalen tried to say something, opening, and closing his mouth like a fish.
"It's okay, Knara...did you find her body?"
Knara clutched her broken.
"No, Lord Kalen, but we found tracks leading into the forest...two sets of footprints"
Kalen turned and looked at Knara, the woman was in a pitiful state. Her face was full of dried blood, one of her arms was completely broken, and her white robe seemed to be a large piece of bloody and dirty rag.
Obviously, the woman had won the battle against the rhinoceros-like monster at the cost of her health.
Still, the woman seemed to ignore her pain, and instead of a pained expression, only shame and regret could be seen on her face.
"What shall we do, Lord Kalen?"
The young man looked in the direction Knara had indicated, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.
"First we will secure the village"
The woman looked up slightly and asked in a more serious and louder tone than before.
"What about Lady Kaylynn?"
The young man started walking in the opposite direction to the exit of the village.
"She knows how to defend herself, …what happened to the prisoners?"
The woman bit her lips slightly and replied.
"The woman is still in the village, but the 3 men are gone"
The man raised an eyebrow.
"Just three men?"
"Yes, the other one died of his wounds"
"I see"
Kalen didn't think about it anymore, he didn't care about the lives of strangers. He would simply do his duty and nothing more.