The One Luna

Walking out of a residence modified to have a more zen, oriental feel was a Japanese beauty. This woman was the one known as the Demon Flower. Derived from her name, Hana, which means flower and the fact that once in battle, she dances around like a possessed demon, harvesting even EHZs and ETZs like wheat.

So-hee, who was just about to head of somewhere as well, spotted her and asked. "Hana, headed somewhere?"

"Mn. I'm heading south to Siquijor island. I heard the inhabitants of that island were requesting for help, and Lord Luna wanted to secure that island in case the terrorists to the South take over and use it as a launch pad to attack us. Boni and Elise are heading North to Iloilo City in Panay Island as well to look for more survivors and supplies."

"Yes, I'm actually headed North together with Yu-jin, Sang-hwa, and the rest. Will you be alright?" So-hee was considering asking Boni if he could accompany Hana should she ask for it.

"It'll be fine, Siquijor is a tiny island anyway, I shouldn't take long." Noticing her good intentions, Hana gave out a rare smile. The people in the streets who saw it couldn't help but stare.

Suddenly, as if a huge, wriggling cloud blocked out the Sun, an adorable voice could be heard from above.

"Hohoho! Worry not, I shall accompany Tita Hana!*" Suddenly a small figure jumped down from the Dragon-serpent from around four stories high, landing with style, on a half kneeling position, her head down, and both arms stretched upwards, forming a "V", as if she was a bird about to take flight. "Maxene is here!" after her introduction, Dragon-serpent from above roared too, as if to introduce himself as well as he flew down and curled around Maxene, blocking the whole road. "Oh yeah, there's this guy too."

Angry Bakunawa looked at Maxene as if aggrieved that he was called "this guy."

Hana, So-hee and the people around were staring at disbelief at this little lady. Did she really have to do such a grand entrance? How long as she been practicing that? Who taught her this? As soon as they asked that last question in their head, the image of Boni grinning doing a 'thumbs up' appeared in their heads.

"M-Maxene-dono. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all! Besides, if you travel via land it'll take hours, but if we ride my 'luxury suite' boy here, it'll only take 30 minutes!"

"Luxury... suite?" So-hee was confused. This was normal, after all, not a lot of people knew about the pocket dimension inside Angry Bakunawa. It wasn't because it was top-secret, rather it was because it was only recently discovered.

"Yes!" Looking towards Angry Bakunawa, Maxene cleared his throat. "Ahem. OPEN SESAME!" A groan could be heard from the Dragon-serpent as it reluctantly opened it's mouth as a huge spatial gate opened as he willed it.

"See? Let's go! We're off to an adventure!"

"Thank you, Maxene-dono." Hana bowed as she offered her gratitude. This would cut their travel time a lot shorter.

"No problem! I was headed to Mt. Kanlaon to tame some more beasts anyway. I'm sure Siquijor has some as well. Let's go!"

Hana slightly bowed towards So-hee. "Ittekimasu!"

"Safe travels, Hana, Maxene." So-hee waved as the two entered the spatial gate.

Inside...

Hana was quite surprised the moment she got to see what was inside. Besides the lounge area the space in side was farther than what her eyes could see. Although it might not be big enough to fit the whole Moon in it, she had no doubt that it would once Angry Bakunawa evolved further.

Maxene's setup here was basically fancier than any airline. This was basically a house, complete with all the amenities, from what would be considered basic to luxury in an airline. If one didn't need or want to comprehend the space through the spatial linings within this dimension, it could be transformed into a 360 degree vision of the outside world. It was truly a sight to behold.

The same small power plant used to power each city was in there as well, indicating that this pocket dimension was considered a <Territory> by the <System>.

"This is quite the place you have here, Maxene-dono."

"Mn! I spent quite a bit of my VIS for this place. Good thing being the only reliable Beast tamer in the nation pays well!" She gave Hana a thumbs up with a wide grin on her face.

This made sense. Including the fact that Maxene was constantly out and about, taming more and more Mutant Beasts, she was farming zombies with her tamed beasts even more. This gave her a lot more individual currency than most. Her and Luna's goal was simple. They would eventually pair up soldiers with their own Mutant Beast to work and level with.

It was a win-win situation. It was the most efficient way to level all the tamed beasts, while helping minimize casualties even more. Of course, should the soldier decide to betray the <Sovereign Nation>, the beasts would end their life on the spot. They were, after all, still bound to Maxene and could relay crucial information to her via soul communication.

This trip was quite relaxing. Emergency Food, World Destroyer and Spot were pretty well behaved as well. When they passed by Mt. Kanlaon, the flying-type mutant beasts weren't at a high enough level to not be afraid of Angry Bakunawa. They could only hide, lest this Dragon-serpent decided it wanted a quick snack.

"Tita Hana."

"Y-you can just call me Hana, Maxene-dono. I'm only in my early twenties." Hana couldn't help but feel awkward being called that. While it is respectful to call someone that, it was usually towards someone much older.

"Oh... Okay!" Maxene didn't mind whatever she wanted to be called, she only used that term because Luna taught her the proper honorifics.

"Did you want to ask me something?"

"Do you like Father?" She suddenly asked.

"Pft!" Hana who was taking a sip of water lost her usual composure. Evidently the question caught her by surprise.

"Fufufu! I knew it!" Maxene had a devilish grin on her face.

"Maxene-dono, it's not like that. I mean.."

"It's okay, it's okay. I knew because you looked at him the same way my Mother looks at him. Although... Recently that gaze has diverted from my father to Tito Mabini! Speaking of which, we should have invited him to come with us. Does he know?" Maxene said as she was rubbing her chin, as if she was in deep thought.

"That..." Hana didn't know what to say. What was this little girl up to?

"Oh? You haven't told him yet?" Maxene's smile grew even wider. Emergency Food hopped over to Hana's side, patting her back with his wing as if to console her. If he could actually speak he would be saying. "I know that expression on master's face, good luck with what's to come." World Destroyer and Spot looked at each other, then towards Hana as they shook their heads, apparently they were aware of that expression as well.

"ANGRY BAKUNAWA! Turn back! We're picking up Tito Mabini!" Out of nowhere, Maxene suddenly ordered. Responding instantaneously to her command, Angry Bakunawa made a U-Turn.

"EH?!?!" Hana lost all color on her face. Much like Sura, she usually wore a stoic expression on her face, quite the opposite to Yu-jin, So-hee, and Seo-hyeon's who consistently wore a smile on their face. Right now she only had the look of utter shock on her face. It was like when you were in High School and your friends told you they were exposing you to the person you had a crush on and trapping you two in a room.

"This little girl.. since when did she start wanting to play matchmaker?" Hana thought in her head.

If only she knew that Maxene, in her own innocent little way, was actually looking out for her. She definitely felt how mushy her parents were, and while the mushiness disgusted her, she knew that it meant that the two were happy. Thus, she wanted the same thing for the unsuspecting Hana.