A Few Moments Earlier

Beast King Gerard was currently having a break in an open building.

A tent hovered above his head, shielding him from the hot sun, while there were sturdy fences by his sides to prevent the terrible winds and sands from invading his sanctuary.

“Haaa…” Smacking his lips as he downed the cocktail he had in his hand, Gerard smiled softly and looked beyond his camp.

He was surrounded by a harsh, unforgiving desert.

The golden sands constantly felt like they would drown him. The burning sun constantly burned him, leaving him extremely dehydrated.

He could hardly resort to flying due to the intense winds that occupied the area, and even his defenses could only mitigate the effects of this world, not eliminate them entirely.

Bottom line… he was being tortured here.

However, the only silver lining to all of this was that he had break periods.

After reaching a certain threshold, he would be allowed to rest for an hour within a haven with shade and refreshments.

He had no idea how long he had been at this whole thing, but this was the fourth time he had experienced the sanctuary, and every time he could not get completely used to it.

It was heaven incarnate, especially after being drowned in hell.

“Haha… hehe… haaaa…”

Taking another sip made him chuckle slightly, allowing him to indulge in his more base thoughts since he was comfortable.

‘I wonder how Serah is doing?’

The only reason he had agreed to stop Legris with everyone else was to grab her attention. With Neron’s disappearance, the thought it could finally be his time to step up.

‘I still can’t believe that Neron bastard ditched her.’ Gerard grumbled to himself.

If Serah was his woman, there was no way he would treat her that way. Gerard was so sure of that fact that he nodded to himself in agreement.

‘The only reason I have made it this far is because of you, Serah…’

He only wished the Constellation had made their trials a joint activity so she could watch as he dominated his own trial.

If she saw how far he was willing to go for her, she was bound to be impressed by his chivalry and growth.

That was obviously going to score him points with her, and eventually…

“Hehehe… that’s right!”

Still, since he could not help the way things had been arranged, Gerard decided the next best thing he could do was to excel so much in his trials that he attracted the attention of a lot of Constellations.

That way, Serah would be so impressed by his power that she was finally going to take him seriously.

‘My trial is to travel from one point to the final point in this desert. Under these harsh conditions and with only a small period of break. I doubt many have it as bad as I do. If I complete my own challenge before everyone else, that would make me very impressive, I’m sure!’

While Gerard had no idea how delusional he sounded, he drowned in his imagination and found himself sipping more of his cocktail.

“Cheers to our eventual union, Sera—”

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!~

A sudden quake pushed Gerard off his comfy couch, forcing him to land on the soft ground.

His cocktail glass flew off his hands, thanks to him holding it so flippantly, and its contents spilled on Gerard’s head.

“What the… hell…?”

He had never experienced such a violent quake since he arrived in this world, and its effects seemed to traverse as far as Gerard could detect.

It made Gerard both curious and worried.

What in the world could have happened? And why did it have to occur during his resting period?!

Gerard angrily left his sanctuary and narrowed the scope of his vision to the source location of the commotion.

He also spread out his senses to properly detect the cause.

That was when he saw her.

“A-ahh…?”

Emerging from what appeared to be a breach in dimensions, spilling all over his own world like shattered glass, was the woman he had just been thinking of.

“S-Serah… is that you?”

A minuscule distance behind her was a silver haired girl, but Gerard didn’t care much for her.

His thoughts only focused on Serah’s entry.

He didn’t even realize it when he took to his heels and rushed towards the gaping breach that spat out the woman of his dreams.

“You came for me, Serah! You cameeee!”

******

Serah and Maria heaved a sigh as they arrived in the new world.

It was a desert region, and while it’s climate seemed extreme, the two women felt they could handle it pretty well.

“Who occupies this territory?” Maria was the first to break the silence.

Her tone contained apprehension and worry, especially since she kept staring at the gaping hole they had made thanks to their forceful entry into this place.

Her question did not remain unanswered for long, though.

“It’s Gerard.” Serah muttered, almost tiredly.

“R-really? How did you know? As expected of Master Serah!”

Maria’s star-filled gaze greeted Serah, who totally seemed to be out of it.

She only sighed further. 𝒪𝓋𝐥xt.𝗇𝓔t

“N-no, it’s not that. I mean, look over there. He’s coming straight for us.”

Maria turned in the direction that Serah pointed at, and sure enough there was Gerard running towards them with unbelievable speed.

Normally, she would have been happy to see an ally rushing at them, but this man had a wide smile and a perverted look on his face that put Maria off.

She looked at Serah and found a similar expression of disgust on her face.

Even though it was never explicitly said, both women were clearly disappointed that they ended up in Gerard’s dimension.

“Ahh… he’s waving at us now.”

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A

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