Flame searched for the footsteps of the Giant for some time, but eventually, it wasn't tough to find vast swathes of huge, leafless dead trees scattered around the ground.
He also met some inhabitants of the forest along the way, but he only greeted them from a distance 'hey! pitiful', and walked by them cautiously and most importantly…
Didn't bleed.
Fortunately, he had not encountered another of that Turbid Giant, otherwise who knows what could have happened.
He wasn't about worried getting bleed or getting caught in that blinding light of crystal giant's crown. He didn't need to worry. If he ever found himself in either of those situations, there will be no choice but to die.
And maybe death isn't also that bad.
Instead, there was something greater than death for him which he was worried about.
Fear.
Though Flame came out as reckless and careless, instead of brave, he was still very prone to fear. Death wasn't that scary, but what scary was being frozen in one place and wouldn't able to pass down the near eternity time, between his death and encounter.
Death is swift, but Fear is eternal.
Fear is something which might continue to haunt you even after your death.
Even after looking at the many Chaotic and Awakened creatures of different breeds, he was still scared to just see them.
It could be considered normal for a descendant to fear someone of Awakened, much less Chaotic, but Flame had different thoughts.
If he had been doing the job of the porter for the past there to four years, shouldn't he have grown quite resistant to see powerful creatures occasionally. He believed that if someone does something repeatedly, he was sure to become adept at it.
For example, he has been cooking for quite some time and today, he could proudly say that he is one of the best chefs in his residential area. Even, his mom couldn't help but eat her fingers and plate along with her porridge.
"what the hell is wrong with you!?! Concentrate damn it"
He cursed and shook the thoughts about his mom and cooking away.
"so the moral of the story is 'practice makes better and more practice makes more better'. Then why the hell am I getting my pants pissed all the times??? Why does Lucy have to intervene and poke holes all around my neck!"
He spat more of his spite on himself as he slowly followed the giant's footsteps
"It is always Lucy who saves me!. It is always Lucy who heals my wounds! It is always Lucy who stays with me all time! and most importantly it is always Lucy who brings coins and notes of bills so I can buy milk and other rations for the house!"
Soon Flame shook his head and increased his pace.
After walking for some time and spouting some more of his anger, he saw something other than dead trees for the first time in a while.
He saw an open field.
The open field was only covered by the black shaded green-grass and pale sunlight of the dusk.
It was going to be night soon.
But that was not important for Flame as his attention was grabbed by something else.
Suddenly, an unbelievable expression formed on his face. he calmly looked at the open ground and at the center…
It took him some time to comprehend all the things and gathering the clues and connecting dots, but when he did…
"oh my! Oh my! What do we have here"
A twisted smug smile plastered wide on his face.
In the middle of the odd open field of the dead forest, Flame saw a huge ancient tree lying down. It was huge. So huge that Flame wasn't even sure if he could even climb the horizontal trunk. The width of the trunk easily was around four—no five time his height.
the black trunk extended about 50 meters horizontally before the trunk sprouted. Colossal branches spread across the edge. The thick roots hinged from the colossal branches and hung in the abyssal swirling darkness motionlessly.
crisps of ancient soot flew from the root's surface as wind blew and floated the remains in the surrounding chasm.
The branches helped the charred roots to reach further towards their destination as they stretched further out like a scattered vine, before disappearing in the dark depths. The thick roots only became more and more dense, twisted and thicker as Flame's gaze moved horizontally towards the tree's peak--in others the edge of chasm
"I can't believe"
Flame stood before the huge chasm and peered into its depths, only to feel the ominous premonition.
Only twisted, sinister and beguiling darkness greeted him as he tried to peer into it. eventually, he sighed and took some steps away and looked before him.
Right at the edge of chasm the heavy footsteps of Giant ceased to exist.
They just disappeared.
Never to be found.
But Flame had an idea
"To think that Lucy will use the trick of taunting bulls here…she is genius. She must have lured the giant to follow her near to the chasm and, just when the giant was about to catch up to her, she moved away and Giant fell into this hole"
Flame felt all his exhaustion turn into mist and float away into the grey clouds.
He then laughed maniacally.
"The pitiful Giant must be crossing the afterlife right now"
After feeling content from imagining Lucy's cleverness, he didn't wait anymore and turned around.
Now that he had found Lucy, he has only one more thing left to do.
"I must return to the pond. Lucy must be there washing off the scent of blood away. I think I must take another dip into the pond. It felt quite warm and comfy after all"
He smiled reluctantly and started walking away.
He felt his heart beat quicken as he took each step closer to pond. It quickened and quickened and eventually it felt like his heart was about to pound out of his ribcage.
He was scared.
Suddenly, Flame stopped and turned his gaze towards the thick charred roots hanging deep into the chasm. His eyes stayed there, before they felt drooping.
An extreme exhaustion hit him.
Considering the eight hours of the Timer and the roughly 2 more hours inside the Dead Forest, it would make around ten hours in total since he had a bite of food.
In fact. He had almost forgotten to drink the water back at the Elixir pond.
He hadn't had any water.
And for a Descendant like him, it would be catastrophe!
"I need to go to the pond"
Just as Flame said these words, he punched hard into his stomach and gripped the mushy mound of meat, before squeezing it tightly.
Puchi!
Instantly his dirtied black shirt turned darker, marring the morbid crimson deep within the black.
It originated near his lower abs, before gradually scattering all over his training shirt and down near his groins, eventually seeping down to the lower half of his training pants.
Blood dripped slowly onto his bare feet.
Flame felt his eyes heavier than ever.
Now, Flame knew…
'Lucy…you are really a genius...'
'but, I am still an idiot'
and then his eyes turned dark