After a few tens of steps, while moving forward, he suddenly saw something small move near the massive skeletal head of the dead dragon, quickly hastening his pace.

On nearing the place, he finally saw what it was.

She was a small figure compared to the twenty-meters-tall skeletal head. About one-tenth of it, being approx. 1.9 to 2 meters tall.

And amazingly, she hadn’t noticed him approaching her. Well, he could understand that, as the female was unbotheredly sleeping on the dragon head in a fetal position with a lazy expression.

It was certainly something to see a female—someone as tall as him—being so unaffected by her surroundings, and actually sleeping like there was no tomorrow in this calamity-infested land. She lay there like a fallen petal resting upon the skull of a titan.

Whereas he couldn’t even stop his heart from speeding up and thumping against his chest, simply because of the pressure coming from the dead dragons; since he stood so close to them now, it passively weighed on him, perhaps even weakening him. He couldn’t tell, regardless, it sure was quite uncomfortable.

’So strong...!’

He gritted his teeth, trying to calm himself down. Finally, when he got somewhat used to the pressure after a few dozen seconds of silently enduring it, he finally focused his attention from the dragon to the sleeping female.

Immediately, his gaze squinted. ’How odd...! I can’t feel anything from her in spite of standing so close; she has no presence(aura) at all. As though she isn’t even alive anymore.’

’No, how can that be possible? I can clearly see her before me. Her chest is moving in rhythm with her breathing, perfectly. Or maybe is it because of the presence(aura) of the dragons—maybe hers is weaker than them and was thus overwhelmed by them, so that’s why I can’t feel her presence(aura)...!’

’Or perhaps is it something else!...’

He tried to contemplate, getting lost in his thoughts. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

More like he was trying to find an answer—one which he already had but couldn’t accept—because he felt like his answer was questioning something which he thought should be absolute: Death!

The mystery hung before him like a veil made of shadows.

Somehow, he knew that the female before him wasn’t alive anymore. But before his eyes, she looked perfectly fine and alive just like him; that’s why his inexperienced mind couldn’t understand this sensation that contradicted his perception.

It was something he hadn’t experienced before. Narrowing his eyes in confusion, he looked at her with even more intensity, scanning her whole figure.

This seemingly defenseless woman was adorned in a dark crimson-red armor from her shoulder to her feet, and from her hands to her back, everything was covered; so there wasn’t much to observe aside from the curves of her voluptuous body and the craftsmanship behind the armor.

Though her face was a completely different story.

And although he had no way of knowing if this woman was the most beautiful or just one of the most beautiful women out there, as she was the first woman he had laid his eyes upon, but again that didn’t matter, as she was undoubtedly a gorgeous beauty.

Enough that even he, despite not understanding or knowing anything properly, couldn’t help but admire this sleeping beauty for a minute or two. Her beauty was like a silent song that echoed through the graveyard of giants.

Meanwhile, as though sensing the intense gaze directed towards her, the gorgeous female had her eyes shot open. And by the miracle of god, along from her silken waist-reaching crimson hair, even her eyes were also crimson-red just like his; they shone like the blood moons in a dominated sky.

In this vast clearing, the female and the male had their crimson gazes locked with one another! It was a brief moment where time itself held its breath, or it felt like it to him at least.

Their shared gaze was a spark igniting in a world of endless gray.

It was utter silence; only the sound of the wind breezing and his shoulder-length red hair fluttering could be heard. Whereas he had his heart beating against his chest quite loudly, while a sudden heat began to rise down there.

It was quite unnatural and made him rather uncomfortable too.

He didn’t know what happened to him but one thing was clear in his mind: the moment his eyes looked into hers, he was enamored, completely, thoroughly!

Nonetheless, despite the unusual reaction of his body, his <Will> was firm, unshaken, and his mind remained calm. His eyes narrowed, while he had already realized that the reason one of his abilities led him here was because of this female—more like the ability led him to her and not this clearing.

And also the unknown interference of that something which was trying to prevent this meeting—he didn’t know what it was.

However, it was easy to guess that if it weren’t for his ability, he most probably wouldn’t be here, and even if he somehow ended up here, it wouldn’t take him much to leave the moment he would feel the dragons’ presence(aura).

Considering, who would be a fool to enter such a place that screamed danger from every angle? At least he would never take the risk, because it hasn’t even been a complete day since his birth.

"A humanoid calamity... How can a calamity come here?!" Her voice cut through the stillness like a cold blade through silk.

She muttered to herself in a genuinely confused tone. Her brows creased as she stood up and immediately got down from the skeletal head.

"Now, this is strange!..." The words fell from her lips like droplets of ice into a frozen lake.

She uttered as her feet touched the ground with a small thud. Her cold eyes scrutinizing the calamity, who himself had also come out of his thoughts on hearing her words and was also currently observing her—an outsider—with curiosity rather than animosity.

Which only amplified the strangeness of the situation, where a calamity and an outsider observed one another quietly.

Meanwhile, he was also quite lost here, as when the time for conversation came he didn’t know what to say. For one, he didn’t know who this woman was that his ability led him to, and another, what was he supposed to say here.

Maybe he should tell her that after being born a few hours ago and roaming the forest for another few hours, somehow one of his abilities led him here to her; perhaps she would know why that was the case.

As he had this thought, he opened his mouth.

For some reason naively believing that she won’t harm him, considering he hadn’t done anything to her, on top of that she was also already dead too, so she had no reason to harm him even if he was a calamity, correct. This was their first time meeting anyway, and they haven’t even talked with each other yet.

There were many reasons that led his inexperienced and naive self to trust her. It was like a fragile bridge built upon a yawning chasm.

Nevertheless, before he could even open his mouth, this outsider woman did something that went completely against his reasonable reasoning.

"How stupid of you! Clementine Eyth Lifeblood!" The name she spoke felt like a heavy chain rattling in a dark vault. She shook her head as though coming to a realization. Muttering to herself...

"It doesn’t matter why or how this calamity got here... although it leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth when I think about fusing my consciousness(Will) with the body of a calamity, but what matters is that now I’ll finally be able to get out of this accursed place and at least would have some chance to kill those bastards...!" Her words were a dark promise whispered to the bones of the dead.

... in a low voice.

"Good thing at least it is a humanoid calamity!"