75: Just Give Up
(A Few Minutes Prior)
After Silver released his cry of pain, he felt a massive change in the atmosphere and also his body.
His body felt hotter, he started sweating, and his lips became parched.
"What the hell?"
He looked up, and the moment he did, a stunned expression filled with disbelief appeared on his face.
"Haa, I'm so dead aren't I?"
He mumbled with his tone containing acceptance, reluctance, and also slight awe as he looked at the sky where the second 'sun' could be seen.
"There's nothing I can do to survive this."
Silver looked at the ground where he could see the beasts still trying to make a run for their lives.
A gaze devoid of hope could be seen in his eyes.
"I don't have the cultivation base to survive the attack."
"I don't have any treasure that can protect me from the attack."
"I don't have any method of escaping the attack."
"And I know I cannot run fast enough to escape the range of the attack."
Silver's hopeless gaze continued looking at the beasts beneath him. As he watched the beasts try to escape for their lives, he could not help but mumble.
"Why are you trying so hard? Just give up and hope for a painless death."
As Silver mumbled this words out loud, he didn't know why but he felt an uncomfortable feeling rise up in his heart and body.
He felt a strange emotion he could not comprehend, but what he knew was that he hated it. He hated this emotion he was currently feeling.
Rumble
Silver heard a soft rumble coming from the sky, and he looked up, thinking it was from the crimson lion up in the sky.
But to his surprise, it was not.
He saw the sky flash as a bolt of lightning moved across the sky in a fraction of a second.
The lightning bolt and rumbling of the sky was so brief and soft to the point that neither Joe, Hans, and none of the beasts noticed it.
All of them were distracted by the appearance of the second 'sun' and the crimson lion in the sky.
Meanwhile, when Silver saw the lightning bolt in the sky, a memory resurfaced in his mind, and he was lost in a trance.
He remembered the words his father said to him when he brought him to Theria.
{No matter the rite of passage you decide to choose, it would definitely throw painful experiences and challenges along your way. But you must use it to build your character and grow.}
{No matter where you go, make sure to leave your mark and write your own story. Your life as a Spartan should not be boring. If you encounter a setback, a challenge, or a stumbling block, use them as stepping stones and never stop writing your story.}
{Do you know why I love thunderstorms? Because it shows that even nature needs to scream sometimes to calm its soul.}
{No matter what happens Silver, make sure to never forget my teachings.}
As these words resurfaced in Silver's mind, his eyes could not help but get wet.
"Damn it Silver. You've just started writing your story and you're about to give up?"
Silver wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Won't father be disappointed? Won't mother be sad?"
He smiled and looked up.
"If even beasts can choose not to give up, how could I, a Spartan, choose to give up?"
Silver grabbed his short spear with his right hand and his short sword with his severely injured left hand.
"Fucking hell!"
"I'm a Spartan!"
"I'M ROYALTY!"
"I SHALL ROAR LOUDER THAN THE THUNDERSTORMS AND SURVIVE!!!"
With an extremely loud roar and a maddened glint in his eyes, Silver raised his short spear and stabbed it into the tree.
He raised his severely injured left arm with red eyes, popping eyeballs, veins all over his head and neck, and with sweat all over his face and body.
With another roar, he swung his left arm and stabbed the short sword into the tree.
His breathing was extremely rough and uneven, and his entire body screamed for him to stop, for him to take a break, for him to relax, for him to sleep, for him to even die and relieve himself of this pain.
But he knew, he absolutely knew he could not.
He had to keep on going. He had to keep on moving to survive.
Silver gritted his teeth and stabbed the short spear in his right hand into the tree. With another roar he stabbed the short sword in his left hand into the tree.
He would not stop until he reached his goal.
And what was his goal?
To reach as high as possible on tree so that he could at least survive the flames and shockwave of the crimson lion's attack.
Although this might not the best decision since the higher he went, the closer he would get to the crimson lion. And if he was unlucky, he could gain the attention of the crimson lion, which could then lead to the crimson lion launching its attack on him instead.
Silver knew this could happen. However, he also knew that there was a very high probability that such a scenario might not happen.
And this was because he knew that the main focus of the crimson lion was most likely going to be on Joe and Hans who had killed the crimson lion cub.
As Silver remembered the two strangers who were the cause behind his current situation, he could not help but glance at them.
And that was when he saw a strange scene.
He could see Hans screaming at the crimson lion in the sky for a few seconds and then he started laughing like a mad man. Meanwhile, Joe overtook him and then he stopped to talk to Hans.
He noticed Hans perform rageful gestures while Joe just stood nonchalantly.
As he saw this, he honestly wished he could hear what they were saying, but he was too far away to hear anything Hans said.
Just as he was about to look away, he felt a terrifying presence beneath his tree.
An ominous feeling engulfed him, and just as he was about to take a peek at the ground, he saw a blur appear in the location of Hans and Joe.
And then he saw the most beautiful and majestic beast he had ever seen in his entire life. In the beast's jaws was Joe or what was left of Joe.
Before his brain and eyes could fully take in the beauty of the beast and also what just happened, he saw a fiery flash. And then in his vision, he saw flames.
And three seconds later, a massive shockwave hit the tree he was on and before he knew it, he was flung away from the tree and found himself flying.