Chapter 4

In the forest...

"Have you recorded it or not?" Anna asked.

Naim adjusted the small camera in his hand, a soft click sounded. "Take a good look," he replied, his eyes focused on the camera screen.

Anna sighed. Her breath was audible in the silence. "You talk so nicely and gently with your friends. But with me, your tone completely changes."

"That's because you talk too much. It makes me feel lazy," Naim said, his voice a bit annoyed.

Naim raised an eyebrow, the sound of fabric rustling as he shifted his body. "What's wrong with you, Anna? You've been looking angry this whole time."

Anna shot him a sharp look. "It's because of your friend Aliff. No matter what I say to him, he just ignores me, even though I've tried to talk to him nicely."

"Aliff is just like that. He's hard to approach. You barely talk to him, so it's normal for him to behave like this. I used to be like you too," Naim explained.

"But no matter what, he's still my best friend," Naim added.

Anna furrowed her brow, her breathing getting heavier. "Friend? You call someone like a statue your friend? I've been talking to him, and he hasn't cared about anything I said."

"Hey, calm down, Anna…" Naim said, trying to soothe her.

"I don't understand how you can be friends with him."

"It's a long story if you want to hear it," Naim replied. "But you probably won't understand him, so I think it's better if you don't talk about him right now."

"Ugh, just thinking about his face makes me mad," Anna grumbled.

Suddenly, both of them fell silent. Heavy footsteps approached, causing goosebumps to rise on their skin.

"Is it just my imagination, or what?" Anna thought.

"Hey, Naim…" Anna whispered, her voice trembling. Her breathing quickened. "Hey, what's that moving behind you?"

Naim turned around, his eyes widening. The heavy footsteps grew closer, their bodies trembling with fear.

Suddenly, a loud rumble echoed. Something resembling a giant hand emerged from the darkness, ready to attack Anna's terrified face.

"Ah! Am I going to die?" Anna shut her eyes, resigning to her fate. Her breath stopped for a moment.

*Bam!!!*

A loud thud echoed, but Anna didn't feel any pain. She felt her body being lifted. When she opened her eyes, she saw the face of the person who had made her angry—Aliff.

"Aliff!!!" Anna and Naim shouted, startled by his sudden appearance.

"This is troublesome," Aliff calmly held back the giant hand with his right hand while his left hand lifted Anna.

"Take this," Aliff tossed Anna into Naim's embrace.

"Are you okay, Anna?" Naim asked, his face full of concern. His breathing was still labored.

"I'm fine," Anna replied, still panting.

Aliff looked at them with a cold gaze. "From now on, it's better for you to sit there quietly. Don't interfere in my business. Do you understand?"

"Understood," Naim replied, nodding quickly.

"Alright, I don't like staying here for long," Aliff leaped onto the giant's hand. He ran toward where the creature's head was, trying to evade the giant's grasp. The creature released wooden roots, binding Aliff's body.

As the creature prepared to strike Aliff with its left hand, Aliff easily broke free from the roots binding him, dodged, and jumped onto the creature's right hand.

Once Aliff reached the creature's head, he quickly kicked it with tremendous force.

With a single powerful blow, he struck the creature's head, causing it to fall. The ground trembled violently.

"What is this, a tree giant?" Aliff whispered, his face remaining expressionless.

"It seems like the creature isn't that strong," he thought.

"What kind of creature is that?" Anna asked.

"I don't know either. All I know is that my friend is fighting a very large creature. I hope he'll be okay. I know he's great at fighting, but this opponent is really big," Naim said.

"What are you waiting for? Get up and fight me," Aliff said with a calm expression.

The creature began to rise again, releasing roots from its body. The roots suddenly transformed like snakes, moving quickly with something sharp at their tips. The roots attacked Aliff from various directions, but he easily dodged them.

Aliff quickly ran toward the creature while evading the incoming attacks.

"What is happening? Are we now in a fantasy world?" Naim and Anna watched the battle with wide eyes.

"How can my friend evade those attacks so easily?" Naim wondered.

Aliff grabbed one of the roots and forcefully pulled it toward him.

As the creature's body was drawn closer, Aliff suddenly jumped very high and kicked the creature's head again, this time with much more power.

The creature was knocked back, its face cracking as if it could shatter at any moment.

The creature seemed furious, its body shrinking down to human size.

"Eh? What happened to you? Why did your body shrink all of a sudden?" Aliff asked with a flat expression.

Seeing its body shrink, the creature charged at Aliff.

Its body seemed to exude a lot of oil.

The creature attacked Aliff with both hands, but Aliff easily dodged.

Aliff gathered strength in his right leg and then struck the creature's chest with it.

The creature was knocked back again and lay on the ground.

Aliff slowly approached, then sat on top of the creature's body.

"Is this all you can do?" Aliff asked, relentlessly attacking the creature's face with his hands.

"Somehow, I feel sorry for that creature," Naim and Anna thought, watching as Aliff pummeled it mercilessly.

"Hey Naim, do you have a lighter?" Aliff asked, glancing at Naim.

"Huh! Here…" Naim tossed the lighter to Aliff. *The sound of the small object flying through the air was heard.*

*Aliff caught it. The creature's breathing sounded heavy, full of pain.

"Disappear from this world," he said coldly. The sound of flames ignited, followed by the crackling sound of fire burning the creature's body. Because its body exuded oil, it caught fire quickly and was reduced to ashes.

"That's insane!!! You're crazy, bro! How did you become so strong?" Naim approached Aliff, his eyes sparkling.

"Can you be quiet?" Aliff said, his voice still cold.

Anna approached, her face downcast. Her footsteps were slow, as if hesitant. "Thank you for saving me earlier."

"Yeah," Aliff replied.

"You both shouldn't have interfered with him," Aliff added.

"What do you mean? We didn't do anything," Naim protested.

"Don't you understand? You've entered his territory. That's why he attacked you," Aliff explained.

"Speaking of that, how did you know we were here? Did you follow us, Aliff?" Naim asked, curious.

"Don't get me wrong. I didn't follow you. But I was following something else… that's gone," Aliff said, "where did that aura go?"

"What's missing?" Naim asked, confused.

"You wouldn't understand," Aliff replied briefly.

"Anyway, my mission is complete, so I'm going home now."

After that, Aliff walked away, leaving the two of them in the forest. His footsteps faded slowly, disappearing behind the trees. Naim and Anna looked at each other, still stunned by what had just happened.

"Hey Naim, did you record the fight?" Anna suddenly asked.

"Don't worry, I recorded it," Naim said, smiling.

"Great. Then let's go back. I can't wait to upload that video later," Anna said, her eyes sparkling.

They both walked out of the forest, while Aliff had long disappeared behind the trees.