When I first became a snake, I thought this might be a dream.
How could I be dreaming of moving as a wriggling snake? It was quite a vivid dream, and I even let out a chuckle.
But now, I had accepted it.
I had no choice but to accept it.
The memories of my previous life, which didn’t even reach thirty years, had long since been buried and disappeared in the passing thousands of years.
Once again, a vast amount of time had flowed by.
It was a mistake to have eaten that huge lizard that breathed fire and then fallen asleep.
…Who would have thought I would sleep for thousands of years?
I had felt unusually drowsy, and it seemed I had entered a state akin to hibernation.
Had I grown even larger during that time?
The cozy mountain range that perfectly fit my body now felt infinitely small.
Would my stomach even fill up if I were to eat something like this?
I worried whether I might starve to death; that was how large I felt.
After all, if I were the size to overshadow the mountain range and fill the horizon, the caloric intake needed for my body would undoubtedly be enormous.
Of course, I thought, considering I wasn’t just a gigantic snake, that dying from hunger was probably not a concern, but still, I didn’t want to be hungry.
The solution was surprisingly simple.
I just had to shrink.
Perhaps I gained some enlightenment due to having matured in hibernation?
I found that I could naturally adjust the size of my body.
Right now, my size was approximately 300 meters.
While still an absurdly large size, it was at least a magnificent difference compared to how I was before, like the gap between a whale and plankton.
As I wandered without direction, I discovered a cave.
A cavern enormous enough to envelop my few hundred-meter-long body.
Inside, there was a jet-black dog with three heads, each the size of a dozen meters, but this was rather advantageous. I happened to wake up just hungry.
[Growwwl——.]
It howled lowly, trying to guard itself against me.
Its two glowing crimson eyes stared at me intently.
Was it on guard?
However, it was not my opponent.
Crack.
In an instant, I crushed it.
It couldn’t even react before it was crushed.
‘Is it the trend these days for animals to be ablaze?’
Just like that lizard from before, and now this hideously formed dog that was hardly recognizable as a dog.
It was fascinating how flames erupted from all over its body as if that was the trend.
With that, I devoured it.
I coiled up in the immense cavern.
I was infinitely bored.
Was there nothing interesting happening?
As I pondered this thought, I ignored the presence lurking outside the cave.
I hoped they would bring me an amusing incident.
* * *
“What… is that?”
The Survivor Hero, Hans, couldn’t even comprehend what had just occurred.
He was a hero descended from the kingdom.
Having heard the news of a monstrous creature that was slaughtering villages in the great cave, he had come to exterminate that monster.
He thought this would be his stepping stone to becoming a greater hero.
That was until he faced ‘it’ at the entrance of the cave.
Cerberus.
The hellhound that guards the underworld, the worst beast imaginable, incinerating anyone who dares to approach.
It had already devoured dozens of heroes, and the villages it had trampled and burned amounted to hundreds.
Once, the kingdom had dispatched an expedition to hunt it down.
A grand expedition led with a dozen heroes and hundreds of knights.
No one expected defeat.
They were all seasoned warriors, veterans who had already taken down dozens of monsters.
How misleading that thought turned out to be.
The power of Cerberus exceeded imagination.
The intense heat it emitted melted the ground, turning the area into molten lava. Its skin was so tough that even a sword merely shattered upon contact.
Moreover, even approaching it caused the armor and protective magic surrounding them to melt away, leaving the expedition in catastrophic failure.
Twelve heroes had melted under the intense heat, while 793 knights were crushed under its enormous front paw.
After that, the kingdom abandoned the notion of capturing Cerberus.
They withdrew the bounty notice, sealed Cerberus within a massive cave, and cast disorientation magic over the entire mountain so that no one could approach.
Thus, while the magic was in place, they didn’t think much of it.
After all, most heroes had magic immunity.
Because of that, they failed to notice the grand enchantment that enveloped the mountain.
‘So how about…’
Had the person he met at the tavern realized this fact?
Surely, a powerful spell was cast over the mountain that ordinary people would not notice.
In that moment, Hans understood one crucial piece of information.
This was all part of the plan of that figure in the black robe.
Just then,
the seal on Cerberus was completely lifted.
The shattered golden chains lay in ruins.
Dark energy from malevolent sorcery pulsed around those chains.
‘Got caught!’
The pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
This had all been a trap.
A plan solely to lure him in.
Cerberus’s burning gaze was fixed upon him, filled with an overwhelming rage and insatiable hunger ready to incinerate everything.
Thud.
His legs lost strength, and he collapsed.
‘I’m going to die.’
I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die.
Death filled his mind.
And in that moment,
something enormous slithered into the cave.
It was several times larger than that hellhound, Cerberus.
Yet, an oppressive silence filled the air, so thick that he could hardly hear anything.
‘…A dragon?’
It took on the form of a legendary dragon.
A creature spoken of only in tales.
With scales tougher than steel and the head of a massive lizard.
Its colossal form towered like a mountain, looking down upon everything with arrogance.
It resembled the dragons depicted in legends.
Hans stared at the being in a daze.
If gods existed, would they not appear like this?
The dusk-hued scales moved gracefully as it approached Cerberus.
He reached out his hand.
He had no confidence that this dragon could defeat Cerberus.
Undoubtedly, the dragon was larger.
Its aura and presence were more powerful.
But….
This was Cerberus.
The hellhound that had devoured dozens of heroes.
According to the old legends, the dragon should be able to consume that hellhound too, but… rumors always tend to magnify the truth.
Hans did not believe in the dragon’s legends.
Could lightning strike at a mere gesture, making the heavens tremble?
If that were possible, wouldn’t it imply the existence of a god?
Yet, the dragon acted as if it didn’t care.
It simply advanced toward Cerberus, unfazed.
[Growwwl——.]
Cerberus emitted a low growl.
Just hearing that deep frequency caused Hans’s body to freeze in place.
The hellhound’s eyes ignited.
Like a massive fireball, Cerberus’s form blazed fiercely.
Just that was enough to inflict severe burns on Hans.
The overwhelming heat melted his armor, fusing it to his skin.
‘I need to escape….’
He wouldn’t last long under such circumstances.
But with the dragon now attracting Cerberus’s attention….
He had to get out of this mountain——
——Crack.
In that moment, a resonating silence shattered.
The sound of something being crushed echoed throughout the cave.
‘Damn….’
Had the dragon already fallen?
Despair clouding his mind, he turned around to look at the dragon.
Yes.
The dragon was not dead.
In fact….
Crack.
It was devouring Cerberus.
That once-volcanic hellhound was torn asunder by the dragon’s jaws in one bite.
Hans stood there, gazing at the scene in a daze.
The fight had been over in an instant.
It ended in a moment he couldn’t even comprehend.
The victor was clear, and it was obvious who was stronger.
The azure eyes were fixed on him.
In that moment, Hans forgot how to breathe.
All nerve cells seemed to warn him that they would die.
He was the Survivor Hero.
A hero with an instinct for survival stronger than anyone else.
That was why he barely managed to move his feet.
It was only possible because the dragon lost interest and looked away.
Taking advantage of that moment, Hans fled.
Even as he ran, thoughts of the dragon flooded his mind.
He hurried down the mountain toward his kingdom.
The legends about the dragon surfaced in his thoughts.
‘That creature is a mass of greed. Once it marks its prey, it never lets go, and if regular offerings aren’t made, it descends upon nearby villages or kingdoms, wreaking havoc.’
What he had dismissed as mere fantasies in the past was now a clear survival strategy in his mind.
‘We need to offer… a sacrificial offering….’
If not,
‘The kingdom will fall.’
A chill ran down his spine!
It was a firm conviction.
Even now, his survival instinct was screaming fiercely. Hans entrusted his request to the royal guard to meet the king.
Given that he held the title of a hero, it was not hard for him to face the king.
The king rushed out in one step.
With a white beard and deep wrinkles etched by time.
Yet, his eyes were filled with delight.
“Ha ha, Hans. What good news do you bring that you’ve dashed here in such haste?”
King Lesberico was in good spirits.
The Survivor Hero was as precious as a rare treasure in his kingdom. After all, he was the only hero born in this remote kingdom.
Thanks to his strength, there hadn’t been any wars with neighboring kingdoms.
The power and status of a hero were immense.
He was the one destined to slay the ‘Demon King’.
To eliminate such a figure was no trivial matter, even for the greatest empire, Astraea.
Moreover, Hans was very ambitious.
His dream was to grow stronger and someday defeat the Demon King.
The king supported him with all his might, for he was the only hope and future of this kingdom.
With such joy and warmth akin to welcoming his own child, the king addressed him.
Hans, however, spoke with a serious expression.
“A dragon has appeared.”
“…What? Ha ha, what a joke. Isn’t the dragon a creature from myths?”
The king thought he was joking.
But Hans was utterly serious.
“That dragon devoured Cerberus.”
“…Hans, you’re going too far with your jest.”
The king thought he was making a distasteful joke.
Cerberus?
The hellhound that had consumed dozens of heroes?
And the dragon had consumed that Cerberus?
It was simply unbelievable.
“Hans, enough with that joke….”
“I, the Survivor Hero Hans, swear by my heart to the Goddess.”
“……!!”
Taking an oath by offering one’s heart to the goddess was a colossal promise akin to sacrificing one’s life.
With an unwaveringly serious expression,
Hans said to the king,
“We must offer a sacrifice, a sacrificial offering.”
At that moment, a crisis descended upon the kingdom.
To be continued…
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