Chapter 49

It felt like I had just woken up from a long dream.

I opened my eyes with a calm feeling. In my view, a familiar sight emerged—a massive cave with a gigantic serpent curled up. It took me a moment to realize that the serpent I was looking at was my own body.

My appearance hadn’t changed much. Of course, if I wanted to, I could transform into the form of ultimate enlightenment, but I didn’t feel the need to do so.

‘Maintaining that form is also quite taxing.’

Changing my appearance meant going through a complete transformation, altering the very essence of my being with overwhelming divine power.

It surpassed the limits of my original body. It meant fully constituting my flesh with divinity.

In that state, I would be invulnerable to any physical damage and, as mentioned, I would become exceptionally powerful.

[It seems like I need some time to sort out this enlightenment.]

It was still hard to digest. Thus, I figured I would spend a lot of time pondering over this newfound understanding.

‘I wonder if the Solitary Hero is doing okay.’

A sense of worry crossed my mind. Now that the Goddess was asleep, the world’s return was impossible.

Therefore, this opportunity would undoubtedly be the last for him.

‘I must hope he organizes his realizations well.’

Bringing my thoughts together, I moved my body. Shedding my sheath, my body grew even larger and sturdier, causing the steel-like ground to bend like cotton as I advanced.

As I inspected my body, I noticed something.

[Huh?]

Suddenly, I felt a presence of life wriggling near my coil. If it had simply been that, I would not have cared. However, the aura was quite familiar.

As I moved my body toward where the life force was emanating from, I spotted a well-known figure.

[What are you doing?]

“Ah… Lord Jörmungandr….”

It was the noble Solitary Hero, Askeral. He was helplessly sitting next to my body.

Holding something dark from the dirt pile in his hand, he stared blankly at the insects trapped beneath my enormous body.

* * *

[Hmm… Did that happen?]

It seems that I caught an abomination without even realizing it. Moreover, my movements had caused the carefully cooked meat to tumble along with the dirt pile.

What a pity.

[But isn’t it a good thing that you don’t have to deal with the abomination?]

“Well… that’s true, but…”

Askeral hesitated to retort, then eventually nodded in agreement.

Right. Thanks to me, the need to hunt down the abomination had disappeared.

I couldn’t help but think of the hardships he might have faced over the past few days, but I decided to set it aside. The fact that all his efforts of running through this vast plain chasing down the abomination had come to an end with one simple movement from me felt very anticlimactic.

It was an oddly empty feeling.

“By the way, what were you doing in the dirt pile?”

[I was shedding my sheath.]

“Shed… you mean that?”

[Yes, I’m still in my growth phase.]

“…….”

Askeral stared blankly upward at me.

Well… a growth phase? With that enormous size?

And he was even shedding his sheath? Of course, Askeral understood that serpents shed their skin.

However, wasn’t I a bit of an exception? I’ve lived for thousands of years from the moment the Solitary Hero encountered me, and on top of that, I’ve become a god with divine status. That alone is astonishing enough, but now I’m shedding my skin while being this immense.

“Come to think of it… I think I might have grown a bit.”

Of course, I was so massive to start with that it’s hardly noticeable.

What can I say? My enormous dark body stretches from one end of the plain to the other.

Could this be due to the shedding?

‘That wouldn’t make sense.’

He must have seen it too. The gigantic form of me, Jörmungandr, blotting out the sky.

By comparison, this plain is surely small enough to be completely covered by my original body.

[Ah, I’m currently intentionally reducing my size. I don’t want to cause the planet to collapse unnecessarily.]

“……What?”

Excuse me, what did I just say?

[It seems I grew too large due to shedding. To be frank… this planet is too small to contain my original size.]

I close my eyes, estimating the size of the planet. I’m not exactly sure, but it looks to be at least several hundred thousand kilometers in diameter.

Yet, even such a planet struggles to endure me.

‘When a god becomes one, size doesn’t necessarily matter, but…’

Is it because I’m an exceptionally large serpent among gods?

Having shed my skin and become several times larger, I’m certain that revealing my true form would cause a problem for the planet.

It’s not simply an issue of size.

While that’s also a factor… is it perhaps an issue of the planet’s power?

Maybe it’s a problem of plausibility. The moment I bring forth my true form, one of two scenarios has to unfold: either the planet would be destroyed or I would crumble.

‘Perhaps that’s why the Demon God couldn’t reveal his true self.’

This law. It seems like something even gods can’t escape—no, rather, the more godly we are, the less we can escape this law.

In the realm of mortals. It keeps even overwhelmingly powerful gods from stepping foot.

It’s tolerable for now, but if I were to reveal my true self and draw upon all my divine power, I’m certain the planet would be destroyed.

‘I need to think of alternatives.’

I can’t let myself destroy the planet while trying to protect it.

I look down at Askeral. He’s staring at me with a sullen expression.

Seeing him struggle to hide his emotions makes me think he’s still quite young, and it brings a smile to my face.

‘Wait, isn’t Askeral only 17 years old?’

He’s still quite young.

I lower my head and make eye contact with him.

[Do you have somewhere to go?]

“Yes? Ah… well, I need to head to the New Pina Forest.”

[Is there an abomination there?]

“Yes, there’s an abomination that devours all the flora and fauna of the forest.”

[Hmm, I see.]

I nod readily.

[Hop on. I’ll take you there.]

“Excuse me?”

It’s just at that moment, Askeral shows his confusion at my sudden declaration.

Suddenly, the ground of the plain trembles, and Askeral’s body flings upward toward the sky.

“Whoa?!”

[Hold on tight.]

Then he lands on my massive dark back. Askeral realizes he’s now perched atop my body.

However, he hasn’t even had a moment to collect himself. His body is whisked away at an incredible speed.

“Waaah!!”

Has he really been allowed to ride on the back of a god?

Is he allowed to grab onto the scales of a god so cavalierly?

He has no room for such blasphemous thoughts to even cross his mind. Feeling his body being swiftly pulled back, Askeral throws himself flat, gripping tightly onto my scales for dear life.

“It’s slippery!!”

Moreover, it is indeed slippery. Despite being so massive, why is there not even a tiny gap to grab onto?

‘It certainly seemed visible before!’

No, was this even scales?

It seemed like there wasn’t a single crack anywhere to be found.

“Waaah…!!”

A tremendous wind slapped my face.

However, Askeral seemed to realize something. This speed must feel very slow for me, Jörmungandr.

It was simply astounding.

How long had he been lost in thought?

[We’ve arrived.]

I spoke, and Askeral jumped off my back with a relieved sigh.

Then, the vibrant forest came into view. It was truly beautiful and lush, densely populated with tall trees.

How on earth did we make it here? He mused. With my size, it seemed impossible unless I smashed through the entire forest.

Gazing at me, he saw that my size had diminished significantly.

Was I back to the size he first saw me?

Returning to a size around 300 meters, I gazed at him gallantly.

“Thank you.”

Even though it had been tiring, it was far easier compared to the ordeal of getting from that gigantic plain to here.

He looked utterly exhausted just thinking about running around for days in that vast plain.

“Now then…”

He needed to locate the abomination causing havoc in this place.

As far as he knew, this abomination resembled a bird. More precisely, it would be more accurate to say it looked like a gigantic turkey. Although its appearance was quite familiar, it was ferocious and savage, causing havoc with human lives indiscriminately.

“By any chance, have you come across a giant bird, Lord Jörmungandr…?”

Askeral’s mouth slowly closed.

I was chewing on something.

Forget the fact that a serpent like me was chewing on something for now.

What struck him as oddly familiar was the foot sticking out of my mouth.

Additionally, the feathers scattered around me.

Askeral could only think, surely not.

[Hmm, I just happened to come across a turkey on my way here.]

“…….”

After gulping down my food, I spoke.

I wore an exceedingly satisfied expression.

[Hmm, indeed, turkeys are quite tasty.]

“…….”