NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1
It’s noisy.
I must have been sleeping, yet the loud sounds around me buzzed incessantly in my ears, getting on my nerves.
One day, I became a snake.
Not just any snake, but a rather large mythical one.
In this strange fantasy world.
At first, it was confusing.
Why on earth was I in a fantasy world? And why did I have to be an odd and large snake?
I couldn’t think of any novels that would justify it, nor did I have any grudges with any authors.
After all, even when I read novels, I was a reserved person who never left comments, only clicking like and adding them to my favorites.
But then, just before a car accident, I saved a child, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself transformed into a strange snake.
At first, it was quite eventful.
A bipedal human suddenly walking around as a quadruped, let alone as a limbless being.
Getting used to catching animals alive for the first time was awkward, and the way the passing beasts widened their eyes and screamed as if they had seen something horrifying was equally strange.
But somehow, I managed to get through it all for a thousand years.
Before I knew it, I had risen to a position that no one dared to challenge.
‘Is this… the Lesberet Mountain Range?’
A mountain range of colossal proportions that defied common sense.
Surely, I must have slept soundly with that mountain range as my pillow.
‘Hmm….’
My body feels heavy.
Slowly lifting my head, I felt the sensations of my immense body enveloping the massive mountain range.
It was then that I spotted the small humans and a lizard atop my body.
They seemed to be engaging in a battle, wielding all sorts of magic and auras.
At least, that was the case until I showed up.
With transcendent vision, I observed their reactions. Muscles froze rigidly as if they had abruptly halted their actions, and their pupils shook with fear. They reacted as if facing a tremendous natural disaster.
As I watched their reactions, I shifted my gaze towards the lizard.
A lizard with a pitch-black body flowing with crimson magma.
It certainly had an imposing presence—but—
—growl.
‘I’m hungry.’
Could it be from waking up after such a long slumber?
The lizard, ablaze with molten lava, looked like a delicious roasted lizard to me.
In that case, I had no reason to hesitate.
I opened my jaws wide.
And before it could even react.
—crunch.
I swallowed the lizard.
Feeling the pleasantly warm sensation as it went down my throat brought a satisfied smile to my face.
Though whether a snake could actually smile was another matter.
‘What next…?’
The humans remained frozen and still.
After a brief moment of thought, I turned my gaze away.
‘I have no interest in eating humans.’
Even though I had become a snake, I was still fundamentally human.
As a human being, I had no thoughts of devouring those who were once like me.
With my belly now full from the lizard I had consumed,
‘I guess I should take a nap.’
I slowly laid my body back down.
Using the vast mountain range as my bed, I closed my eyes once more.
* * *
“Hella!!”
The hero, Levelis.
A figure renowned as the foremost hero among countless others, and the man closest to defeating the demon king.
He was currently facing off against the evil dragon.
[ROAAAAR——!!]
As the evil dragon roared, heaven and earth trembled.
The ground shook like it had gone mad, and the dormant lava within the mountain range erupted, painting the world crimson.
In that desperate situation, Levelis channeled his aura into his sword and swung it fiercely.
Swoosh——!
With a swing of his sword, infused with golden aura, he rescued the woman trapped in the molten lava.
A sorceress with bright red hair, Hella.
“Thank you!”
“Not at all.”
She expressed her gratitude to Levelis and immediately began casting a spell.
A blue magic circle filled the sky, and within it, a gigantic meteor descended.
Meteor.
A spell that only a 9th-circle sorcerer could learn, it fell upon the head of the evil dragon, yet it had little effect.
Fwoosh.
With a single kick from the evil dragon, which was a staggering several hundred meters in size, the meteor shattered and scattered into pieces.
“Icys!”
“Yes!”
The falling rocks were halted by a massive golden barrier drawn in the sky.
Icys, the only saint of the Holy Empire.
Her divine power not only created a barrier to protect everyone but also ensnared the evil dragon, Kellyaxis, in a chain form, swallowing thousands within its grasp.
The joint assault continued.
However….
[ROAAAAR——.]
A low rumble echoed.
The terrifying roar froze all species except itself, halting their movements.
“Ugh…!”
Icys, quick on her feet, managed to avoid freezing up, but the situation was dire.
Despite unleashing countless attacks, they could inflict not a single scratch on the evil dragon. At this rate, everyone would meet their end. Although Icys was currently holding the line, her divine power would eventually reach its limit.
The hero made a choice.
‘In this situation, leaving that evil dragon unchecked is far too risky.’
That evil dragon was not yet a fully mature specimen.
Even now, it was absorbing the heat from the surrounding atmosphere, growing stronger and larger.
If left alone, it would undoubtedly be reborn as a colossal calamity, inflicting great damage upon humanity.
‘Then….’
It must die here, no matter what.
The hero gazed at the symbol etched into his palm.
A symbol emblazoned with a golden sword.
The ‘stigmata’ bestowed upon those chosen by the goddess.
Every stigmata possessed a corresponding power.
The power of his stigmata temporarily amplified his physical abilities by tenfold.
If one were to ask why he hadn’t used it until now, the answer was simple.
‘…Because my body couldn’t endure it yet.’
The stigmata merely enhanced physical capabilities.
It did not grant a body capable of sustaining that power.
In other words, if he moved with his physical abilities suddenly increased tenfold, he might tear himself apart.
The dead could not be revived, even by the saintess.
That was why he had never used it until now, but….
“Haah, haah….”
“Levelis… make your choice….”
Everyone was exhausted.
He closed his eyes momentarily to catch his breath and made a decision.
He would use it.
As that thought crossed his mind and he opened his eyes wide, the world came to a sudden stop.
The rampaging evil dragon, soaring high in the sky.
The molten lava raining down like a storm.
The earth-shattering quakes rumbling below.
All of it halted in an instant.
Levelis momentarily thought that perhaps time had stopped for him, but soon that thought was bleached white.
His gaze locked on.
Endlessly enormous, unbelievably majestic.
A colossal deity.
Only a single head was all it was.
Its head was not confined to the sky but filled the entire world.
A gigantic eye turned towards them.
Just that alone made the hero forget how to breathe.
The moment that calm gaze fell upon him, he imagined his death hundreds, thousands of times.
That was no living being.
It was a colossal calamity that surpassed nature itself.
The immense pressure enveloped the earth, enough to dwarf the once-mighty evil dragon, reducing it to mere lizard size.
[ROAAAAR——!]
The dragon roared.
Yet, it was no longer a cry of dominance but a scream of terrified prey.
Kellyaxis twisted its body.
Instinctively sensing the need to flee, it flapped its wings.
The creature, as large as a small mountain, was about to take off.
The hero blinked as he witnessed the scene.
0.1 seconds.
In that fleeting moment.
When he closed his eyes and opened them again, what he saw was a massive entity that devoured the ascending evil dragon whole.
‘I couldn’t even comprehend it….’
The keen instincts that would miss no attack were now shrouded in an eerie silence at this moment.
As if understanding wouldn’t matter anyway.
This was not even a hunt.
In an instant, the evil dragon lost its life as if it were a meal laid out on a platter.
The end of the evil dragon that devoured an entire kingdom was merely a meal for a predator that had not even engaged in a fight.
[……….]
Slowly, that being’s gaze turned towards them.
The hero swallowed hard, yet inexplicably felt a sense of relief.
He simply had the instinct that this being would not bring them harm.
And in accordance with that thought, the being averted its gaze and moved its body.
Boom——!
The heavens trembled.
It was similar to the quakes caused by the evil dragon, yet fundamentally different.
‘Ah….’
The hero looked around blankly.
The horizon stretched infinitely, formed by gigantic mountain ranges.
‘All of that….’
A chill ran down his spine as a realization struck him.
Soon, the earth settled.
The tremendous vibrations disappeared, leaving behind a tranquil mountain range shrouded in suffocating silence.
How much time had passed?
One minute, ten minutes, one hour.
Perhaps a whole day.
During that time, Levelis, staring blankly into the void, managed to utter a voice.
“…Let’s go back.”
“…….”
“…Yes.”
What had they just witnessed?
A singular question clawed at the throats of them all.
But they swallowed it down forcefully.
They intended to remember that being and ensure that no one dared to approach it.
The hero dared to name that being.
‘Lesberet.’
A name imbued with reverence for the being that was the master of the mountain range once known as the Lesberet Mountains.
The hero and his party stared at the gigantic mountain range for a while in silence.
Then, they left, expressing their gratitude for having disposed of the evil dragon.
In the future, it remains a secret that those who heard of its majesty established a small religion in that place.