Asgard.

The noble warrior was traveling across the vast plains. Normally, he would have been on the battlefield, doing his utmost to prevent war, but the reason he was here, in the middle of the great plain, was simple.

"Jörmungandr..."

The guardian deity of the Kingdom of Trelrenia had dealt with all the monsters on the battlefield in an instant through a grand ceremony.

While others might have dismissed it as nothing more than a dream, to him, who had already encountered Jörmungandr before, the sight was clear.

He vividly remembered seeing Jörmungandr, floating effortlessly in the sky and obliterating all the monsters across the battlefield in mere moments.

"Did he really become a god?"

He was puzzled by Jörmungandr's new status as a guardian deity. Moreover, when he heard that Jörmungandr had truly become a god through the ceremony, he was even more confused.

Asgard was a warrior who had once slain a dragon that attacked his village.

A mythical dragon.

This terrifying creature had been sealed beneath the earth, and when it was released, it ravaged his village, burning everything to the ground. Asgard had slain it with his sword and the power of a warrior.

He was confident in his abilities. Confident that he could handle most monsters on his own.

But Jörmungandr was different.

Merely being in Jörmungandr’s presence made Asgard feel the same sense of powerlessness he had felt when he first faced the dragon.

Except Jörmungandr was even more terrifying.

He had been able to kill the dragon with his own strength, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t even conceive of a way to defeat Jörmungandr.

"My trait of nobility didn’t even work."

A trait that inflicted more devastating damage on corrupt or evil opponents.

It was another ability tied to his title as the Noble Warrior, and when it activated, he had thought of Jörmungandr as a corrupt enemy.

Yet, despite that, he hadn’t been able to inflict even a single wound on Jörmungandr.

That impenetrable scale.

He couldn’t even begin to fathom what substance those dark scales were made of, but they deflected every blow of his sword.

At the very least, he needed to land a hit.

If he could at least strike something, he would have a chance to fight.

But Asgard couldn’t even scratch those scales with any weapon or method he tried. There was no conceivable way to defeat him.

And yet...

"That wasn’t even a god?"

What kind of being was this?

It was terrifying.

Jörmungandr, not even a god, possessed such overwhelming power. Now that Jörmungandr had been declared a god, how much stronger could he have become?

He had been that powerful even in a mortal body.

With the birth of the Priestess, Jörmungandr had gained divine power and become a god. How strong must he be now?

The thought of Jörmungandr sent a shiver down Asgard’s spine.

"He was huge."

Even though he had been far from the battlefield, he had still seen Jörmungandr filling the sky and wrapping around the entire world.

Just by his size alone, he was far larger than the Jörmungandr Asgard had met in person.

It was almost absurd to think, but...

Could he wrap around the world? The thought crossed his mind.

"Ugh..."

Asgard grimaced as he climbed the high plains.

He had been exploring these plains for a week now.

He had heard there was a terrifying monster here that had been devouring people, so he had come to find it. But where was the monster? It seemed to have vanished without a trace.

"Well, it would be hard to find in the first place."

Even though it was easy to see across the plains, the area was vast beyond measure.

It was so vast that, standing on the highest hill in the plain, he could see nothing but endless flat land stretching to the horizon, with not a single building or structure in sight.

He had been looking at this endless expanse of green for a week now.

Considering that he moved at a speed dozens of times faster than ordinary people, this plain was truly unimaginably vast.

"I wonder if I’ll ever find it..."

He worried that he might grow old and die before he found the hidden monster in the plain.

Asgard shook off the creeping sense of despair and forced strength into his legs. His muscles tensed, and he sprang forward like a coiled spring.

In an instant, he soared tens of meters into the air.

The landscape stretched out like a panorama as the warrior continued to run.

He ran for three days without rest.

As a warrior who had surpassed the limits of mortal endurance, running for three days straight was nothing extraordinary.

After running endlessly for three days, he finally came across a sign.

<Current Location>

You have reached 10% of the Arkel Great Plain.

ヾ(≧▽≦*)o Keep going!

ーーーーー

"..."

He was speechless.

He had run for three days and nights without rest, and he had only covered 10% of the plain?

He was disheartened.

In the end, the warrior’s legs gave out, and he collapsed into the vast grassland.

"What am I even doing..."

In retrospect, he realized he had no plan.

The Arkel Great Plain was infamous for having more unexplored terrain than explored areas.

The only reason they had even been able to estimate its size was because dozens of wizards, known as grand magicians, had sent a signal transmission spell in a straight line from one end of the plain to the other, measuring the time it took to travel.

"I remember hearing that the signal transmission spell, which travels 500 meters per second, took two days to reach the other side?"

The numbers were mind-boggling.

The plain was so vast that Asgard didn’t even want to try calculating it.

He was exhausted.

At the very least, he decided to rest here for a few days.

With that thought in mind, Asgard reached for the backpack he carried.

Inside were various camping tools.

From simple food that would last for months to meat preserved with preservation magic.

The benefits of having a spatial backpack were clear.

It looked small on the outside, but the inside was incredibly spacious, allowing him to carry an unimaginable amount of supplies.

Thanks to that...

Asgard could indulge in an impromptu camping experience.

He took out the camping tools from his backpack, set up a tent, and lit a fire to cook the meat.

Then, he pulled out the preserved meat.

"Sigh..."

It looked delicious.

The sight of the meat sizzling and browning over the fire made his mouth water.

As the meat cooked over the charcoal, the juices dripped down, driving Asgard mad with anticipation.

No matter how much of a warrior he was, he was still a young man.

It was only natural for him to be unable to resist the allure of good food.

Finally, just as he was about to take a bite of the perfectly cooked meat...

"Time to ea— huh?!"

Rumble—

With a sound like thunder, the ground began to collapse.

"No!"

He desperately snatched the falling meat, but it was in vain. While he managed to save the meat, there was no place to escape in the collapsing area.

"What in the world..."

The vast plain was crumbling.

More precisely, the ground was splitting open, creating endless chasms across the plain.

There was nowhere to run.

Asgard grabbed his backpack and looked around as he fell.

"Damn it..."

There was nowhere for him to land.

The entire area, spanning dozens of kilometers, was collapsing into an endless abyss.

He would have tried to use his warrior abilities to escape, but something about this catastrophe felt unnatural.

It wasn’t just a natural phenomenon; there had to be some cause behind it. Perhaps it was the work of the monster he had been searching for.

With that in mind, Asgard focused on protecting himself from falling debris and holding onto the meat as he plummeted downward.

How far did he fall?

Finally, the warrior touched down on the ground.

Thud!

The surface was smooth.

It was an impossibly smooth surface, especially considering the rocky terrain above.

But that wasn’t what mattered now.

"The meat...!!"

The warrior, now enveloped in his aura, frantically examined the meat in his hand.

"Agh..."

He had managed to protect it from the falling rocks and pebbles, but...

He couldn’t keep it safe from the dust.

The once luscious piece of meat was now covered in black dirt, its appeal completely ruined.

"......"

The warrior despaired.

Forcing his exhausted body to stand, he looked around.

That’s when he noticed the ground beneath his feet.

A glossy, dark surface greeted him.

"...This seems familiar."

Even when he infused his sword with aura and struck the ground, it didn’t leave a scratch.

As far as he knew, there was only one material like this.

"Jörmungandr?"

He quickly began running, following the surface below him.

As he continued along the surface, he realized it was indeed a massive serpentine form stretching far into the distance.

Of course, it was so vast that...

From his perspective, it seemed like an endless straight line.

Given Jörmungandr's colossal size, it was no surprise that even this vast stretch of his body felt completely smooth.

As Asgard followed the body, he noticed something crushed beneath it.

"Hmm?"

It was enormous.

A massive leg, at least hundreds of meters in size.

A huge limb, from which dark miasma seeped, was pitifully stretched out beneath the even larger dark body.

"......"

He remembered what the monster he was hunting was described as.

A giant creature, spanning several kilometers, with eight legs and red scales?

Let’s see. Four legs were sticking out.

Yes, that could be half of it.

Moreover, the jet-black claws gleamed ominously, just as described.

And the red scales...

"...This is the monster I was hired to hunt."

Asgard slumped to the ground.

His once unshakable frame now fluttered like a piece of paper in the wind, devoid of any strength.

"What... have I been doing...?"

The warrior’s hollow mutterings echoed through the massive cracks in the ground.