It felt like waking from a long dream.

Jörmungandr opened his eyes with a sense of calm, and familiar sights filled his vision—a massive cavern with a gigantic serpent coiled within it.

My appearance hadn't changed much. Although I could transform into the form I had taken after my last realization, I didn’t see the need to do so.

‘Maintaining that form requires effort.’

Changing my appearance involved altering the very nature of my body through overwhelming divine power, transforming every aspect of myself.

Surpassing my original physical form, I could now fully construct my body with divine essence.

In that state, I was immune to any physical harm, and as I mentioned, I was incomparably stronger.

[I’ll need to take some time to organize my realization.]

I hadn't fully digested it yet, so I expected to spend a significant amount of time reflecting on this newfound understanding.

‘I hope the hero is doing alright.’

A worry crossed my mind. Now that the Goddess was asleep, the world's cycle of rebirth was no longer possible.

This meant that the opportunity he had left was his last.

‘I hope he takes the time to fully grasp his realization.’

As I sorted through my thoughts and moved my body, I shed my old skin, growing even larger and more resilient. My massive body pressed against the steel-like ground, making it crumple like cotton as I advanced.

As Jörmungandr examined his body,

[Hmm?]

He suddenly sensed the presence of a life form wriggling near his coil. If that were all, he wouldn’t have paid it much mind. However, the presence was quite familiar.

As he shifted his body and moved toward the source of the life form, a familiar figure came into view.

[What are you doing?]

"Ah... Lord Jörmungandr..."

The Noble Hero, Asgard.

He was sitting helplessly beside my body, holding something blackened by dirt in his hands, staring vacantly at the crushed insects beneath me.

[Hmm… So that’s what happened.]

It seems I inadvertently captured a beast while I was unaware. Moreover, due to the cracks caused by my movement, the meat he had carefully roasted had rolled into the dirt.

What a shame.

[Still, it’s good that there are no more beasts to hunt, isn’t it?]

"Well… that’s true."

Asgard seemed ready to argue but then gave up and nodded in agreement.

Yes.

Thanks to Lord Jörmungandr, there was no longer any need to hunt beasts.

Though the thought of his struggles over the past few days crossed his mind, he decided to bury it. All the time he spent running around this vast plain to hunt beasts, only for it to end with just a simple movement from Jörmungandr, left him with a sense of futility.

"But what were you doing in the dirt pile?"

[I was shedding.]

"Shedding... you say?"

[Yes, I’m still in my growth phase, after all.]

"......"

Asgard stared blankly up at Jörmungandr.

Growth phase?

Even with such an enormous size?

And on top of that, shedding?

Of course, Asgard knew that snakes shed their skin.

But wasn’t Jörmungandr an exception? After all, he was a being that had lived for thousands of years when the hero first encountered him, and he had even gained divinity to become a god. That alone was astounding, yet now, even with that massive size, he was shedding?

"Come to think of it… you do seem a bit larger."

Of course, he was already so enormous that it was impossible for Asgard to properly gauge his size with his own eyes.

What could he say? The sheer size of Jörmungandr’s dark body spanned from one end of the plain to the other.

Could that have been concealed by the shedding process?

‘That’s impossible.’

He must have seen it as well.

The massive Jörmungandr that once obscured the sky.

If he compared it to that size, this plain would have been easily covered by his original body.

[Ah, I’m intentionally keeping my size smaller for now. It wouldn’t do for the planet to collapse, after all.]

"...What?"

What did he just say?

[Due to the shedding, I’ve grown too large. Honestly… this planet is now too small to contain my true size.]

Jörmungandr closed his eyes and estimated the size of the planet.

Though he didn’t know the exact measurements, he guessed the diameter must be at least tens of thousands of kilometers.

But even such a planet couldn’t withstand his true form.

‘Size might not matter when one becomes a god…’

Was it because Jörmungandr was already an extraordinarily large serpent, even among gods?

After shedding, his size had increased several times over, and if he revealed his true form, he was certain something catastrophic would happen to the planet.

It wasn’t just a matter of the planet being too small.

Though that was part of it… the planet’s strength was insufficient, perhaps?

You could call it a matter of plausibility.

The moment he revealed his true form, either the planet would be destroyed, or he would collapse—one of the two would certainly occur.

‘Is this why the Demon God never revealed his true form?’

This law seemed inescapable, even for gods—perhaps even more so for them.

It was as if the world of mortals was designed to prevent beings of overwhelming power from entering.

While it was fine for now, if he revealed his true form and used all his divine power, the planet would undoubtedly be destroyed.

‘I need to think of an alternative.’

I can’t destroy the planet I intend to protect, after all.

Jörmungandr looked down at Asgard.

Asgard was simply staring up at me with a blank expression.

His inability to hide his emotions made me realize that he was still young, and it brought a smile to my face.

‘Come to think of it… Wasn’t Asgard only 17?’

Still young, indeed.

Jörmungandr lowered his head to meet Asgard’s gaze.

[Do you have somewhere to go?]

"Huh? Ah… um, I need to go to the forest of Seraphina."

[Is there a beast there as well?]

"Yes, there’s a beast that’s devouring all the plants and animals in the forest."

[Hmm, I see.]

Jörmungandr nodded calmly.

[Climb on. I’ll take you there.]

"What?"

Asgard was about to voice his confusion when suddenly the ground of the plain lifted, and his body was flung toward the sky.

"Kyaaaah?!"

[Hold on tight.]

He landed on the dark earth.

Asgard realized he was now atop Jörmungandr’s body.

But there was no time to regain his composure.

Before he could even think, Jörmungandr’s body moved at an incomprehensible speed.

"Uwaaaaah!!"

Is it even acceptable to ride on a god?

Or to grab hold of a god’s scales without permission?

There was no time for such irreverent thoughts.

Feeling as though his body was being teleported backward, Asgard clung desperately to the scales with all his might.

"It’s slippery!!"

It was slippery.

Despite the massive size of the scales, there wasn’t a single visible gap.

‘Weren’t there gaps before?’

Were these even scales?

It seemed as if the very concept of gaps was nonexistent.

"Kyaaaa...!!"

The tremendous wind slapped against his cheeks.

However, Asgard knew that even at this speed, Jörmungandr was moving quite slowly from his perspective.

It was simply astonishing.

Who knows how long he was lost in his thoughts.

[We’ve arrived.]

Jörmungandr’s voice.

Asgard sighed in relief and jumped off his body.

A lush forest came into view.

A beautiful green forest, densely packed with towering trees.

He wondered how they had entered this place. With Jörmungandr’s size, it should have been impossible to enter without flattening the entire forest.

When he turned to Jörmungandr with this question in mind, he saw that his size had greatly diminished.

He had returned to the size he first saw him at.

Jörmungandr, now 300 meters long, looked down at him with a majestic presence.

"Thank you."

Although it had been a rough experience,

Getting here from that vast plain was much easier.

The thought of spending days running across that plain again was something he dreaded.

"Well then…"

Now it was time to find the beast wreaking havoc here.

According to what he knew, this beast resembled a bird. More specifically, it looked like a giant turkey. Despite its familiar appearance, it was extremely ferocious and violent, causing considerable casualties wherever it went.

"Lord Jörmungandr, by any chance, have you seen a large bird…"

Asgard’s words trailed off.

Jörmungandr was chewing on something.

Never mind the oddity of a snake chewing,

But the leg sticking out of his mouth looked disturbingly familiar.

Not to mention the feathers scattered around.

Asgard had a sinking feeling.

[Hmm, I noticed a turkey while passing by.]

"……."

Jörmungandr finally swallowed and spoke.

He looked utterly satisfied.

[Hmm, turkey really is delicious.]

"……."