Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 24 Big and Small

As he was about to leave the sacred mountain, Du Yi stopped.

It wasn't that something was preventing him from leaving, but rather that going out would only cause more trouble—he knew this from his previous conversation with the Radiant One. He hadn't expected that simply leaving the mountain would cause a stampede of beasts, and even scare the Radiant One's own father to death.

Of course, the mountains are empty right now, and there are hardly any wild animals to be seen. But the place he's going to is a ranch, a place where a bunch of saber-toothed tigers are kept.

As soon as they see his figure from afar, those saber-toothed tigers would probably be so frightened that they would scatter in all directions, or even disappear without a trace.
"So I'll just wait here. You two go and bring the saber-toothed tiger back."

While it's not impossible for me to sneak over myself, considering the hassle of such an operation, it's relatively simpler to have the mage, the ranch owner, bring the saber-toothed tiger over himself.

"It's too big and inconvenient."

Thinking of this, Du Yi couldn't help but sigh.

As someone who has experienced it firsthand, Du Yi could talk about how inconvenient it is to have such a huge body from noon until the afternoon—but what Du Yi cared about most were two things: one was that being too conspicuous would easily scare away a lot of things, and the other was that his huge body prevented him from enjoying many delicious foods.

For example, right now, because his body is too big, he can only eat large beasts like mammoths or saber-toothed tigers. But if his body were hundreds of times smaller, his diet could be expanded to a wider range of species.

For example, beef and mutton, chicken, pigeons, fish, shrimp and crabs... especially poultry and seafood like fish, shrimp and crabs, he hadn't eaten these things for a long time.

Looking back now, I do feel quite nostalgic.

"What's more, it grows bigger with each molt... and it just keeps growing like this. What will happen when even the mammoth gets smaller?"

The thought of the terrible things that might happen in the future filled Du Yi with worry. At this moment, he desperately hoped that he could find a way to shrink instead of just growing bigger and bigger.

Of course, it would be even better if it could change size at his whim.

However, Du Yi was also well aware that one cannot have both fish and bear's paw. He couldn't have all the benefits. Since he enjoyed the convenience brought by his huge body, he would definitely have to bear some relative inconveniences.

"It would be good if I could maintain a relatively stable body shape. Actually, it was quite suitable when I woke up last time."

Du Yi still remembers that not long ago, a whole litter of mammoths went down his throat, but it only filled him up to eight-tenths full.

But the last time he woke up, around the time he met the Radiant Ones, he only needed a few mammoths to be full.

He misses the days when he didn't have such a big appetite...

"……Um?"

It was at this moment that Du Yi saw that the magician, the savage wearing an animal skin cloak, seemed to be shouting something at him.

"Is this a farewell? Go then."

Still in a daze, Du Yi flicked his long tail, signaling the other party to leave on their own.

He, on the other hand, stayed where he was and began to think of ways to control his body shape.

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On the way out of the mountain, the mage was quite dejected.

He had originally thought of asking the Snake God if he could tell the deserter to come with him on the grounds that "bringing the saber-toothed tiger along is not enough for me alone"—that way he could kill the deserter with a fireball on the way and then just say that the deserter had been carried away by the saber-toothed tiger.

Yes, considering that Ignis City cannot have two kings, he still intends to kill this potential rival.

But who would have thought that the snake god didn't respond for a long time, but instead kept gazing into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

Then, he was allowed to leave on his own, without mentioning the deserter at all.

"Could it be that the Snake God has already seen through my thoughts?"

"Or is it that the Snake God didn't hear what I said at all?"

Although the situation just now seemed to suggest the latter, considering the wisdom the snake god had shown earlier, the mage preferred to believe the former.

"Perhaps I shouldn't try to be clever like this anymore... It will only make the Serpent God dislike me." The mage thought to himself.

As a mage, he should be more magnanimous; as a holy king, he should be even more magnanimous. What is there to be unable to tolerate in a mere competitor? He should have confidence in himself.

The mage comforted himself in this way.

"After all, as a mage, one must have a broad mind... hmm?"

He had just returned to the entrance of the ranch when he suddenly froze.

In the distance, outside the gate of the ranch, stood a man of broad mind—and not only broad mind, but also broad belly.

His protruding belly had even stretched the meticulously sewn animal skin cloak he was wearing, exposing his enormous belly.

Such a broad body, especially such a huge belly, is undoubtedly the physique of a strong person.

High-ranking mage.

He recognized the person at a glance.

Almost immediately, he turned and fled, after all, he knew exactly what these high-ranking mages had done before—these powerful individuals obsessed with strength had even launched an attack on the Serpent God in order to become stronger.

But now, he has already pledged allegiance to that snake god.

With a guilty conscience, he just wanted to leave as soon as possible, afraid that he would reveal some flaws. Although he was currently backed by the Serpent God and even had the appearance of a Holy King, the Serpent God was not actually behind him at the moment, but was far away in the Holy Mountain.

In other words, if his weaknesses are exposed, then no one can protect him.

The high-ranking mage opposite him only needed to clap his hands together to burn him to ashes on the spot, making him utterly dead.

However, even if he wanted to escape now, there was no way he could get away.

How could he possibly fathom the keenness of a high-ranking mage? The moment his gaze swept over, the high-ranking mage in the distance had already turned his gaze away as well.

"Red Shadow? You're back?"

The high-ranking mage spoke.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was extremely clear.

Even from such a distance, it reached his ears.

His trail had been discovered, and his name had even been called out. Even from such a distance, he knew he couldn't escape.

The high-ranking mage had already locked onto him, and he could even feel that the other's palms were ready to strike.

"It's me. I went out for a while."

The mage known as Crimson Shadow turned around and forced a smile at the high-ranking mage, trying to appear nonchalant.

"You must be quite tired from your journey all the way from Ignis City. Why don't you come to the ranch first, sit down, and have something to eat..."

"It's me, Akakage."

Upon hearing the invitation from the Crimson Shadow, the high-ranking mage laughed.

"Have you forgotten your mentor?"

"You are... Mentor Sadok?"

Staring at that massive figure, Chi Ying was speechless for a moment.

(End of this chapter)