Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 39: Entering the Pass
No one from Ignis could have imagined that giants would appear here.

Although they all knew that the Ignis had been fighting the giants in the north for hundreds of years, and although some of them had even returned alive from the front lines, they all believed that the giants could not possibly move south—after all, that defensive line had been maintained for hundreds of years without any problems, so how could the giants possibly move south?
But the giants did indeed head south, and even occupied the entire city of Ignis, as well as all the land that originally belonged to the Ignis people.

It was at this time that the people of Ignis in the mountains learned that their king had actually voluntarily pledged allegiance to those ferocious giants.

Even the magicians were included.

As for how they knew, it was because they had also been captured alive—after all, these Ignis people in the mountains were just a group of civilians. Let alone magical powers, they didn't even have much of the most basic combat skills.

The giants didn't even need to fight; they just stood there, raising their batons, and the victims were already terrified of death, their legs going weak and some even turning and running away.

"Holy Mountain, Holy Mountain..."

At this time, they were still thinking about the Holy Mountain. Many of them felt that if the serpent god could save them once, he would save them a second time.

But the facts prove that such a good thing simply doesn't exist.

The serpent god did not come to their rescue at all, even though those savage giants had even broken into the holy mountain—but the serpent god who had once saved them seemed to have vanished into thin air, showing no intention of showing up at all.

Thus, even though these Ignis people in the mountains organized a little resistance, their insignificant counterattack failed to kill even a single giant.

This only made the giants burst into laughter.

The giants—or rather, the ice field people—did have every right to laugh. After all, they originally thought that the closer they got to the dwarves' city, the more intense the battle would be. But who would have thought that the further south they went, the easier the battle would become?

At first, they encountered sporadic resistance; the dwarves near the front lines were somewhat capable of fighting. But as they continued south, and even until they occupied the so-called dwarf city, they encountered no significant resistance.

And now, they have even occupied what these dwarves call their sacred mountain.

"Where is your God, or His?"

A glacial man who had some knowledge of Ignis language grabbed a terrified Ignis man at random.
The terrified Ignis man simply shook his head. He truly knew nothing. If he knew where the gods were, he would have fled to find the serpent god long ago. How could he have ended up being captured alive in the holy mountain?
Or, is that deity truly a deity?

It was at this moment that the captured Ignis realized that their god, the serpent god they spoke of, had never personally admitted to being a god.

Not only did they not acknowledge it, the serpent god even rejected their faith, stating explicitly that they must learn to save themselves.

"He gets busy sometimes too..."

It was only then that these Ignis realized that they seemed to have misunderstood the words of the serpent god.

During this time, they were both fixated on the "Tao" the other spoke of, forgetting that the phrase itself was also a warning to them.

They need to learn to save themselves, after all, even the serpent god has his busy moments.

"Busy? I'm afraid he's run away."

Upon hearing the news reported by his subordinates, the king of the Icefields, Karosaan, shook his head repeatedly.

As the king of the Iceborne, and also the one among them closest to the gods, Kalosane knew very well that gods were not what these Ignis people understood. He didn't quite understand why these dwarves thought that so-called gods would save them, meaningless mortals, since in the eyes of the Iceborne, gods would not do such a thing.

The cold north wind is the harshest father, and the god of the north wind, named after the cold wind, is the father among fathers.

Although all the people of the Ice Plains consider themselves to be offspring of the North Wind God, only those who are useful to the North Wind God are qualified to be his offspring—only by striving to become more useful and stronger can one gain the favor of the North Wind God.

As for those useless fools, those idiots who only know how to call upon the gods, they don't even need the God of the North Wind to take action; the freezing winds of the frozen earth will kill them all.

“These weak dwarves… if you throw them into the frozen ground, they might not even live to see the next day’s sunlight.”

Carlosan sighed even more.

So, these powerful Ice People have been fighting this foolish opponent for hundreds of years?
The dwarves are weak, and their so-called gods are probably just as weak. Just like now, even though they have already invaded the dwarves' so-called sacred mountain and the dwelling place of their gods, the so-called serpent god still has not appeared.

"Is it because you know the North Wind God will eat you?"

Carlosane thought to himself.

Yes, even gods have their own desires. Just as the strongest warrior must eat the most delicious part of his prey, gods also need to hunt down even more powerful beings.

For a deity, the best food must be another deity.

After all, only another god could possess such a massive size, comparable to that of a god, to allow the God of the North Wind to feast to his heart's content.

"However... this has become a bit troublesome."

Thinking about this, Carlosane had a headache.

The serpent god worshipped by the dwarves has run away, so he can only fill the god's belly with other things. Otherwise, he is considered incompetent, useless, and of no use to the god of the north wind.

The first person the North Wind God wanted to kill was him.

Fortunately, Carlosane, who comes from the frozen land, has no shortage of courage or ability to solve problems.

Moreover, the current problem doesn't seem to be that troublesome.

Although these dwarves had few livestock left, clearly not enough to satisfy the appetite of the North Wind God, they possessed a miraculous agricultural technique. They could produce fields of fruits and vegetables in just ten days and nights, a feat unheard of.

"If they are raised for a short period of time, the livestock will grow rapidly... and then we will be able to feed the North Wind God with a large number of livestock."

Karlosane suddenly felt a little dazed. As a native of the Ice Plains, he had only experienced the hardships of life. This was the first time he had felt what it meant for everything to go smoothly and to be completely satisfied.

The warmer areas to the south are surprisingly wonderful.

Even the air smelled sweet.

(End of this chapter)