Life Hunter - Chapter 170

“So, what are we supposed to do now?” Layla asked while tilting her head. “Are we going to open this planet up and destroy what is at the center?”

Arima and Jorga both blinked at her.

“Your friend is a bit scary,” the latter whispered and Arima shrugged.

“It’s not like she’s wrong. If we want to stop Fafnir, shouldn’t we kill him while he’s still weak? I’m not sure I want to fight a ‘transcendental’,” he said and Jorga mused.

“Truthfully, I don’t know what we can do.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I’m not wrong, Fafnir is not only at the center of this planet, he’s also the core itself,” Jorga explained. Arima frowned and Oulan paled. “If we slay him now, the planet might lose its attraction force, gravity, atmosphere, and everything else. It will basically become a rock in space.”

“But the result will be the same either way if we don’t do anything,” Layla couldn’t help but remark.

“It’s as you say, our problem is not only to defeat Fafnir but to also prevent the decay of this planet…” Jorga paused. “This has become quite a complicated task. Well, if this was just a matter of saving the dragon race, it would be easier…” he added and the old dragon’s expression fell.

“What if we take the core of another planet and swap it with Fafnir when he comes out?” Karma suggested out of the blue.

Everyone looked at her in both surprise and deliberation. “{Well, it’s technically possible if we’re willing to destroy another planet… we need to find one we can demolish, a deserted one would be perfect. But the core of that planet needs to also be large and pure enough to sustain Fantasia.}”

Night spoke up in everyone’s mind, jolting Oulan’s mind without any warning. Arima pondered for a few seconds.

“I can do that. I just have to find one,” he stated and stood up. His shadow covered the mountain top as he deployed his wings. “How long before he wakes up?”

“From what I can predict; around two days,” Jorga answered and Arima nodded.

“Good. I’ll have enough time to recover all of my mana,” he said and saw that Layla and Karma were standing up too. “You two stay,” he instructed and both stopped immediately. “I won’t bring Deva with me. I need to recover my strength, not drain it even more. Even before when I was unconscious, she sucked my mana dry to come here,” he grumbled and teleported a few hundred meters above the ground.

“[Fulgur Anguis] (Lightning snake).” He transformed into a large black lightning snake with a pair of wings and flew away with a speed that even was too fast for Layla to follow.

She sat down and looked at Jorga.

“Hm? What is it?”

“I was just curious about something. You remember me of how I was some time ago,” Layla said.

“You see yourself in me? What are you talking about?” Jorga scowled.

“I also didn’t have my full inheritance before,” she replied and Jorga’s eyes narrowed. “It was Arima who forced Chronepsis to come out two times. I feel you’re in a similar situation… or am I wrong?”

Jorga met her clear eyes with his own and wavered nervously. It wasn’t obvious with their appearance but their respective strengths were worlds apart and now Layla had even received all of Chronepsis’ knowledge and experience.

“…Those eyes are certainly worthy of Chronepsis’ legacy,” Jorga chuckled. “You’re right but at the same time, you’re not. It’s not like I never received Jörmungandr’s power before. The truth is that I just inherited a fraction of his knowledge and refused to get any more power.”

It was Layla’s turn to be surprised. “Why?”

“‘Why’? Well, do you know what inheritances are exactly?” Jorga replied with another question. A frown formed on Layla’s enchanting face.

“Inheritances are quite simple. Before I say anything else, I need you to know that individuals with one are not really ‘chosen-people’. To be precise, they’re merely suitable to obtain the inheritance,” Jorga explained.

“For example, now that you received your precursor’s memories, do you know the reason why you were chosen?”

“He said it was something about my soul…” Layla answered. “But I didn’t learn it from him, to be honest. It was Arima who told me.”

Jorga nodded. “Yes, I’m sure the inheritor of Chronepsis needs to have quite a special soul. The simple fact that you are the product of two different people’s fusion is proof of that. Arima said he used one of his magics to make it possible but it shouldn’t have worked or, at least, not this well. I’m sure he’s aware of this fact too.”

“Sorry for being rude, but your appearance, for example, shouldn’t have been so perfect. Your body should’ve been unbalanced or even maybe completely distorted,” Jorga uttered and Layla hugged herself while sending a death glare at the big serpent.

Jorga laughed bitterly. “Anyway, tell me another thing. When you received the inheritance, did you have a certain physical situation that connected you with dragons in some way?”

Layla’s eyes widened and nodded slowly. “I was half-lizard from my father’s side…”

“I see. That’s why Chronepsis picked you then. Your body and soul were perfect for him at that time. Predecessors don’t choose inheritors selflessly. They simply want their name and power to remain in this world. And for that, the more the inheritor is adapted, the better his power will be transferred.”

“All divinities would think so; after living for so long, why should they disappear from everyone’s memory? You ended being lucky though. Chronepsis didn’t impose you much along with his inheritance. It’s different for a lot of inheritors,” Jorga sighed and Layla tilted his head.

“Take me for example. The reason why I refused Jörmungandr’s full guidance was that it required me to do something,” Jorga lamented.

“What was it?”

“I am way too compatible,” Jorga said. “My race, body, name, affinity, mentality… even my title as the guardian of the elven forest. I might as well be a direct descendant of Jörmungandr at this point and that’s exactly why he chose me.”

“Jörmungandr is above even a Dragon King. He’s hailed as a Dragon God together with Asgorath. He is too special. He didn’t want me any bad… but the condition he imposed was for me to become the World Serpent itself,” Jorga declared and not only Layla but even Oulan and Karma exclaimed in surprise.

Becoming the World Serpent was no joke. In fact, in the legends, Jörmungandr is an even grander ‘watcher’ than Chronepsis. But no one actually knows who Jörmungandr was while he was alive and what kind of existence he was. Simply because no one ever met him.

The World Serpent is supposed to be big enough to surround the world. But in this infinite existence, what is the scale of that ‘world’. Is it a planet? Is it a galaxy? A parallel world? Or perhaps a plane?

Nobody knew. Some people came up with something else though. They started saying that the reason no one could find Jörmungandr was that he was too gigantic to even be found.

“If you’re wondering,” Jorga spoke up. “The World Serpent is not bigger than the world itself but he is beyond that at the same time. He’s essentially everywhere. There isn’t a single thing that can escape his eyes.”

“It’s as simple as that. Jörmungandr is a God with a big ‘G’. He could even be at the level of the Original God. But his field is not omnipotence but true omniscience,” Jorga finished and sighed.

“If I accept, I will become the World Serpent. Some may have been enticed by such a title but I only see loneliness in that path. I don’t want to become a solitary unmeasurable serpent watching the world from the void,” he said. “But I, of course, understand that this power is also a ‘Law’ and transforming myself is not just a selfish requirement. The World Serpent is not only a watcher but he also has to help sometimes and prevent catastrophes…”

Layla and Oulan gazed at Jorga solemnly. Even Karma couldn’t act carefree after she heard that story.

“Well, you don’t need to think much about it. In the end, the final choice is mine to make.”

When Jorga said that, Layla’s eyes changed by themselves and her expression suffered a radical change for the split of a second. She hastily closed her eyes, hoping no one saw her. Jorga, unfortunately, noticed it but ignored it after he closed his eyes once.

***

Arima was listening to the conversation through Karma while he was flying, trying to find any planet that would fit the problem in hand. He would pass by tens of planets every minute.

“{…What do you think?}” Night asked.

“{Nothing much,}” Arima responded. “{But… I may have provoked something for Jorga that he didn’t wish for,}” he sighed. “{And I may feel guilty about it now.}”

The black serpent accelerated and reached a point a light-year away from Fantasia. After an hour or so, Arima suddenly stopped and changed back into a dragon. He stared at one planet he passed by and mused.

“{That one is good, right?}” Arima asked.

“{I think so,}” Night agreed and the black and silver dragon rushed toward the planet. It was not deserted. It seemed to have some verdure on it. At a reasonable level. The planet’s surface seemed to be made of 40% of water, 30% of uncultivable soil and 30% standard land. But its size and purity were on par with Fantasia.

“{There should be some life but it’s impossible to find a planet without any while also having a core powerful enough to replace Fafnir,}” Arima commented when he entered the atmosphere.

“{True… So, what do we do? Do we bring them all to another planet then snatch the core?}” Night inquired.

“{Before that, since we have some time, I want to do something,}” Arima smirked.

“{You look really evil right now, you know that?}” Night remarked and he laughed.

“{You’re not wrong considering what I’m about to do.}”

The dragon flapped his wings and fazed away before landing in the middle of a village not far.