Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 3 First Contact

After a full day of preparation, Du Yi finally finished preparing his gift.

The most tempting parts are the neck and shoulder meat of the mammoth. These two parts have a marbled layer of fat, and with Du Yi's roasting skills honed over countless years, they exude a mouthwatering aroma.

However, the tenderloin of the saber-toothed tiger is not bad either. The sweet jam of the rock berry acts like honey in cooking, not only removing the fishy smell of the meat itself, but also making the tenderloin even more delicious with the subtle sweetness that seeps into the meat.

Of course, Du Yi's favorite dish is the one called "Earth Vein Marrow," which involves roasting mammoth bones at high temperatures to turn the marrow into a fragrant paste. The pure flavor of the ingredients alone is enough to make one intoxicated and unable to tear oneself away.

"And the heart tips of saber-toothed tigers and mammoths... unfortunately, they're not easy to slice."

Du Yi felt a little regretful.

However, these dishes are still his masterpieces, and even he himself may not be able to eat so well on a regular basis—after all, dishes like tenderloin or bone marrow are too troublesome to cook on a regular basis.

However, in order to make a better first impression, Du Yi still cooked these main dishes. Considering that these savages might not eat them fully cooked, Du Yi specially cooked them only to medium-rare.

"This is also for communication purposes, since I don't speak their language... So the dishes have to be delicious, and I have to grab their taste buds as soon as possible so that they can temporarily forget their fear of me and achieve the most basic basis for communication."

Du Yi thought calmly.

Yes, even the language barrier has been taken into consideration by Du Yi. He has made all the necessary preparations to ensure a smooth communication this time.

After that, Du Yi carried the many dishes and followed the trail of the savages as they left, meandering along the way.

Along the way, the wild beasts all avoided this behemoth. Under the terrifying pressure emanating from the apex predator, even saber-toothed tigers and mammoths scattered and fled to more distant places.

They fled to places that seemed safe.

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The village at the foot of the mountain was the territory belonging exclusively to the Ignivas family.

Originally, this place did not belong to anyone. After all, in that ancient era, there was no concept of "human". But in that era of eating raw meat and drinking blood, the ancestors of the Ignivas family discovered the power of fire and even created fire magic.

Thus, the Age of Fire began.

Relying on the power of fire magic, the newly born human race quickly gained a foothold in this barbaric era. Those ferocious saber-toothed tigers, those terrifying hunters who once preyed on humans, all fell under the bombardment of fireballs. Even the huge mammoths were burned in the flames and became food for the people.

This allowed the Ignivas family to grow increasingly powerful, even establishing their own dynasty.

Ignis, in the Old Language, means fire.

Ignivas, on the other hand, means Lord of Fire.

This is a man destined to become the King of Kings.

But right now, this eighteenth King of Kings, who is about to take control of everything like the rising sun, is facing an unprecedented challenge, simply because all the wild beasts in the mountains are fleeing outwards like madmen.

"The ranch has been destroyed?"

"The berry fields have been destroyed too?"

"What? Those wild beasts are charging towards the village?"

The eighteenth generation Ignivas, the leader of the Sunbearers, felt dizzy for a moment.

The turn of events came far too suddenly, giving them no time to prepare. Faced with the impending beast tide, all the Ignivas family could do was fight! "This is our home! This is the home where we have lived for generations!"

Shouting these slogans, the members of the Ignivas family began to organize their defenses.

Everyone received axes and spears, but these weapons were only for self-defense. The only ones who could truly fight against those ferocious beasts were the mages of the Ignivas family.

Only the fireballs unleashed by those mages could truly repel the beast tide.

The intense flames alone were enough to frighten the beasts; when the fireball rose, even the fiercest mammoth would hesitate to approach.

But this time, the beasts did not stop at all.

Not to mention the mammoths, even the goats, which are much smaller than mammoths, did not stop. Facing the rising fireball, the goat at the front seemed to have gone mad, charging straight at the fireball without dodging or avoiding it!
"boom--"

The intense flames incinerated the goat into a blazing inferno, but even more hooves and claws trampled its body. Giant-chinned tigers, cave bears, woolly rhinoceroses, dire wolves, giant tapirs, dire cranes... and the mammoths that charged like chariots, were all fleeing, desperately fleeing.

It's as if there's something even more terrifying behind them.

"Let's go! We're going too!"

The eighteenth generation Ignivas, the leader known as the Sunbane, chose to evacuate immediately.

The able-bodied men were responsible for helping the elderly and children carry the necessary water and food, while the mages were scattered on both flanks of the group, responsible for carving out a space for survival in this dangerous beast tide. As for the leader, the Sunbringer, he stayed at the very back of the group, responsible for holding off the ferocious beasts that could break the group at any moment.

But it was precisely because he fell at the very end that he saw that enormous figure, far behind the herd of beasts.

"What's this?"

The eighteenth generation Ignivas stared in disbelief at the colossal creature that stretched out in the distance like a mountain peak.

Although, according to oral tradition, the ancestors of the Ignivas family possessed the power of the gods, which is why they passed down the magic of fire, the proverbs left by the ancestors never revealed what the gods actually looked like.

And now, the true face of the god appeared before him.

It was a colossal serpent as large as a mountain, its enormous head large enough to swallow two mammoths whole. Large amounts of unknown flesh and blood hung on its massive body, along with rows and rows of white bones.

The unknown flesh and blood had been steamed, emitting a terrifying white mist. Some of the flesh and blood even had strange liquid clinging to it. Just looking at it was enough to make one's scalp tingle. Even the bare white bones had been thoroughly roasted by the scorching heat. Even from this distance, one could smell the aroma of the cooked fat from the bone marrow.

If it were any other time, the Sun God would probably be drooling.

But looking at the current situation...

"Will I also become part of that cooked meat?"

Faced with unprecedented terror, the Sunbearers' minds trembled.

"Go! Go quickly!"

The shouts of his people came from ahead, which made the Sunbringer run at full speed without hesitation.

But that enormous figure was already deeply imprinted in his heart.

(End of this chapter)