Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

Du Yi had a clear understanding of his current size and knew very well how terrifying it would be for him to appear around the settlement of the savages with his enormous body.

After all, he was once a human being.

"What's a good idea... how about we treat everyone to a meal first?"

As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face. If he brings food to their door, those savages will see that he already has food, and they probably won't think that he wants to eat them.

"At least I won't be scared to death...after all, you can't question a dead person."

So Du Yi began his preparations.

After a brief hunt, another burst of fire shot into the sky, and Du Yi began his work of roasting meat once again—in order to whet the appetites of these savages as soon as possible, rather than arouse their fear, Du Yi put in his best effort in cooking this time.

Burning in the fire was his carefully prepared fruitwood-smoked recipe. To make the meat taste sweeter, Du Yi also specially picked rock berry for seasoning. Du Yi could eat up to eight mammoths in one meal when roasted in this way.

"Once they're immediately drawn to the barbecue, the rest of the conversation will be much easier."

Perhaps because snakes are cold-blooded animals, Du Yi always felt that his thinking was becoming more and more calm and clear.

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.

----------

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 change came too suddenly, so suddenly that they had no time to prepare. Faced with the impending beast tide, all the Ignivas family could do was fight!

"This is our place! This is the place 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.

Chapter 4 Newcomers Replace Old Ones

The first attempt ended in failure.

Looking at the savages fleeing in panic, Du Yi felt quite regretful. He had spent most of the day preparing this delicious meal, but clearly, his enormous body was still too intimidating, so much so that the savages didn't even dare to get close to him.

"On the contrary, it scared these people away."

Looking at the elaborate dishes he had specially prepared hanging on his body, Du Yi felt even more regretful.

If these savages don't want to eat, then he'll have to eat it himself. Fortunately, the food he makes tastes pretty good, so eating it while it's hot isn't a waste.

"As for these savages... let's think of another way."

As Du Yi ate the still-warm dishes, he thought to himself.

Getting the information you want without scaring these savages to death is quite a troublesome thing.

However, Du Yi wasn't in a hurry. After all, so much time had passed, so he could take his time to plan. Maybe those savages would be interested in his dishes and come back to him.

Du Yi has considerable confidence in his craftsmanship.

So he decided to ignore it for the time being, since he couldn't come up with any good ideas anyway. He figured he might as well take advantage of the fact that he had just woken up and see if there were any newly grown plants around that could be used as seasonings.

We also need to stock up on firewood; his cooking method uses too much wood.

Day and night passed in turn, and Du Yi continued his work of stockpiling supplies. In his spare time, he sometimes thought about whether he should try to contact those savages in another way. Although those savages had gone far away, he still remembered their previous tracks, so it would be easy to find them if he wanted to.

However, to Du Yi's surprise, before he could even search for them, the savages arrived first.

----------

"I will carry on my father's legacy!"

As he received the spear that symbolized the patriarch of the Ignivas family, the nineteenth patriarch, the Radiant One, spoke these words.

As for his father, the eighteenth Ignivas chieftain, after leading the group to a safe plain and watching his people rebuild their village, he fell seriously ill and soon passed away.

Some say it was due to the hidden injuries left by that heroic rearguard action, while others say it was due to excessive spellcasting that drained the leader's body.

But as the nineteenth leader, as that person's son, the Radiant One knew very well that it was not like that at all.

His father was scared to death.

“This is a calamity left by our ancestors… Our ancestors stole the power of the gods.”

The Radiant One remembered that his father, on his deathbed, had held his hand and said these words to him in front of all his people.

"Our ancestors stole the power of the gods and angered the gods in the deep mountains. That's why the gods have punished us and caused our family to suffer such misfortune... After I die, you must remember to show our sincerity to the gods and gain their forgiveness."

"Also, don't be sad, child. I'm just going to reunite with your grandfather, who is also my father, underground."

After saying all this, the eighteenth patriarch of the Ignivas clan even held the Radiant One's hand tightly and instructed his successor to be sure to gain the gods' forgiveness and never think of challenging the gods' majesty.

Fortunately, the Radiant Ones are not the reckless type.

As the nineteenth patriarch of the Ignivas clan, the Radiant One is young, but quite cautious and calm.

Just recalling the terrifying beast tide, he already knew that the god in the mountains was not something the Ignivas family could handle at present.

At least, it's not something they can deal with head-on.

"Do we need the gods' forgiveness...?"

The Radiant One thought for a moment and quickly came up with a good idea.

That is, to offer tribute.

Just as it's best to visit someone with gifts if you want them to forgive you, it's natural to offer something to the gods if you want them to see the sincerity of the Ignivas family.

Fortunately, his father had told him what the gods looked like before he died, which at least gave him some idea of ​​what kind of offerings to prepare.

"Preparing some food first is definitely the right thing to do... Didn't Father say that the serpent god once used bones as decorations?"

Recalling the words left by the previous chieftain, the Radiant One began his preparations.

Five mammoths were slaughtered by the mages, their enormous bones were removed, and their flesh was taken as tribute, along with the processed skeletons, and dragged to the location of the holy mountain.

Yes, the sacred mountain.

Although that mountain originally had no name, now that it is known that gods dwell there, it has naturally become a sacred mountain.

In order to attract the attention of the mountain gods, the Radiant One even directed his able-bodied men to build a tall altar with stones and mud, and all the offerings were placed on the altar, just waiting for the gods to come and take them.

To attract the attention of the gods, they even lit bonfires, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky, visible from a great distance.

However, the gods showed no intention of coming over.

Three days and three nights passed, and the legendary colossal serpent god did not appear at all, nor did it even bother to come and take a look.

This also made the mages who had followed the Radiant Ones anxious.

"Should we... go back first?"

A mage offered his own idea.

"Let's go back first and think of another way. Maybe we should try a different time, or perhaps we should offer some different tributes..."

"You guys go back first, I'll stay here."

The Radiant One gave these instructions to his subordinates.