Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

Having obtained everything did indeed bring them a brief period of happiness.

But after this brief period of happiness, there was more confusion than anything else.

"What should we do next?"

The people of the ice fields began to be confused.

It seems they don't need to do anything, whether it's labor, fighting, or even the things that used to give the Ice People a major headache, like collecting offerings for the North Wind God, seem to have become something they can do easily.

Without anything to do, one loses both goals and direction.

The people of the Ice Plains began to feel lost.

Of course, even in their confusion, they didn't forget to enjoy the present moment, but food alone could no longer bring them as much joy... So, strange noises began to rise and fall at night, disturbing the peace of the Ignis people.

However, this act of reproduction, which originates from life itself, can no longer provide any new direction after being done too much.

"Something's not right... something's not right."

As he stepped off the bed, the Icefield King Kasalorn felt his legs go weak and his waist and hips were exhausted from overwork, and suddenly frowned.

Everything was going so smoothly, and they had already obtained everything, so why is he... becoming weaker now?

"Shouldn't we be getting stronger? How can we be getting weaker?"

The thirsty Casaloran wanted to get some water, but his legs were so weak that he stumbled.

This intensified his ominous premonition.

"It's like... falling into some kind of trap."

Casalorn clenched his fist tightly.

"No! This is a trap!"

"This is a trap left for us by that snake!"

Chapter 42 Shocking Wisdom

As the king of the Ice People, Casalon possessed keen senses, and he was the first among all the Ice People to realize that something was amiss.

But the situation before him was too bizarre, even beyond his comprehension—the Ice People had clearly won, the Ice People had clearly conquered everything, the Dwarves had been conquered and could only serve as slaves to the Ice People, and the so-called Serpent God had fled at the mere mention of his name, disappearing without a trace.

They were already enjoying the fruits of their victory, savoring the spoils and the peace they had always dreamed of...

"But why do I feel so uneasy?"

The sweet nectar was poured into his stomach. This sweet nectar should have calmed his mind, but at this moment his heart was beating faster and faster. He could even hear the restless unease in his heart.

It was as if he had fallen into a trap, but he couldn't even see what the trap looked like.

"It must be that snake! It must be that snake that did something to us!"

With that thought in mind, Casaloron immediately dressed and went to meet the North Wind God that very night.

Only gods can fight against gods.

The God of the North Wind will surely be able to see what exactly is happening right now.

The North Wind God's current residence is in the dwarves' palace, which has the tallest building in the entire city. It can barely serve as a place for the North Wind God to stay. After all, most of the dwarves' land is plains, and it is really hard to find the cliffs and precipices that the North Wind God likes. It is already quite good that he has a place to stay for now.

"I hope the North Wind God won't be angry with me..."

With that thought in mind, Casaloran stepped into the inner palace.

However, before meeting the North Wind God, Casaloran first saw David Day—the king of the dwarves, who, having lost all four limbs, was being carried to the entrance of the palace, with a still-bleeding laceration on his side.

That was left behind by the god of the North Wind. The god treated the liver from this enormous body as a snack. Thanks to David Day's extraordinary regenerative abilities, the torn liver could always recover by the next day.

This could be described as eternal torment, but in Casaloron's view, it was also a kind of eternal sacrifice.

After all, David Day's limbs had already been given to the North Wind God. If he wanted to live, he still needed to be of some use.

Having suffered such torment, David Day would naturally curse, but to Casaloran, the curses of his former enemies were the best praise—the harsher the curses, the more it proved that he had done the right thing and the best thing.

"You will be punished!"

As Casaloran walked by, the enormous humanoid figure without limbs continued to curse loudly.

This time, however, Casaloran couldn't simply ignore it.

The unease in his heart made him frown.

"shut your mouth."

Casaloron threw a punch.

Despite being several Icefield People away, the enormous humanoid figure was struck as if by an invisible hammer, its teeth shattering instantly.

"You will be punished..."

The weakened, enormous humanoid figure was still shouting.

But Casaloan no longer paid any attention to it.

Taking a deep breath, Casaloran suppressed his unease and continued walking.

Soon, he met the god of the Ice Plains people.

It was an extremely large eagle. Just by folding its wings, it was already like a small mountain. Because of its enormous size, no one could tell what kind of eagle it was. Or rather, its godlike size had already set it apart from many other species.

And now, in this dark and windy midnight, the enormous eagle god is resting.

Even when resting, the North Wind God still stands at the highest point, his eyes closed but still alert enough to see any movement around him. He will open his eyes and cast his all-knowing gaze.

Just like it is now.

"You came."

As soon as Casaloran stepped into the palace, the enormous eagle god let out a deep cry.

Have you found any trace of the prey?

"not yet……"

Upon hearing the North Wind God's rebuke, Casaloron lowered his head in shame.

The snake should have been easy to find, since unlike the North Wind God who could soar through the sky, the dwarf snake god would always leave traces wherever it went—but that's the problem. The Ice People really couldn't find any trace of the snake.

Or, to put it another way, did those Icefield people he sent out really search with all their might?

Casaloron dared not delve into this matter, especially not in front of the North Wind God.

This would serve as irrefutable evidence of his incompetence and only prove that he is utterly incapable.

However, he had no way to deal with the strange situation he was facing.

He could only turn to the gods for help.

“Great North Wind God, your servant has come to see you for another matter.”

Taking a deep breath, Casaloran tried his best to describe the current situation of the Ice People and the unresolved confusion in his heart.

"...In short, that's roughly how things went."

Casalon humbly lowered his head.

"Great North Wind God, please guide me. What is it that I... no, the Ice People are facing? How should we deal with the current crisis?"

"...Is this so?"

After a moment of silence, the massive eagle god spoke.

Let me tell you a story.

"You say."

Casalon adopted an attitude of listening attentively.

And the colossal Eagle God spoke once more.

Do you know how baby birds learn to fly?

Upon hearing the North Wind God's question, Casaloron nodded as a matter of course.

Living in the frozen north, how could he not have heard this story? After the young eagles have grown their wings, they are pushed out of the nest by the adult eagles and thrown off the cliff. During the fall, if the eagles do not want to die, they can only struggle desperately and learn how to fly as quickly as possible.

And because this story is about eagles, it is also about the god of the north wind. People in the frozen tundra of the north often use this story to encourage themselves in life-or-death situations, comparing themselves to the eaglet thrown out of the nest.

As long as you fight to the death, you will surely survive like that little eagle, and even master the ability to fly.

However, what the enormous Eagle God wants to talk about right now is not the eaglet that was pushed out of the nest.

"There are also some chicks whose parents did not push them out of the nest, but instead continued to live in the nest, in a comfortable environment."

"They never learned how to fly in their entire lives."

……

Casalon vaguely understood the Eagle God's guidance.

Indeed, seeking an audience with the wise Eagle God was absolutely the right thing to do. The great North Wind God saw the problem at a glance—after obtaining everything, the Ice People were living too comfortably. They had already gotten what they wanted and didn't even want to do anything anymore.

They even began to be half-hearted in their obedience to the commands of the gods.

Casaloron could even understand what those Ice People were thinking, after all, he had even had similar thoughts—after all, the reason they chose to worship the North Wind God was simply because they were being defeated by the fire-wielding dwarves, which forced them to seek the protection of the gods.

Now, they have all won, the dwarves have been enslaved, they have obtained everything they wanted, and they are living the life they desired.

Then what reason do they have to continue serving the gods?

"I understand completely now."

After bowing deeply to the god of the north wind, Casaloron turned and left the palace.

He has grasped the wisdom of the North Wind God and knows what he should do.

Chapter 43 The Divine Decree is Passed Down

Early the next morning, Casaloran summoned all the wizards and warrior leaders.

"It seems you've all been doing well lately."

Casaloron looked at the Icefield warriors. He remembered how brave and agile they used to be—but now, these once strong figures had become noticeably larger, and even resembled some of the dwarves.

This can't go on any longer; we must change all of this.

"The God of the North Wind has issued a divine decree that the serpent must be found."

Casaloan said this.

"Stop being hypocritical and stop being lazy like before... The God of the North Wind is watching you all the time; He knows everything."

At this point, Casaloran told the warriors about his encounter with the North Wind God the previous night, emphasizing the story of the fledgling bird.

“If we indulge in comfort, we will surely die. If new enemies appear, won’t we end up like those dwarves?”

"This……"

Seeing that their king was speaking so seriously, the warriors gradually began to take it seriously.

However, it's only the beginning of getting serious.

If new enemies appear, they will indeed act like those dwarves, but here's the problem: will new enemies really appear?

"We have already conquered everything..."

After the meeting ended, the soldiers murmured among themselves in small groups.

However, they still passed on the order in its entirety to the wizards and warriors under their command, repeatedly emphasizing that it was the order of the North Wind God.

"The North Wind God's command? Then let the dwarves carry it out!"

This was a perfectly reasonable order, since a single warrior's vision was ultimately limited, but each warrior had one or two dwarf overseers under his command, and these one or two dwarf overseers controlled many dwarf slaves.

Every dwarf slave represents a pair of eyes, and with so many eyes, there is always far more to see than just one pair of eyes.

As for whether these dwarves have other ideas... that doesn't matter. Even if these weak dwarves have ideas, what can they do?

After that, driven by the overseers, the Ignis began searching for the traces of their serpent god.

Of course, they couldn't possibly find it. If they could, they would have sought help from the Snake God long ago and fought their way back with him. How could they have ended up as prisoners like this?

As for the overseers and the former royalty, they dared not even look at the serpent god.