Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

The one who inherited the fire slapped his forehead.

Although the serpent god did not explicitly state that sending explorers to the holy mountain was strictly forbidden, his father, the Radiant One, out of respect for the serpent god, still chose not to allow the explorers to go to the western mountains.

"Then I'd better not do that...after all, I've never actually met the Snake God."

He still remembered the words his father had told him to keep in mind.

Don't overthink it, and don't let your imagination run wild.

Therefore, he would not make any unnecessary moves before confirming the snake god's thoughts.

"So, what about the north..."

The one who succeeded the torch continued to think.

The news brought back by the explorers who went north was quite intriguing. Some explorers said that there were giants in the north, even the shortest of whom were taller than two Ignis. Others said that there was nothing in the north except empty frozen ground and endless snow. Some even said that they saw the presence of gods in that snowstorm.

However, that was not the god worshipped by the Ignis, but another being, one who could rival the gods.

But when the Firebringer continued to ask, the explorer could not describe what the god looked like. He stood there stammering for a long time, but could not explain what it was.

"Another group of people who have the backing of the gods."

The successor frowned slightly.

Judging from the news brought back by the explorers, the dangers in the north are no less than those in the other directions: the frozen ground is unsuitable for survival, giants taller than the Ignis, and even unknown gods... All of this means that the area is far more troublesome than the miasma jungle and the raging waves.

But just as the Firebringer was racking his brains trying to find a breakthrough, an explorer escaped all the way back.

The explorer who escaped was covered in wounds and even missing an arm.

"These were cut down by the giants from the north!"

The explorer wept as he reported the information he had gathered.

According to the explorer's description, he encountered giants in the northern tundra. It was the first time he had seen people other than the Ignis, which he found quite novel. So, wanting to communicate with these giants, the explorer took out the mammoth jerky he was carrying.

This is the personal ration prepared by the Ignis for the explorers. It is said that the cooking method was learned by the nineteenth Holy King from the serpent god who symbolizes harvest. Not only is it quite filling, but it also has a strong smoky flavor.

The giants enjoyed their meal immensely, seemingly relishing the food. But just when the explorer thought everyone was full and ready to communicate normally, the giants hoisted him up.

The giants beat him while speaking in an unknown language. At this moment, even though they couldn't understand each other's languages, the physical language that resembled torture had already made the explorer understand what the giants meant.

These giants wanted to know where the meat came from, and they wanted more.

"If I can't give it to you, then turn me into meat too."

The explorer pointed to the stump on his arm.

"This is what those giants cut down."

"You mean, they're going to eat us?"

This caused the Firebringer to suddenly raise his head.

"It seems... possible."

As if he had thought of something, the Firebringer narrowed his eyes.

"Indeed...it is possible."

"They want to eat us... so we can eat them too!"

Immediately afterwards, everyone in Ignis was summoned.

At the call of the Firebringers, the hunters and mages packed their bags, but this time they were not going to kill any ferocious beasts, but another group of people who came from the northern frozen lands.

"The enemies of God want to conquer our holy mountain! We must defend our homeland!"

"Defend our homeland!"

At the call of the Firebringers, the hunters and mages set out, using their honed hunting skills to attack the marching giants and seize large quantities of dried meat and bags of plant seeds.

Before the attack, they had seen the giants stuff these plant seeds into their mouths and eat them as food.

This means that the food crisis in Ignis City has been partially resolved.

Having tasted success, the Firebringer did not stop there. He planned to fight for an entire winter, using the spoils from killing these giants to make up for the deficit caused by the inability to hold the Harvest Festival normally.

What the Firebringer didn't expect was that this war would last for more than just one winter.

The war continued for more than two thousand days and nights, until he died on the battlefield.

Chapter 13: It's all for a bite to eat

Just like his father, the successor held his child's hand before he died.

But the Firebringer could no longer hold that young hand tightly, because he was missing three fingers—they had been cut off by the giant priest with an ice blade while he was casting a spell.

Yes, during the long war, the giants of the northern ice plains have also learned to use the power of the gods.

Using the power of another god.

"Therefore, we must offer more sacrifices to the serpent god... Now, perhaps only the serpent god can end all of this."

The fading-conscious successor gripped the young man's hand tightly, leaving his final instructions to his successor.

“I’ve told you everything about your grandfather, that Radiant One… Your grandfather said not to overthink it or let his imagination run wild, so let me add one more thing.”

Scenes from the past flashed before his eyes, causing the Fire Heir to subconsciously clench his teeth.

"Don't be too clever for your own good. If you can get by now, it's always better to maintain the status quo than to take risks."

This can be considered a summary of the Firebringer's life experience, and also the Firebringer's biggest regret - if he hadn't thought himself the strongest mage and charged into battle at the forefront, attempting to end this long war by himself, he wouldn't have been surrounded and killed by the giants, and wouldn't have been the first to fall.

After their leader fell, the mages and hunters, who had initially held a significant advantage, immediately fell into panic, followed by a one-sided massacre.

The mages burned their lives to unleash fireballs, barely managing to open a path for retreat. One hunter after another faced the giants' sharp bone knives in order to allow their heavily wounded leader to escape... But even at such a great cost, the rescued Firebringer was already critically injured and on the verge of death.

Even the best witch doctors said they were powerless to save him.

"So you must be steady...you must be steady! Don't be like me!"

"Also, remember to offer sacrifices to the serpent god until the serpent god responds to us..."

Looking back on those years, those countless unanswered sacrifices, the Firebringer couldn't close his eyes until his last breath.

He didn't know where he had gone wrong, or why he had never received a response from the serpent god.

He doesn't understand.

I'm not willing to give up.

"Father!!!"

Seeing the successor pass away, his son, the twenty-first generation leader, the Burner, threw himself upon the body and wept bitterly.

The Burner, as the name suggests, is a leader of the twenty-first generation with a fiery temper. After a brief period of grief, this burly young man was already burning with rage and ready to fight the giants who had killed his father.

But that mutilated hand, even though it had lost the support of life, still gripped him firmly.

This also made the burner take a deep breath.

To respect his father's last wishes, he had to suppress the urge to charge forward. Just as his father had said, he had to be calm and composed. In truth, amidst his anger, he knew that charging forward now would be tantamount to suicide.

So, after calming down, the Burner arranged for the mages and soldiers—who were formerly the hunters—to switch to a defensive posture, and their success would be if the giants didn't break through.

He himself, carrying the body of the Firebringer and some of his guards, returned to the city of Ignis.

He returned for two main reasons: to bury his father, the previous leader, and to travel to the Holy Mountain as the twenty-first leader to meet the serpent god.

Like his father, the Burner also brought a large number of offerings into the mountains.

Similarly, like his father, the Burner of Fate also failed to receive a response from the Serpent God.

However, the Burning Life was already quite adept at dealing with the sacrificial offerings. After only half a day, realizing that the Serpent God wouldn't come, the Burning Life began to cook all the raw meat. Although many of these offerings were hunted by hunters, as long as they were all cooked, no one could tell where the meat came from.

But these offerings alone were still not enough to address the food shortage in Ignis.

"Ultimately, it's because there are more people in the tribe..."

The one who burned his life sighed.

To ease his father's burden, he had carefully considered the matter, after all, his father had exhausted himself trying to find food for his people. But after careful consideration, he realized that even if he summoned his grandfather, the nineteenth Holy King, back, he probably wouldn't be able to handle it.

This is because when his grandfather was called the Holy King, there weren't that many people in the city.

In fact, there was no such thing as a city back then. Ignis City was just a small village with a hundred or so people, not even a thousand. The surrounding area was enough to support them all. But his grandfather, under the guidance of the Snake God, did an excellent job. He not only developed various new ways of processing ingredients, but also greatly improved the skills of the tribe's witch doctors, which greatly reduced the number of deaths among the tribe.

This directly led to the fact that, in the past few decades, the tribe has grown from a small village with fewer than a thousand people to a huge city with nearly ten thousand people.

As for why there were no problems in his grandfather's generation, it was because the newborns were still small and couldn't eat much. However, when his grandfather passed away and his father took over, there was a large number of newborns growing up. As a result, the food that seemed plentiful suddenly became scarce.

"Even if the snake god really appears and the harvest festival is held smoothly, this problem will probably not be easy to fill."

Thinking about this, the Burner's headache worsened. It was because he saw the problem clearly that he realized that the difficulty in solving this matter was not something that could be resolved by fighting a few battles or seizing some food.

"And now, this problem has fallen on my shoulders."

Taking a deep breath, the one who burned his life smiled bitterly.

He was probably the most incompetent leader of all time.

After all, he really couldn't think of a solution to this problem.

As winter days passed, the stored food eventually ran out, the wild beasts hid deep in the mountains, and the hunters' hunting efficiency became increasingly low. As time slipped away, the Burning Life felt as if a rope was being tightened around his neck.

"Are you going to finish eating soon?"

The Burner of Life had gradually become numb. Although he desperately wanted to resolve this matter, even at the cost of his life, it was not something that could be accomplished simply by being willing to risk his life.

The one who ignited the destiny was prepared to bear the wrath of the masses, and even prepared to step down and give way to a more capable person.

But to the surprise of the survivors, there was no food shortage.

Even as spring arrived and the cold winds turned into warm ones, the Burning Life was still somewhat dazed. The food problem that had plagued Ignis City for several years seemed to have been solved on its own without him even realizing it.

"Why? Is it because everyone is starting to eat less?"

The one who burned his life was somewhat puzzled.

But soon, he found the key to the problem.

It's not that the tribespeople are eating less.

But far too many people died in the war.

His father, the one who inherited the fire, suffered a rare and crushing defeat, even causing many of his people to die at the hands of the giants. However, the deaths of those people actually reduced the food consumption of Ignis City.

"This……"

The one who burned life suddenly felt as if he had discovered something extraordinary.

“Father is right…”

"We really need to maintain stability and preserve the status quo."

Chapter 14 Life Will Find Its Own Way

Time flies, and the sun and moon pass by.

People on the ground died one generation after another, and the leaders in the city changed generation after generation. The great city itself expanded again and again until it became a behemoth that truly occupied the entire plain.

Only war, war has never stopped.

This is an ancestral instruction left by the twenty-first leader, the Burner of Life: the giants of the north are our mortal enemies, and we must fight them relentlessly so that the people of Ignis City can continue to thrive safely.

Of course, throughout this long period of time, they have continued to worship the snake god, although the snake god has never given them any response—the harvest festival that once brought people a bountiful harvest seems to have become just a memory.

After the people who experienced the harvest festival passed away, no one remembered the grandeur of the past. What was originally a festival that truly brought a bountiful harvest gradually turned into a ritual for praying for a good harvest.

As leaders came and went, the ceremony gradually grew in scale and grandeur.

But the Serpent God never appeared, no matter how many generations of leaders came and went.

Over time, people even came to believe that the snake god existed only in ancient legends and might not have actually existed at all.

They even began to sneak into the former sacred mountain, into this forbidden land of the royal family, simply because the resources here were too abundant, and hunting a little bit of food was enough to support their families.

After all, as the city expanded, the hunting grounds around it became increasingly scarce. The wild beasts instinctively stayed away from the city and from the dangerous Ignis people, which made the Ignis people's hunting efficiency increasingly low.

Those who can use magic, especially those from the Ignivas family—now the royal family—are better off. They can control the power of fire, which allows them to venture into more dangerous areas, or even go to the battlefields of the northern tundra to plunder giants.

However, those ordinary Ignis who were not born into the Ignis family were a completely different story. Unable to use the power of the Flame Calendar, they could only use those old weapons, bone spears and daggers, to hunt for food like their ancestors hundreds of years ago.