Life Hunter 170 ''The World Serpent''

Arima and Jorga both looked at her silently "Your friend is a bit scary" The latter commented and Arima shrugged.

"It's not like she's wrong. If we want to stop that, shouldn't we kill it while he's still weak? I'm not sure I want to fight a 'transcendental'" Arima said and Jorga mused.

"In fact, 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 declared. Arima frowned and Oulan paled "If we kill him now, the planet may lose its attraction force, gravity, atmosphere and everything else. It will basically become a rock in s.p.a.ce"

"But in that case, even if we don't kill him, once he's awake the result will be the same if leaves the center" 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 complicated" 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 suddenly talked with her puffed cheeks. She had her mouth full of sweets.

Everyone looked at her in both surprise and contemplation "{Well, it's technically possible if we're willing to destroy another planet… we need to find a planet we can destroy then, a deserted one would be perfect. But the core of that planet needs to also be big and pure enough for Fantasia}"

Night spoke up in everyone's mind, jolting Oulan's mind without any warning. Arima pondered for a second "I can do that. I just have to find one" He said and stood up.

His shadow covered the mountain top again as he deployed his wings "How long before this guy wakes up?"

"From what I can predict, around two days" Jorga answered and Arima nodded.

"That's good enough, 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 go with Deva. 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" Arima complained and teleported in the sky.

"[Fulgur Anguis] (Lightning snake)" Arima one more time 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.

The latter sat down and looked at Jorga "What is it?"

"I was just curious about something… you remember me of how I was some time ago" Layla said.

"I make you remember yourself? What are you talking about?" Jorga furrowed.

"I also didn't have my full inheritance before" Layla responded and Jorga's eyes narrowed "It was Arima who made Chronepsis come out two times…I feel like it's the same thing with you"

Jorga looked at her clear eyes and wavered. In the first place, it wasn't obvious with their appearance but their respective strengths were worlds apart and now Layla had basically received all of Chronepsis's knowledge and experience.

"…Those eyes are certainly worthy of Chronepsis's legacy" Jorga smirked "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 are inheritances exactly?" Jorga laughed and asked. A frown appeared on Layla's enchanting face and Jorga smiled.

"Inheritances are quite simple. Before I say anything else, I need you to know that individuals like that, appearing across the world, are not really chosen-people. To be exact, they are suited to receive the inheritance" Jorga explained.

"For example, now that you received your own inheritor'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 said it to me"

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

"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 said and Layla hugged herself while sending a glare to 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 chose you then. Your body and soul were perfect for him at that time. Legatees don't choose inheritors because they want to help or anything, but simply because they want their name and power to remain in this world. And for that, the more the inheritor is adapted, the better his power will get transmitted"

"All G.o.ds 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. That's different for most inheritors" Jorga sighed and Layla tilted his head.

"Take me for example. The reason why I refused Jörmungandr's full guidance was because it required me to do something" Jorga lamented.

"What was it?" Layla was too curious.

"I am too suited for this inheritance" Jorga said "My race, body, name, affinity, mentality…even my t.i.tle as the guardian of the elven forest. That's exactly why Jörmungandr chose me"

"Jörmungandr is too strong and special. He didn't want me any bad… but the condition he gave me to receive the inheritance was to become the World Serpent itself" Jorga said and not only Layla, but even Oulan and Karma also raised their voices.

Becoming the World Serpent was no joke. In fact, in the legends, Jörmungandr is an even bigger watcher than Chronepsis. But no one actually knows who was Jörmungandr while he was alive and what kind of existence he was. Just because they never met him.

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

n.o.body knew. Some people came up with something, it's that they couldn't find Jörmungandr because he was too big to even be found.

"If you're wondering," Jorga spoke up "I'm sure of it since I have him inside me. The World Serpent is not bigger than the world itself but he is beyond that at the same time. He's basically everywhere. There's not a single thing in this life that can escape his eyes" He affirmed.

"It's as simple as that. Jörmungandr is definitely a G.o.d with a big 'G'. He could even be at the level of the Original G.o.d. But his field is just 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 t.i.tle. 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 'rule' and transforming his own self 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. As long as I don't accept, I should be fine" When Jorga said that, Layla's eyes changed by themselves and her expression suffered a terrifying change for a single second.

Layla hastily closed her eyes hoping no one saw her. Jorga, unfortunately, noticed it but ignored it after he himself 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 pa.s.s by tens of planets every minute "{…What do you think about that?}"

"{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 pa.s.sed by and mused.

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

"{I think so}" Night agreed and the black and silver dragon rushed to the planet. It was not really deserted. It seemed to have some verdure on it. At a reasonable level. The planet's surface seemed to be made 40% of water, 30% of uncultivable soil and the rest was just normal verdure. 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 signs 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 s.n.a.t.c.h the core?}" Night inquired.

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

"{You look very evil right now, you know that?}" Night remarked and Arima laughed.

"{You're not wrong considering what I'm about to do}" The dragon flapped his wings and disappeared to crash in the middle of a village not far.