bookpower Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 8 Jörmungandr’s Simple Amusement
Hero.
One day, the human realm opened to the demon realm, and with it, humans were born. To be precise, they were beings who received the stigmata of the goddess.
They weren’t exclusive to just the human race.
Elves, dwarves, beastmen.
Among the many races, only a very few received the stigmata of the goddess and became heroes.
They had various characteristics, but the most important one was their potential to surpass the limits of their species.
To be exact, all the limits of their species were shattered.
Even with training, there were limits.
No matter how much a human tried, they couldn’t live without breathing.
But a hero could.
Of course, it wasn’t an easy feat.
But if they endured trials that constantly tried to break them, they would become stronger, like steel becoming tougher under the blacksmith’s hammer.
Aside from that, the stigmata bestowed by the goddess had unique traits.
These traits were determined by the person’s nature and could be seen as characteristics that represented the hero.
In that sense.
The Hero of Nobility,
Asgard, was very satisfied with his title.
Nobility.
Didn’t it sound like a hero from legends who nobly saved everyone?
For Asgard, who had dreamed of becoming a hero and protecting everyone since childhood, the title of Hero of Nobility was like a dream come true.
So he worked hard every moment.
He infiltrated a village swallowed by beasts, saved everyone within a month, and killed the beasts. He purified land contaminated by monsters and reclaimed lost territory.
Everyone praised him.
However, he couldn’t become the strongest.
There were too many excellent ancient heroes, and unlike those heroes, he didn’t form a party.
The reason he didn’t form a party was simple.
He didn’t want to lose precious people anymore.
So he always traveled alone.
People sometimes called him the Hero of Solitude, but he didn’t care much.
In fact, it was good.
The title of solitude became a wall that kept people from approaching him.
He rejected all offers.
Some kingdoms even offered their daughters to have him stay, but he refused.
He was afraid of having someone precious.
He couldn’t deny being called a coward.
He was trapped by past traumas and constantly tormented by the compulsion to save someone.
That’s why.
He rejected all offers of support.
Being affiliated with somewhere meant he couldn’t save people in places his feet couldn’t reach.
He was a wandering adventurer.
Thus, he traveled the world, saving those in distress.
He didn’t need rewards.
The sight of people smiling gratefully after receiving help and villages regaining their vitality was enough.
With that warmth, he could raise his sword again.
After wandering the world for several years, this time, his steps brought him to one of the mountains in the Demonic Realm, where monsters endlessly appeared.
A mountain strangely devoid of monsters.
So Asgard found it suspicious. In a mountain where monsters constantly thrived, the only place with few monsters? It meant a powerful beast was born there.
So he climbed the mountain.
And when he discovered an unusually suspicious cave, his instincts screamed loudly.
Telling him not to go in there.
That he would surely die if he went in.
It felt like all his nerves were standing on end. Thus, he tried to turn back. There was no one he needed to save in such a mountain, and he wasn’t a foolish human who gambled with his life.
“Wow! This fruit...”
Jörmungandr blankly stared at the spot where the hero disappeared.
He didn’t fully understand the situation, but he roughly guessed it.
He was probably a hero.
And he must have jumped into the jaws of death to save a woman with a giant serpent.
I highly praise his bravery.
Although he mistook it for a dragon, he still dared to challenge it.
Honestly, it didn’t bother him much.
He could see the essence of living beings.
The essence of the hero he saw was very noble and strong.
At least, he wouldn’t hurt her.
However...
[Unpleasant.]
He was sick of these misunderstandings.
He didn’t feel anger towards the hero, but it was somewhat annoying.
He suddenly appeared in front of me, waving a toothpick, and ruined my precious abode.
And to be honest.
He thought this situation was turning a bit interesting.
He hadn’t encountered a human who directly challenged him like this in thousands of years, except for one.
Should I tease him a little?
He decided to join in the hero’s amusing play.
This kind of amusement was something he desired.
He wasn’t the type to waver with various emotions. The proof was that the unpleasantness quickly sublimated. The void left by the sublimation was filled with pure joy of interacting with a human after a long time.
Jörmungandr, uncharacteristically, curled his lips.
He flicked his tongue.
And then he slowly began to move his massive body.
His body moved smoothly.
Each time, his size began to grow larger.
But he didn’t grow too big.
If he did, the mountain would completely collapse.
Hmm, alright.
About ten times his current size.
Feeling his expanded view, Jörmungandr watched the hero desperately running away.
Maybe he sensed the gaze.
As the hero turned his head and looked up at him blankly, Jörmungandr opened his mouth.
* * *
“Let go of me!”
“Calm down! We haven’t escaped the dragon yet!”
The hero held the woman’s hand and hurried his steps.
Yes.
Dragons were masters of magic.
So they could cast simple mind-control spells at will.
Then he understood the woman’s resistance.
A human under the dragon’s mind control couldn’t think for themselves until the spell was broken.
That was the same for the dragon he encountered before.
He remembered the dragon casting a spell on his... childhood friend to lure him and bit his lip.
It was when they were running away.
He thought the sun was covered by clouds.
It was because the bright surroundings suddenly turned dark.
But it wasn’t.
It wasn’t just that the sun was covered; only a radius of 1 km around him was cast in shadow.
He sensed something was wrong and looked up.
And what he saw.
“...Ah.”
Filling the sky.
A giant dragon looking down at him as if he was insignificant.