A world where the civilization of intelligent beings was completely burned by monsters.
There was a snake that had existed since time immemorial.
A giant snake whose head would reach the end of the sky if it stood up.
Of course, it wasn't that strong from the beginning.
The snake, which was once small and weak, gained intelligence due to an incident that it cannot remember. He learned that he had to avoid stronger monsters, and he also learned how to trap and defeat monsters stronger than himself.
The small, young snake grew up eating monsters weaker than itself, avoiding the strong.
Sometimes, by surprise, they succeeded in preying on monsters stronger than themselves.
The more they ate and grew, the stronger the snake became.
only survive.
The snake thought that the longer it lived, the stronger it would eventually become.
It's been such a long time.
Snakes have become the apex predators.
It became a monster that survived longer than anyone else, and because of that, it became bigger and stronger than anyone else.
In an abandoned world where all sentient beings died or fled and only monsters remained, the snake reigned as the king of monsters. He became the king of the world and decided which monsters to rule and which to prey on.
For a very long time.
Monsters that could obey the king survived under the domination, and monsters that couldn't obey the king became prey.
After such a reign lasted for a long time, the abandoned world was left with only monsters who obeyed the king.
It was the king's ideal.
While the king's power was at its peak, that ideal reign continued.
The king knew that this ideal world he had created would continue to be maintained.
but······.
From one day, the king's activities decreased.
The king, who always feared monsters by showing off his power, gradually reduced such activities. He set up his dwelling in an empty place and did not allow anyone to approach him.
They were monsters who were sensitive to the law of the jungle.
He didn't have the king's intellect, but he was very keen on power.
The monsters realized that the king was weaker than before. It's also that you don't want to find out that you're getting weaker.
Then, a change occurred in the world that the king had formed through his long reign.
Once again, the monsters who disobeyed the king were born.
The king was shocked.
The king has been working hard to rule the world.
He killed the ferocious monsters who disobeyed, and saved only those who knew how to obey. Because they continued to weed out the impure elements, they thought that only monsters who had been taught to obey since birth were left.
However, to the disgrace of such efforts, the monsters became rebellious again like before the reign.
The monsters who have lost their obedience and regained their instincts.
The king was furious.
Rising, the king once again demonstrated his strength and fear.
The king's fear has returned to the world.
But the king realized.
All of his efforts to make the world a utopia were in vain.
'After all, it was because of my strength. Was it an order that would collapse if my power weakened?'
In fact, the king knew the concept of senility from an early age when he had intelligence. He knew that even the strongest of monsters grew old with the passage of time. So he sometimes waited for him to grow old before killing a mighty opponent.
Of course, he knew that someday he would.
So he wanted to create a world where his rule would continue forever even if he grew old.
But that dream was completely shattered.
No matter how much submission was planted, the fighting instinct of the monsters did not disappear.
And the king was starting to age.
'It can't go on like this.'
The king was concerned about his frailty.
But even after he had grown old, he still wanted to reign as king.
It was a natural proposition.
He never intended to let go of the absolute power that created the order of the world and arbitrarily decided whether to survive or become prey.
There was no concept of letting go of power.
It was natural for the king to rule everything in the world, and he wanted the monsters to gain intelligence and realize that reason.
After thinking about it, a good idea came to the king.
'It's a child.'
The king tried breeding, which had been delayed.
He was a king who did not breed as he did because he did not have a special female like himself.
But now my thoughts have changed.
They wanted to give birth to children who would uphold the rule of the king.
Faced with senility, the monster came up with the idea of raising children for its old age. It was the result of mobilizing all of his intellect to protect his power.
Of course, it was only a means to maintain one's own rule rather than to succeed the heir.
The king chose a special female monster to bear his offspring. And he gave birth to thousands of children over a long period of time.
The king wanted a child with the same intellect as himself.
To know how to submit to the king's rule.
That was the king's intellect. Just as he realized that he was the ruler of the world, he considered it wisdom to yield to his rule.
The king, who was a small, young snake.
The snake, which once had only the desire for survival, gained intellect and realized the subject of 'I'.
A monster that has gained an ego has an infinitely egotistical point of view.
Perhaps it was because no monster had a self except the king himself.
The only monster with a self in a world where civilization has disappeared. Perhaps he was destined to become a king and the personification of power.
However, his intention to maintain his reign as king forever even after his old age failed.
Thousands of children, born and raised by breeding, did not have the 'intelligence' that the king wanted.
- Why!
The king was furious.
The children resembled the king and were strong.
And he has cunning and judgment. She knew how to submit to her strong father, but her greedy eyes glinted as she pretended to be submissive.
Because it was just like his own childhood, the king immediately grasped the minds of his children.
The children were all overtaking their father's position.
However, the children were not as intelligent as their father. It has a cunning mind, but the level of intelligence that embodies it is no different from other monsters. It was like the malice of a child whose innermost being was clearly visible.
-Why don't you know how to obey the king, fools!
The king killed all his children.
Although they did not resemble each other in intelligence, the children who inherited great strength and cunning could not be spared. Far from helping the decrepit King's rule, they were the ones who would take the lead and challenge them.
and······.
There was a mother monster watching in horror as thousands of her children were killed.
The mother monster ran away with an egg she hadn't laid yet. It was fortunate that the king was unaware of the existence of that one egg.
***
The king didn't care about the mother monster who had run away.
This world had only kings, monsters who obeyed kings, and monsters that would one day fall prey.
There was nowhere in the world to escape from the king's eyes.
And the mother monster, weakened by breeding, would not be able to survive without being fed by the king.
There was no more business for the mother monster who gave birth to useless children.
The plan to have children failed.
The king struggled to find another way.
Then I suddenly thought of the past.
'How could that little creature be so strong?'
long ago.
when the king was most powerful.
In his youthful and mighty heyday, there was a terrifying intelligence that defeated him.
It was a time when he hadn't realized that he was a king yet. It was a time when people were just satisfied with being at the top of the food chain, but their strength was the strongest.
By chance, a door to another world outside the world opened.
The king was shocked.
It was the first time I realized that the world I knew was not all there was to it.
The king was excited.
I led other monsters through the door and entered a new world.
If there was another world besides this world, he had to prove that he was the strongest living being there as well. You had to kill enemies and get more food.
Although the creatures that opened the door were small, they exerted great power by utilizing the aura in various ways.
The king realized that there were many different ways to use the aura from them.
And that those little creatures are very tasty and aura-rich prey.
Delighted in learning new unknowns, the king invaded the new world and wandered frantically, observing and learning the behavior of tiny creatures.
The more he learned, the stronger the king became and reached his prime.
However, at that time, even in the new world, a creature thought to be standing at the top of the food chain appeared.
It was a strange guy who used not only parts of his body and aura, but also two long, hard tools when fighting.
However, the king had to feel death through a desperate struggle with the creature.
why are you so strong
How could there be another creature stronger than me?
I'm no longer a little baby snake!
The fearsome creature led the rest of his people to slaughter kings and monsters.
The king was again amazed at their organized and orderly movements.
It was not threatened with a stronger force. It was not a group action by coveting new food.
They were acting together as something other than desire.
A king who ran away madly and returned to his original world.
Fortunately, even the small creatures couldn't chase it this far.
It was a fight that suffered tremendous damage, but then I realized something very valuable.
Those little creatures were united in obedience to the king.
That the terrifying little creature was the king who had made the rest of his people obey and follow them in an orderly way.
That he, too, should become a king like him.
Only then did the giant young snake become 'king'. It was then that he became obsessed with subduing and ruling other monsters.
Now, many years have passed since then.
The king still had unanswered questions.
'How could the little king of them be so strong?'
flesh?
His body was weak.
Strange two elongated tools?
It was just a means to use instead of a weak body.
to come?
It certainly showed the most powerful and colorful aura usage among the small creatures.
But that wasn't all.
there was something else
The king wondered what it was for a long time.
And it was not until a long time later that I came to know the concept of a soul.
The king researched all kinds of ways to deal with spirits. He was to stop aging and gain eternal life.
There was still plenty of time.
The king had grown old over the years, but there was still no threat to the king in this world.
After studying the soul, the king reached the spirit realm.
I saw many heroic spirits there, and among them I saw an old one who was once thought to be more powerful than he was. He could also know that there was a great heroic spirit deep inside.
The king was discouraged.
It's because I realized that in the end, we all grow old and die.
but.
'There must be a way to extend my great reign longer.'
Knowing that nothing lasts forever did not make the king humble.
'Somewhere there must be new knowledge that I do not know. Just like how I came here after learning a lot in the new world!'
The goal had changed, but the king was still greedy.
All the while, unaware that somewhere in the world he rules, his archenemy has been born.