The air inside the inn room trembled violently. A blinding light burst out from Crowne's Dimensional Prison Ring. A low, heavy, and long hiss echoed from within the ring.
The wooden floor cracked, the walls shook, and the window glass shattered into pieces. From within the vortex of light, a massive, scaled body began to emerge.
"SSSsshhhhhh…"
A gigantic serpent appeared in the middle of the room. Her head bowed down, her enormous body filling the chamber. The place was far too small for her size.
"You're insane, Master Crowne! Summoning me in such a cramped place," the massive serpent complained.
"I didn't expect you to be this big."
The soldiers froze instantly. Some dropped their weapons, while the leader of the special squad gritted his teeth, struggling to suppress his fear.
"No… impossible… isn't that the World Serpent from the old tales? Why is she here?" he muttered, his eyes widening.
Not only the soldiers and the squad leader were shocked, but Ronan too. He even fell to the ground from sheer shock.
"Isn't that… a magical beast of mythical rank? How could she appear here?" Ronan turned to Crowne. A smile was on his master's face.
"Impossible."
Crowne grabbed Ronan's collar. "Don't you dare fall!" he said.
Ronan was confused by those words. Just as he was about to ask, something suddenly pushed his body upward at incredible speed.
Instinctively, he clung to Crowne's leg. A few seconds later, the push stopped, and when Ronan looked down, he swallowed hard.
They were floating in the air—higher than the rooftops of Whitelord city.
"What the…"
"Stand up!" Crowne ordered.
Ronan stood, following Crowne as they walked along the serpent's body. The more detail he saw, the faster his heart pounded. Fear wrapped around him tightly.
"What kind of creature is this? She…" Ronan swallowed again. "…is enormous."
Ronan could barely breathe. His body trembled violently as he witnessed the eastern district of Whitelord vanish in mere minutes. Jörmungandr had just slammed her body onto the ground, and half the city collapsed.
"This makes no sense…" he whispered.
Ronan turned to Crowne, who sat calmly as if nothing had happened. "Master, isn't this… excessive?"
Crowne said nothing. His sharp gaze was filled with hatred and fury.
**
Meanwhile, in the distance, the city bells rang repeatedly. An alarm echoed throughout Whitelord.
The royal soldiers, the special forces, and even the nobles hiding in the Valden estate rushed out with pale faces. They looked up at the sky—and what they saw froze their blood.
A serpent whose body stretched across the horizon. Her scales gleamed like steel. Her head towered higher than Whitelord's tallest spire.
"No… this… this is a creature from ancient legend!" one noble collapsed, his voice trembling. "Why… why is she here?!"
"Summon all the Grand Mages! Hurry! If not, the entire city will be annihilated!" shouted one of the special squad captains.
But even the Archmages who arrived looked hesitant. Their faces were filled with despair as they stared at the monstrous being.
Jörmungandr slowly moved toward the Valden estate. When she got close, she opened her mouth again. From deep within her throat, a thick green light began to gather—larger, denser. The air shook, the earth split wider.
"Run, quickly!" the Grand Mages screamed.
The nobles immediately turned and bolted as fast as they could, while the mages of Whitelord gathered to block Jörmungandr's deadly breath.
They poured every ounce of their power into resisting the poisonous miasma she unleashed.
But it was far from easy. Some perished instantly from the venom, others collapsed from mana exhaustion.
In the end, every Grand Mage was drained to the brink just to withstand a single poisonous breath from Jörmungandr.
**
Ronan clung tightly to the scales beneath his feet, his eyes nearly popping out. "Crowne! If she releases that again, not just the city… this entire region could vanish from the map!"
Crowne, however, stared at the massive energy breath with a thin smile. "Good. Let them finally understand what it means to be powerless. Isn't that how they've looked down on me for the past seventeen years?"
"But there are many innocent—"
BWOOOOOOOOOM!
Jörmungandr spewed another poisonous breath. But just before it struck the Valden estate, a massive magical barrier stopped the attack.
Jörmungandr narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Do you want me to crush it?"
"No need."
Jörmungandr nodded slightly. Her gaze shifted to a figure standing atop the Valden estate roof.
That figure was no ordinary man. He was a Supreme Magus, head of the Everon Kingdom's Magic Academy—one of the strongest mages in the world.
Yet Crowne, standing atop Jörmungandr's head, looked at the man and smiled.
"Ah… finally, our important guest has arrived."
The Supreme Magus slammed his staff into the ground. At once, a meteor appeared in the sky.
His eyes were sharp and unwavering. "Your opponent… is me!"
Jörmungandr grew serious upon hearing that. In the next second, the ground rose upward and smashed into the descending meteor.
Not only that—Jörmungandr unleashed her poisonous breath. The thick green fluid shoved the meteor back upward.
The two forces collided violently until the meteor was reduced to a massive ball of earth. It plummeted, slamming into the barrier the Supreme Magus had created.
"Just as I thought," the Supreme Magus muttered.
He raised his staff and chanted another spell. At the same time, a colossal storm surged into existence. Thousands of earthen spears materialized in the air, all aimed at Jörmungandr.
Before Jörmungandr could act, Crowne patted her head gently.
"All right."
Jörmungandr whipped her tail, slamming into the magical barrier. One strike shattered it instantly. Though, a new one was conjured again a second later.
"Farewell, old man. We shall meet again," said Jörmungandr.
Just as she prepared her next attack—Jörmungandr vanished. Completely gone, leaving no trace within ten kilometers.
The Supreme Magus canceled his spell. He collapsed, barely managing to kneel. His breathing was ragged, and blood spilled from his mouth moments later.
"Damn it… I nearly died to that creature." The Supreme Magus wiped the blood from his lips. He stood once more. "What on earth happened? Why was a creature like Jörmungandr in Whitelord?"
He could not understand.
**
Name: Jörmungandr
Type: World Serpent (Mythical Beast)
Rank: Mythical (SSS)
Level: ???
Elements: Poison, Darkness, Earth
Jörmungandr is an overwhelmingly powerful Magical Beast. In her true form, her size is far greater—her body could encircle an entire world.
A being impossible to defeat, unless faced by another Mythical Beast of equal rank.