Chapter 525: Tailing

Three days after the battle in the Astral Plane ended, Philip I arrived before a magic tower located in the Astral Plane.

The twenty-story mage tower, in the boundless void shimmering with stars, supported an almost complete world. The radiance of its magic could almost vie with some of the dimmer stars around it.

As Philip I approached, magical energy arrays manifested one after another, completing powerful magical formulas. At the same time, two enormous mechanical constructs appeared before Philip I.

However, a beam of spiritual light soon shot out from within the magic tower, shining upon Philip I.

This seemed to be a spell of identification. After the spiritual light had swept back and forth for a while, laughter rang out beside Philip I: "Can't hold your nerve, Philip?"

"You could say that. Now I must witness the reason you're making us abandon the Medici family."

Philip responded very frankly: "That child of Consigli's gave me a huge surprise. It turns out that the bloodline from the East is not entirely without merit."

"Lucky Andrea. He should be one of the most gifted individuals in the past hundred years. It's a pity that neither you nor I noticed this before. The growth of this little one makes me feel uneasy."

After a sigh, the man manifested a luminous door before Philip I: "Come in, Philip. I'm sorry, I was in the middle of an important experiment just now."

Philip I stepped through without any hesitation, and then he found himself inside a modern laboratory.

Beside him stood an elderly man in a magic robe and gold-rimmed glasses, who looked down at their feet with an air of conceit.

Philip I had already sensed an immensely powerful aura; he furrowed his brow slightly and also looked downward.

Then he saw a giant serpent, fully fifty meters in diameter and covered in black scales, winding its way below them. Its head and tail were invisible from front to back, because beside them was a huge cylinder. The serpent's head and tail must have been on the other side.

"So this is what you've been preparing?"

Philip I looked thoughtfully at the serpent: "A descendant of Jörmungandr?"

Jörmungandr is the 'Midgard Serpent,' a famous mythological creature. Legend has it that it was the second of three children born to Loki, the god of destruction and disaster, and the giantess Angrboða.

It is said that its body encircles the entire world, with its mouth biting its tail, head and tail joined, symbolizing eternity.

At the same time, it also represents doom. Norse mythology holds that during Ragnarok, Jörmungandr will stir up terrible waves, fight with Thor, the god of thunder, and ultimately perish together with him in the war of doom!

In fact, Jörmungandr did awaken during the great war of the gods' fall thousands of years ago, fighting Thor for ten days and nights, causing great catastrophe in the north of the Old Continent.

However, in the past thousand years, many mages have proven through research that the divine war which led to the fall of multiple pantheons in the Old Continent was not the prophesied Ragnarok.

"It is also the 'Ouroboros' (tail-eating serpent) in Mesopotamian and Greek mythology. Some even believe it might be the 'Zhulong' from Eastern mythology. He is not Loki's child, and Jörmungandr is merely the name given by ignorant Norsemen."

The bespectacled mage said with a smile: "One of the earliest mages, Plato, and his disciple once had the fortune to see it. He described it thus—this creature has no eyes, because there is nothing outside it that needs to be seen; it has no ears, because there is nothing outside that needs to be heard; there is no breath outside, so it does not need to breathe; it has no organs, because there is nothing around it that could be drawn in or excreted, so no digestion is needed. When it was born, its excrement was its food, and its actions and their effects originate from it and are received by it."

"—Furthermore, half of it is light, half is dark, like the Eastern Taiji symbol. This is a primordial cosmic creature in a state of self-devouring. It is immortal and possesses a perfect biological structure."

"And then?"

Philip I looked down: "I know the power of the World Serpent; its strength can surpass that of the chief gods. Even Thor, a quasi-god-king, could only match it. This serpent should also be strong, but do you intend to control it in battle?"

But the mage said with a smile: "Philip, try attacking it, with all your might!"

Philip I acted without hesitation. In an instant, countless star forces converged, forming a massive spear of starlight that struck the serpent's body.

Yet his almost full-force attack failed to provoke any reaction. The starlight spear, after piercing the serpent's body, was gradually devoured and absorbed.

Philip I was not surprised; such was the ability of the World Serpent—ordinary means could hardly harm it.

"I know what you're thinking. We can't control it, can't even awaken its consciousness. But if—"

A glint of sharpness flashed in the mage's eyes: "What if we refine it into a magical artifact? It would be a unique mythical equipment, allowing us to remain invincible."

"Can you do it?"

Philip I saw certainty in the mage's eyes, and his tense expression relaxed: "How long will it take?"

"Three to five months. You may have to wait a while."

The bespectacled mage shrugged as he spoke: "But Philip, you can't rely entirely on me. By now, you should abandon the delusion of becoming an ancient god, shouldn't you? A law god or a faith god—I know you've been preparing for centuries. If your preparation is insufficient, I can offer some help."

But Philip I frowned again, his expression displeased.

"Philip, I know you're unwilling. But if we lose this time, everything you have will be taken by Consulius and his grandson. We must survive first, mustn't we? Besides, a law god is not without the chance to become an ancient god; you just need to choose a suitable law—"

"Enough! I will consider—"

Philip I cut off the mage's speech with a cold snort: "Now, let's talk about another matter, Lord Edmund. Howard says we can't let this slide; we must counterattack and not allow them to expand their power unchecked. I think so too."

"Counterattack?"

The bespectacled mage focused his gaze: "Any ideas, Philip? The power that child has shown so far is already astonishing. His suppression of all undead makes your vampire allies and those liches tremble."

"We can start with his allies."

Philip I said expressionlessly: "Fortunately, a certain gentleman is also surrounded by enemies on all sides."