Chapter 280 - Does Size Really Matter?

I fell on water and saw the fiery hell I'd created. The fire was so hot, I could feel it even from underwater. 

I should have taken this a bit more seriously. 

I should have known there were people here who'd risk their lives for me. 

And yet- like the moron I was, I just let myself be eaten and thought I could get away with a blast like that. 

Damn!

The water was cold and it kind of wanted to drag me deep. 

It took a moment but Sig too fell in the water along with the snake's body and his body was going down fast. I tried to swim, but I wasn't fast enough. 

Instead, some lizard men went for him. 

Meanwhile, I went up and breathed. One of the lizard men helped me too.

EXHALE!

INHALE!

I was so out of breath!

The lizard men brought Sig out of the water. I'd formed another barrier as footing. I was holding on to the barrier like a raft while they got Sig on it and lied him there. 

They started doing CPR on him. 

I had no idea how much medical stuff they knew but they sure knew stuff. 

But Sig wasn't waking up. And his body was letting off steam. IN fact, this whole area was full of steam. The snake's fire had mostly died. 

I didn't know this guy; I didn't know him enough. He didn't know me.

And yet, he risked his life for me.

I looked away. 

I couldn't-

'I'm so fucking naïve.' 

What if he died? What then?

I grit my teeth and felt my soul being torn. 

Cough!

Sig threw up water and woke up like a champ. He again flashed a smile at me and passed out. 

'Oh, you moron.' But I couldn't help but chuckle. I sighed in relief and got on top of the barrier with Remia's help. 

I was really, really relieved. 

Blood was everywhere- the snake's blood. A metallic scent lingered in the air along with the sea smell: the smell of burnt snake and its insides were also something. Even with the wind, it was hard to breathe. 

"I asked him to stay far because I thought he'd get hurt," I spoke out loud. "It's my fault."

"But-" Remia paused. "He did what he did with his free will. I hope you won't disregard that."

The lizard men here also shared the same thought, their gaze suggested as much. 

"I won't." There was no way I could ever disregard that. "He's okay, right?'

"He'll be fine."

The lizard men kind of jumped back in the water and waited. Remia and I looked over at the snake. 

Most of its insides were burned. But the snake itself was pretty intact and so was its meat. 

"But now, comes the tricky part. How'd we get the core of that thing?" Normally the core would be in the middle of a Mutor, but this thing was too long.

It was actually floating quite well. 

'I didn't burn the core, too, did I?'

"Would you give us the body? It'll be a good source of food for Nelbound. We'll try our best to carve the core out. And you can also take the head as proof that you killed it."

"Sure, I don't see why not? Is snake meat any good?"

Besides, it was Sig who cut the snake in two anyway. 

And my only goal was to get the core, I couldn't care less about the body. I couldn't have just dumped it on the ocean and let it rot though. So, I guess this really was the best way. 

But still, this thing was big. Like more than half a kilometer big. Though it was dead, it still looked kind of majestic. The lightbulb on its head was still kind of scary though. 

"Too chewy for me. I don't eat my kind."

And for a second, I forgot that Remia was a snake and the rest of them were lizards. 

"Sorry-"

"It's okay." She cleared her throat. "You heard him, get that core!"

***

About half an hour later Sig woke up. 

I thanked the guy extensively, we talked. 

He was really happy. And when he learned, I was going to give the snake's body to them as food, he was even happier. They could apparently use the frozen side of the island and store the food for long-term usage. 

Though I had a feeling they wouldn't be able to finish this snake for maybe a decade or so. 

The thing was huge!

'Would it really last that long though?' 

I never really asked Sig's reason on why he risked his life for me. I figured that'd be like mocking his resolve. So, I just thanked him properly and acknowledged him as a loyal friend. 

"Boss, we found something!" A lizard man popped up.

Me, boss?

"Good job." Remia jumped in. 

No, it was Remia. She was the boss. 

Oh well.

I waited patiently as the lizards just cut the snake in various places, gutted it, and carved out the meat. The meat actually wasn't burned nor cooked. It was a bit smoky though.

The ocean was red, like really red. 'We're not destroying the biome here, right? Right?'

***

More and more lizard men and other types of monsters were on their way. Even sharks and other predatory aquatic creatures were here and they were trying to get a piece of the monster. 

The lizard men were both getting their meat and, in the meantime, searching for the core. 

Though the snake was massive, the core was going to be small- or so they said. Though they did assure me, the core was going to be at least a purple one. 

Well, I sure hope so. 

"FOUND IT!" A lizard man popped up. Followed by about a dozen more and they all came my way. 

The guy who found it gave it me. He was overjoyed to be of service to me- or so his quivering suggested. 

Seriously, I didn't like that. But- "Thank you." I couldn't make light of their work. 

He almost jumped in joy. 

As for the core, it was literally a Ping-Pong ball sized. Very round. Very smooth.

'Why the hell did I have to go through so much trouble for this?'

It was crimson in color. I didn't know if this was better than purple cores or maybe worse. But the size was sure not fun. 

But I guess since this was a core from an old Mutor, it was fine?

"You seem disappointed," Sig said. 

"Thought it'd be bigger."

"Size doesn't always matter Comrad."

Yeah, that just felt like consolation. 

Remia got on top of the barrier. "Lexan was weak and dying. If you came here twenty years earlier the core would have been at least twice as big."

I wasn't even born twenty years ago.

"You guys knew it?"

Remia looked slightly down. "Yes, he was one of our Comrads." Emphasis on the was. "He went mad some decades ago: and devolved into that monster."

Wait, wouldn't that mean they were going to eat their comrade? Or was it their way of respecting the dead?

I kind of didn't know. But I didn't want to ask about that either- it was just too sad. 

"Too bad..." Anyway, with all that done. I guess it was time for me to head back. "You guys will be okay with carrying all this? I mean, it's a lot, right?"

"It'll be fine." Remia smiled. "I've called for backup. But really, thank you for such generosity." She bowed her head. 

The rest of them also bowed. 

"It's okay, guys, really. I don't have any use for this. if you guys can benefit from it, I'm fine with giving it to you. Besides, without you guys I couldn't have even found this, let alone beat it."

They were glad- they were overjoyed. Some were even crying. 

'Give me a break.'

I wanted to shrug, but I didn't. 

I didn't want to mock them. 

Instead, "I'll go now." I was about to take off. 

"Um, Comrad, you won't take the head?"

"I don't nee-"

"Please, we insist! The fangs and the eyes would sell for quite the price. It'll be a shame otherwise," Remia ensured me. 

How the hell did she know about the money? Actually, how much did these people know?

It kind of didn't matter at the moment though. "Alright." But these people were a lot more intelligent than I gave them credit for. 

With that said, I wrapped the ten-meter-long- four-meter wide- snakehead in a very big barrier and slowly propelled myself ahead. The snakehead was in the water but still just thrusting took a huge amount of strength. And making and maintaining a barrier this big was something else too. This was basically my limit. 

But as I learned before, as long as I tried, I could break through my limits… and I hope that'd be the case this time too. 

With a bit of mental screaming, I kept on pushing. 

Onwards!

The pace was slower than a snail's though. 

At this rate, it'd at least take a few hours. And then there was the thing about actually crossing the frozen lands and getting this somewhere. 

'Where the hell am I even taking this?'

Sirgh!

Well, at least I got myself the core.. The size was a tad worrisome though.