However, no matter how shocked they were by the immensity of this colossal creature, the two gods still had to fulfill the purpose of their journey.
Enter the serpent's belly, then rescue the sun.
The two gods once again landed at the edge of the serpent's mouth… if that mountain range-like thing could even be called a mouth.
However, the serpent's mouth was closed, so how to get in became a troublesome matter. Looking up at this "mountain range" before him, Loki very wisely chose to give up on the idea of lifting this mountain range himself. His strength was not up to the task.
But what he couldn't do, the valiant warrior beside him might be capable of.
"Thor."
As Loki spoke, he snapped his fingers and made a forward gesture, the meaning all too evident.
However, upon hearing this, Thor furiously raised his hammer and roared:
"Loki, Thor the thunder god is not your servant, to be commanded at your whim!"
"Uh…"
Seeing Thor's angry face behind him, Loki finally realized that he seemed to have provoked this proud thunder god again. He had no choice but to use his silver tongue to placate him, flattering and cajoling, before finally managing to pacify this ticking time bomb.
Afterwards, Thor, with a very reluctant expression, finally used both hands to firmly support that rock-hard upper jaw, readying his stance, and then…
"Ha!"
He let out a low roar, his arms as thick as an average person's waist suddenly exerting force. The dragon-like, intertwined muscles suddenly swelled up, veins bulging out on his arms like writhing serpents, looking extremely fierce.
And Thor's face also turned flushed red from the exertion, his eyes wide open, looking incredibly frightening.
Although it seemed like a small matter, for such a colossal creature, to pry open its mouth was essentially lifting its entire upper jaw, half its serpent head, that is, the entire seafloor, and even the entire sea area pressing down on the serpent's head.
This kind of weight, how could it be less than millions of tons? Even a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand high mountains could not compare to this weight. In the entire universe, there were probably not many who could bear such an immense burden.
However, Thor was one of those select few.
The seawater was trembling faintly, the surrounding pebbles were all bouncing, countless deep-sea creatures sensed that something was amiss and tried to flee in panic, but there was nowhere to escape. Because below them, the entire seafloor was trembling uncontrollably, as if there was an earthquake.
The entire sea area was shaking uneasily.
"Get… up!!!"
Thor's face turned completely red, his eyes also starting to be bloodshot. He gritted his teeth, each word bursting out from between his teeth like muffled thunder. The muscles on his arms became even more terrifyingly fierce, his glaring fiercely appearance truly striking fear in any who saw him.
"Rumble rumble rumble…"
A deep rumbling sound spread through the seafloor in this deep sea, as if heaven and earth were being torn apart. That tightly closed serpent mouth, that entire unknown millions-of-tons seafloor, that unknown billions-of-tons seawater, were all being forcibly lifted up by Thor's immense strength.
One inch…
Two inches…
His face was flushed bright red, his eyes bloodshot, his teeth clenched. His hands firmly supported that unimaginably, inconceivably heavy serpent upper jaw, slowly lifting it higher and higher, forcibly raising it to a full person's height.
Countless seawater roared and howled, pouring into the serpent's mouth.
That strength sufficient to rank first among the deities proved to the world that even the entire sea, this god of strength and thunder, the bravest warrior in the heavenly realm, could forcibly shoulder it.
And this feat defying belief was only witnessed by Loki beside Thor, who gaped in astonishment.
"That's really impressive…"
Loki stared at the scene before him, amazed.
"Stop… yapping… hurry… and… go… in…"
Thor gritted out word by word from between his teeth.
He painstakingly turned his head to look at Loki behind him, his blood-red eyes making his meaning all too clear.
Hearing this, Loki finally seemed to snap out of his daze, hurriedly running into the gap Thor had lifted. Thor, after confirming Loki had entered, then fiercely rolled in, tumbling into the serpent's mouth.
"Boom!!!"
With a huge crash, the heavy seafloor fell down again, the violent roar echoing in the deep sea, lingering for a long time.
And to all this, the serpent remained completely unaware, still drowsily slumbering. For it, this kind of disturbance was still too minor, not enough to wake it. At most, it was equivalent to it subconsciously turning over in its sleep.
…
When the two gods entered the serpent's mouth, they discovered that the internal space of the mouth was actually far, far larger than they had imagined.
The lofty, flesh-colored upper jaw covered the sky like a dome. The flesh and blood under their feet was also unusually hard, not like flesh, but more like solid ground.
In the vast space, as boundless as a grassland, perhaps because it was fundamentally still too young, not born for long, the mouth was unexpectedly lacking any foul odors, instead being as empty and fresh as if in a wilderness.
Rather than the gaping jaws of a colossal creature, one might even believe if told this was actually a wilderness with a blood-colored sky and blood-colored land.
"This place is probably big enough to hold a city."
Looking around, Loki said in amazement. But Thor clearly didn't have the leisure to appreciate the scenery, impatiently saying:
"Don't marvel here, hurry up and find where the sun goddess Sol and the sun are."
"True."
Loki nodded.
With that, the two advanced in this vast wilderness, exploring deeper into the serpent.
One day…
Two days…
Three days…
Who knows how many days.
Along the way, everywhere they looked, there were scenes of squirming flesh and pulsing blood vessels, putting the two gods in the worst of moods. Thor had already flown into a thunderous rage more than once, saying he would use Mjolnir to smash everything before him, directly break through the serpent's body, and escape from its guts. If not for Loki beside him to appease him, he probably would have already done so.
For a god who enjoyed hunting, war, adventure, fighting, and all sorts of challenges, constantly repeating simple, monotonous forward progress here was simply a form of torment.
And even Loki felt deep fatigue from this.
"Next time… next time, I'm definitely bringing a war horse."
Thor gritted his teeth for the 137th time, his face now full of irritation and gloom. If he was directly thrown onto a battlefield with frost giants, he would probably go on a rampage there, venting his frustrations.
"Wait a bit, maybe we'll find it soon."
Loki answered for the 137th time.
After this dull exchange, the two gods once again fell into bored silence.
Then as they walked…
Loki suddenly stopped.
Thor turned his head to look at him.
"What is it?"
"Thor, do you feel like… there seems to be light coming from ahead?"
Loki stared into the darkness ahead, speaking in astonishment.
Hearing this, Thor couldn't help but look forward. In the guts of this giant serpent, there was only darkness upon darkness. Only the gods could ignore this darkness and clearly see everything. However, in Thor's sight, it seemed as if something was flickering with light ahead…
The question was, here, there shouldn't be anything that could emit light.
"You mean…"
Thor seemed to have thought of something, speaking in surprise.
Without responding to Thor's words, Loki directly charged forward.
Very quickly, Loki gradually felt the light before him becoming more and more intense, the temperature also getting higher and higher, high to the point of feeling like being in a furnace.
And finally, in Loki's sight, in the center of a huge, palace-like place formed from flesh and blood, a blazing fireball of infinite light and heat was suspended in midair, countless flesh absorbing the heat from it.
And beside the fireball was a chariot with dimming light, and a beautiful goddess sleeping on the chariot.