Reborn as a Snake! (1.) [COMPLETED]

48. - Land Forgotten in the Blazes of History.

         I quickly caught up with Odale, before looking at him.

"Tell me, why do you keep calling me 'Chosen One'?"

The lich remained silent for a bit, not even bothering to take notice to my question.
This made a bit annoyed internally - since it felt like he had just ignored me for no apparent reason.

However the Lich then spoke a couple moments later.

[Odale] "Tell me - Have you heard of the Ancient Fire of Rebellion?"

Did... Did he just dodge my entire question..?
Seriously? What's up with this guy?

I sighed to myself, before thinking about his question. The Ancient Fire of Rebellion... I swear I had heard of this 'title' before somewhere...

After a bit of thinking, I finally was able to recall where I had heard this title before - the strange room in the dungeon that had the walls laid with strange symbols of an ancient language.
That's where I had read about it!

Didn't I also take it with me?

"I have... In truth, I-"

I was about to reach into my bag, however Odale suddenly stopped me.
I looked at him confused.

[Odale] "I already know - The fire is with you. I can feel it inside your bag."

He stated, before placing his arms behind his back.
I was a bit confused onto what the lich meant by 'I can feel it'.
Did this guy have some kind of psychic connection to the damn fire? If so, then that's some next level messed up shit.

"How come you can sense it?"

I asked a bit sceptical.

[Odale] "Simple - Because I was assigned to be it's guardian."

The lich answered, looking at me.

[Odale] "Many, many years ago."

It finished, before looking away again.
How long exactly was 'many, many years'? 100? 1000?
Surely the lich hasn't been around for centuries or even potentially millennias... Right?

We continued to traverse towards the volcano with a silence between us - it almost felt suffocating.
Eventually, I decided to break the silence, since it was slowly starting to become awkward for me.

"Tell me... How come I haven't heard of this 'Fire Kingdom'? Why does it share the same name as the Town of Ordial?"

I asked the questions, looking towards the lich. Odale remained silent for a moment, seemingly thinking about my questions for a moment before looking up towards the sky.

[Odale] "There are many factors as to why my kingdoms name was lost to history - the main one... Was the Gods."

Upon hearing this explanation, I turned a bit more surprised.
Gods? Gods existed in this world? Although, that was probably to be expected - after all, gods or a god was always present in almost every Isekai story I knew.

"What about the 'Gods'?"

I asked.
Odale seemingly turned serious upon hearing my question.

[Odale] "Before I explain to you the story behind it, tell me something - Do you know the reason behind the Ancient Fire of Rebellions existence? Do you know why it was created?"

He asked, looking at me with what I could assume to be a serious gaze.
I was a bit dumbfounded by this question - on one hand, what a stupid question — How the fuck was I supposed to know the reason for it's existence when I just randomly found it in a cave?