Yggdrasil... Snake

Because it had condensed the traits of Mount Etna, it could coexist with Mount Etna. That was why the Greater Ashwinder had survived until now.

As new Lesser Ashwinders hatched, Mount Etna's traits condensed within them, while those traits dissipated from the Greater Ashwinder.

This was not some broad concept like death, which multiple lives could possess at once. It was merely the trait of a volcano. Mount Etna did not possess such immense mystical power; it could only condense a single share.

If any life form wanted to seize that trait while the Greater Ashwinder existed, it would have to kill the Greater Ashwinder. Even the Greater Ashwinder's offspring would be unable to hatch normally.

But when the Lesser Ashwinder hatched through the same process by which the Greater Ashwinder had been born, the trait was naturally inherited by the Lesser Ashwinder.

Having lost the trait's protection, the Greater Ashwinder's lifespan—which had far exceeded one hour—naturally came to an end on the spot.

Lying on his bed, Manus let out a long sigh. He had thought he had discovered a new variety of Ashwinder, but it turned out to be merely a special case, incapable of replication.

Without the Ember Dragon Heart, those Ashwinder eggs simply did not meet the conditions for hatching. Yet once one hatched, the Ashwinder currently alive would naturally reach the end of its life.

Only one Ashwinder could survive for more than an hour at any given time, and it would inevitably be the first one to hatch.

Still, it was not entirely without value.

Leaving aside the long-lived Ashwinder itself, it could be a life that remained a lasting friend to him without being incorporated into Manus's system. Those Ashwinder eggs should have special properties as well.

They could not hatch without the