Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

"No, I'll do it."

Habisa did not refuse; his eyes were incredibly firm.

It wasn't just for the snake god, but also for himself.

He also wanted to know what the priests of the sun god were hiding, and he also wanted to know what he, or rather all the warriors of the sun god, meant to those priests.

"When do we leave?"

"Now."

As he said this, Hercules Setka drew the large axe hanging on his back.

"But before that, draw your sword first."

"We still need to do some necessary preparatory work."

Chapter 155 The Evil of the Ancient Serpent

The upper reaches of the river, the site of the Temple of the Sun.

Recently, the Sun God warriors who have received divine magic have been fighting extremely hard, not only because the serpent demon army in the lower reaches of the river has begun to retreat and become increasingly difficult to defeat, but also because many traitors have emerged from among them.

Those damned traitors actually betrayed the Sun God for a few weapons and armor given to them by the Serpent Demon, and even put on cloaks embroidered with the Serpent Demon's pattern—but what's most outrageous is that many of these traitors who betrayed the Sun God were once the strongest warriors of the Sun God.

Unlike the Serpent Demon army, these traitorous experts used the same tactics as the Sun God warriors, but their combat power far surpassed that of ordinary Sun God warriors—in recent battles, there have been frequent reports of a single traitor capable of killing an entire squad.

Clearly, those weapons and armor were far too useful.

What should have been a battle between the Sun God Warriors and the Serpent Demon Army gradually evolved into a war between the Sun God Warriors and the traitors.

"Traitors must die!"

As their familiar comrades died one after another, the warriors of the sun god grew increasingly hateful of these traitors.

However, at this very moment, a group of traitors turned back and returned to the embrace of the sun god.

Those traitors were all wounded, clearly having survived several fierce battles. Just looking at their blood-soaked appearance, heaven knows how they managed to hold on until now. Even so, these former traitors continued to shout prayers praising the sun god until they ran all the way to the camp gate, where they finally collapsed from blood loss.

"This……"

Looking at these former traitors, many of the Sun God's warriors immediately wanted to hack them to pieces.

However, just as they were about to take action, the priests who accompanied the army came out.

Lock them all up.

With the orders of the sun god priests, the warriors who had already drawn their weapons halfway could only angrily sheath their swords.

However, it was clear that the warriors' resentment was irrelevant to the priests. These priests of the sun god valued the traitors who had escaped more—or rather, the information they carried was the most important thing. The priests wanted to know what these traitors had seen and heard with the serpent demon.

To the priests' surprise, without even needing any torture, the dozen or so traitors who had escaped back were already telling them everything they knew.

"They actually escaped back?"

The priests still had some doubts, but they immediately reported the information to the war chief priest Matt Perry.

Of course, in the mouths of these priests, things became a different story. They claimed that they had collected all the intelligence themselves, and that the traitors who inexplicably defected back were carefully selected undercover agents by the priests.

Anyway, no one can disprove this kind of thing. It's a credit that fell from the sky, so why not take it?

"Well done, this intelligence is all true."

To the priests' surprise, the war priest Matt Perry directly confirmed the authenticity of this information.

“I have direct access to the gods, so I naturally have other intelligence channels… but what you have handed over does indeed confirm some of the information I received before.”

As he said this, Matt Perry nodded slightly.

"They've already created something like life points, and even built a Demon King's Castle... It seems the ancient serpent has gradually accepted divine magic. Well done, keep it up, make sure to fight big and fight well, and continue to keep that ancient serpent's attention."

The unexpected reward delighted the priests, who hadn't expected to receive credit for doing nothing.

The only problem is that those traitors who have defected back are not easy to kill.

After all, these traitors now have the title of undercover agents. At least just now, according to these priests, the dozen or so traitors who had defected back were all brave warriors who endured humiliation and hardship. For the glory of the sun god, they even put on cloaks with snake demon patterns. They were the most loyal of all, their loyalty beyond words.

Killing such meritorious officials directly would inevitably cause trouble.

However, the priests never intended to kill him; after all, even a traitor could be put to good use.

"Since you all claim that you returned because you are loyal to the Sun God, then go to the battlefield and prove your loyalty."

With this order, those traitors who had defected were thrown back to the front lines.

This is the best way to deal with these traitors. After all, they have defected twice and are not trustworthy at all. Throwing them back onto the battlefield now will allow them to make the most of their remaining strength. If they actually achieve some results, it will be an easy achievement. If they die on the battlefield...

So what if they die? Those who die on the front lines are no different from one or two more.

Whether they were killed head-on by the serpent demon army or stabbed in the back by warriors who hated them, it didn't matter. For these priests, whether they lived or died, they had already won.

"Oh, right, and their equipment too."

Thinking of this, the priests also remembered the excellent equipment that the traitors had brought back.

Heaven knows how those serpent demon armies managed to forge such divine weapons. However, these things are now a boon to them—they can keep the weapons and armor that they find useful, and the ones that they don't find useful can be given as rewards to the meritorious warriors, just like the serpent demons do.

In any case, such divine weapons cannot be returned to those traitors. Since we want those traitors to prove their loyalty, let them start using bronze swords again.

"But... what is this?"

At that moment, a priest rummaged through the pocket of a set of light leather armor and found a small cloth bag.

However, what was wrapped in the cloth bag was not some magical weapon, but merely a blank parchment book and a few charcoal pencils.

There were obvious writing marks on the parchment, but they had been wiped off. Judging from the marks, it looked like someone had practiced writing on it.

"Using leather to make paper... seems kind of useful?"

The priest who found the book couldn't help but have this thought.

But immediately, the priest frowned.

It's useful, but it's too evil. If the Serpent Demons really start using this kind of reusable parchment and charcoal pencil, who will buy those expensive and easily soiled papyrus papers in the future?

"How evil! The serpent demon is truly wicked!"

Thinking this, the priest threw the book and charcoal pencil into the fire.

Along with all the other trash.

Chapter 156 The Ancient Serpent's Traitor

On the front lines of the battle against the serpent demon army, Habisa once again took up his old bronze sword.

He already knew he would be sent to the front lines again, or rather, this lack of trust was within his expectations—even the fact that all his equipment was taken away was within his expectations.

"I might not understand divine magic, but surely I understand those priests?"

Habisa remembers that this is what Setka said at the time.

As it turned out, the priests were indeed as greedy as the strongman Setka had said. The intelligence they brought back was used to claim credit, and their weapons and equipment were also taken away—but these things didn't matter to Setka, since he had already prepared himself mentally when he carried out this infiltration plan.

But the only thing Habisa didn't expect was that his notebooks and pens, which he used to practice writing, were also taken away along with his weapons and armor.

This made Habisa feel somewhat uncomfortable and uneasy.

So, before going into battle, Habisa found a priest to oversee the battle from the rear.

"Can you give me back that notebook?"

Habisa tried hard to appear loyal.

"Even if I go to the front lines, I will still practice the prayers praising the sun god..."

So loyal?

The priest who came to oversee the battle frowned.

"If you're so loyal, why don't you go and kill a few more enemies?"

"I……"

Habisa took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

He could sense the priest's malice, which was the reason for his anger—but at least he remembered that he was still carrying out his mission of infiltration.

Right now, he is a loyal warrior of the sun god, and no priest is someone he can afford to offend. Not only can he not show anger, but he also has to show the same timidity and humility as other warriors of the sun god when facing priests.

So Habisa could only shrink back and go into battle alone.

Yes, he was alone. No one would want to team up with a warrior like him who had first defected and then returned. Although the priests claimed that these dozen or so people were spies sent there, all the Sun God warriors knew that the priests had never been so capable before, and this was definitely not someone sent out by the priests.

If they weren't sent out by the priests, then they are true traitors. Their current escape is merely due to fear of the sun god's divine power, or perhaps they have ulterior motives.

This directly resulted in these returning soldiers being ostracized by almost everyone. Other soldiers regarded them as cowardly cowards, and no one was willing to approach them except for those who wanted to kill them.

Furthermore, perhaps to make these escapees easier to kill, the priests deliberately scattered them, preventing them from forming groups.

"If the priests scatter us, it means they want us dead... This is the most dangerous moment of our mission, we must survive."

Habisa remembered that during the final discussions before his departure, Hercules Setka had said this to him.

And now, every word Sethka said is coming true.

This left Habisa momentarily dazed.

It's not surprising that battle-hardened warriors can make accurate predictions, but it's absurd that the priests' every move was predicted correctly. Although Habisa still harbored some reverence for the priests, he had to admit that these frontline warriors seemed to be far superior to these high-ranking priests.

"In other words, you not only have to evade assassination attempts to survive, but you also have to complete the mission and earn merit to prove your worth..."

Habisa was pondering the current situation when he suddenly felt a toothache.

He was surprisingly unconcerned about the assassination attempt from behind. After all, with his current skills, even if the sunglasses bestowed upon him by the Serpent God were removed, all his equipment was taken away, and even if the bronze sword in his hand was taken away, those ordinary Sun God warriors might not be able to kill him.

What Habisa truly found difficult was completing the task.

In the past, making a contribution wouldn't have been a big deal. All you had to do was capture a few squads of green-skinned monsters, kill them all, cut off their ears, and go back to claim credit.

But now, after experiencing firsthand the environment under the Snake God's rule, he knows that these green-skinned monsters went to the battlefield only to protect their harvest and their families.

Even if those green-skinned monsters are trying to protect their so-called family members, they are also green-skinned monsters. But to expect them to kill their own people who uphold this belief...

Habissa really can't do that.

If those green-skinned monsters were truly enemies, that would be easy to explain. In a war between two armies, each side serves its own master, and swords have no eyes—but now that he has pledged allegiance to the Serpent God, those green-skinned monsters are his own people. How could he possibly kill his own people?

"However, Setka said he has plans in this regard... Let's see."

With that in mind, Habisa packed his belongings and infiltrated the combat zone, just as he had done before.

The combat zone is a new term that has emerged from the current messy war. In previous wars, both sides had large armies facing each other, so the battlefield was not that big. Although both sides could muster several thousand or even tens of thousands of elite soldiers in a decisive battle, the combat area was at most the size of a town, and that was about it.

But now, as the Sun God warriors become more and more proficient in using squad combat, the battlefield is constantly expanding. After all, these hyena-like squads will harass from all sorts of unexpected directions. Some will even take advantage of the Serpent Demon army's battle to go around to the rear and burn the supplies. In order to counter these squads, the Serpent Demon army has also organized one hundred-man squad after another for targeted deployment. In addition, there are also those Sun God warriors who have surrendered.

The area within a hundred miles has become a battlefield, and fighting could break out at any moment. Without many teammates to look out for each other, I really dare not go this way.

This time, however, Habisa had no teammates by his side.

Not only were there no teammates, but there were even assassins. As soon as Habisa infiltrated the forest between the two camps, he was attacked three times in a row by the Sun God Warriors. Obviously, this was a good place to kill. Anyway, since Habisa died here, it could be said that he was killed by the Serpent Demon Army.

It sounds like a perfect plan, even highly feasible. How could they possibly lose when several people are fighting one?

"Yes, we lost..."

Facing the bronze sword held across his neck and Habisa standing there with the sword in hand, the leading warrior straightened his neck.

"Kill me! Just like you killed those warriors of the sun god!"

"Why would I kill you?"

Sheathing his sword, Habisa forced a friendly smile.

"All those things before were orchestrated by the priests to make the serpent demon army believe that I had betrayed them... In fact, I have never killed any of my own people. Has anyone ever seen me kill any of my own people?"

This is naturally something no one has ever seen before, since those who have witnessed him wielding his sword to kill others have basically been slaughtered on the spot by him.

So he released the small squads he had captured.

In the past, he would have easily killed all those squads that dared to assassinate him. But now, in order to disguise himself as a loyal warrior of the Sun God, he not only cannot kill them, but also has to pretend to be one of his own and let them go.

"But... there really is no reason to kill them."

Reflecting on his journey, Habisa suddenly realized that he truly had no reason to kill these Sun God warriors.