Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 139 A Natural Disaster in a Certain Sense
Although Habisa had never been on the battlefield himself, he had at least heard from the warriors who had returned from the front lines about the terror of the serpent demon army.

According to the warriors, the Serpent Demon army consisted of well-trained warriors equipped with spears and sickle-shaped swords. Some of the stronger giants wore heavy armor and carried heavy axe-bladed weapons. Many of them knew how to shoot arrows, and their sharp bronze arrows were sharper than a lion's teeth.

"In battle, the most deadly weapons are bows and arrows, followed by spears, and lastly the sword and axe in your hand... So you must never drop your shield, or you'll be dead if you get hit by an arrow."

Habisa remembered that the soldiers who had returned from the battlefield had shared such experiences, their expressions clearly showing panic, as if they had recalled something terrifying.

This directly led to Habisa having never even seen a battlefield before developing a sense of awe towards war. When he was taken to the front lines, he even thought he was going to die.

But now, what appears before him...

"What are all these things?"

Looking at those short, ugly, green-skinned humanoid creatures, Habisa was speechless for a long time.

These short, ugly, green-skinned creatures did indeed claim to be serpent demons; the giant serpent patterns painted on the cloth fluttered in the wind, their gaping maws seemingly ready to devour anyone—but Habisa remembered clearly that the serpent god's warriors were all young and strong like them.

Where did these ugly and evil green creatures come from?

"These are the minions summoned by the evil serpent demon!"

It was at this moment that the priest of the Temple of the Sun spoke.

"Don't be afraid! Kill them all!"

Who would be afraid of something like that?
Habisa even wanted to scratch his head.

This half-human, half-human species, at most the height of a child, could kill five people by himself using only the axe at his waist, even without a spear.

Is there anything scary about this? Do I really need to give special instructions?
For a moment, Habisa and his companions were filled with confidence.

However, the anticipated confrontation between the two armies did not occur.

The serpent army simply remained stationed in place, waiting for the war priest among the four fallen priests to arrive, according to the priests of the Temple of the Sun. Before that, these valiant warriors of the Sun God needed to constantly harass and kill small groups of serpent demons or attack their supply lines.

Habisa's task was to clear out the hunters and scouts sent out by the serpent demon army. For every string of ears he cut off, he would receive a bag of copper coins.

It sounds easy, and it's not difficult to do, but spears aren't very useful in small-scale skirmishes, which forced him to start practicing swordsmanship again.

Fortunately, with the experience and level indicators in his field of vision, he practiced his swordsmanship at a rapid pace. In addition, the experience gained from killing those green-skinned monsters was much greater than that from practicing swinging in the air, which made his swordsmanship improve by leaps and bounds.

And within the entire army, there are countless other divinely gifted warriors like him.

For a time, relying solely on these continuous small-scale raids, the serpent demon army was forced into a series of defeats.

……

"So, can anyone tell me what happened?"

When the priest carrying the greatsword arrived at the front line, he was greeted by his soldiers covered in wounds.

Satek the Greatsword, the master of the battlefield—this is his title, not one given by his parents, but one he earned himself, slashing his own blade. In previous battles, wielding his serpent-scaled greatsword, he was virtually invincible; no one could withstand a single blow from him.

"I just need to keep cutting my way through." He once thought this way, and even felt that this was the kind of life he wanted.

At this moment, he was absolutely loyal to the giant serpent. This was not only because he would be punished by the sun god once the serpent fell, but also because under the serpent's command, in the process of wielding the giant serpent scale blade, he gradually found his own sense of existence.

This is something the sun god could not give him. When he worshipped the sun god, no matter how much he achieved, he was just an ordinary, nameless priest.

However, in the eyes of the great serpent god, he is the war god among the four monarchs, in charge of all wars. He can freely wield his great sword and shatter everything that stands in his way.

"As long as the strength is enough!"

The priest wielding the greatsword, or rather, Sathek the Greatsword, had never felt so exhilarated.

But right now, he has encountered some things that are making him unhappy.

He only led the team out temporarily to destroy a distant sun temple. The warriors he left behind to garrison there were then beaten like dogs by those who worshipped the evil giant bird—mainly because this made no sense at all, and he didn't remember these warriors being that weak.

Just before he left, the Serpent God's warriors were fighting the Sun Warriors from the upper reaches of the great river to a standstill. In accordance with the Serpent God's will, they even won more often than they lost. In his opinion as the commander, the warriors had already done a great job by doing so without him participating in the battle.

"So can anyone tell me what's going on?"

Satek the Greatsword narrowed his eyes.

"I need an explanation."

"Those bird worshippers... no, they're not even human anymore!"

Seeing their commander, who was also the strongest among them, finally return, the centurions and chiliarchs burst into tears, overwhelmed with grief.

Amidst the flurry of reports from his subordinates, Satek the Greatblade gradually came to understand what had happened.

Those bird-worshipping warriors, using some kind of evil magic, suddenly became exceptionally brave. Not only did their martial arts skills improve by leaps and bounds, but their aura was also incomparably fierce. According to the warriors who escaped from the battle, the way those bird-worshippers looked at them was no longer the way they looked at humans.

"They killed people like they were slaughtering pigs or dogs, without the slightest hesitation..."

The soldier who had escaped from the brink of death said this, his eyes filled with terror.

“We did try to organize a group to surround and kill them, but those damned bird-worshippers are as numerous as rats. Even if we take down one group, another one will come…”

"You mean, they never engage you in direct combat?"

Satek the Greatsword frowned.

He instinctively sensed a strange sense of danger.

However, this level of power shouldn't pose any danger to him. You should know that even if he were trapped in a deadly situation, this divinely bestowed greatsword would allow him to break through the encirclement.

"I gonna go see."

Sataik, the Greatsword Master, shouldered the Serpent Scale Blade.

(End of this chapter)