Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 310 Awakening in the New Era
During their long imprisonment, the Four Gods never gave up the opportunity to escape.

While the giant serpent was still torturing them, they were already thinking about how to escape, but it was clear that this would only lead to more brutal beatings—there was no concept of time in the underworld, and heaven knows how long this torture had lasted.

Fortunately, just when the four gods were about to give up, the giant serpent got tired.

The nutrients, or rather the power, brought by the remains of the four gods were far too abundant. Even after sufficient exercise, they needed a period of slumber to digest them—and this gave the four gods an opportunity to escape.

Since the prison guards are all asleep, it's their turn to have some time to themselves.

So the four evil gods began to think of ways to contact the outside world and break through the blockade of the underworld to return to the material world. Although all their attempts were initially futile, as the number of attempts gradually increased, they did manage to find a connection with the outside world.

Ultimately, the four of them had left some influence outside, so some local natives were always inspired by them—and after one attempt after another, those local natives were finally willing to summon them.

The only problem is that the natives are too weak; each time they summon, they can only summon a tiny fraction of the original creature.

Even a small part is enough for the Four Gods. They are confident in their abilities; it's just a matter of retracing their steps. As long as they are given a chance, they will always be able to climb back to the top.

However, that's where the problem lies.

Who should go out first?
So, after another round of internal fighting, the four gods made a decision: if they were to leave, they would leave together, even if they had to share a body. But when it came to choosing a body, the four gods fought again.

After all, the body determines the shape of the soul.

The physical resemblance to a particular deity determines who the deity is more suitable for. All four of them are prominent gods, and none of them want to let another god take the lead while they remain as mere companions.

Fortunately, after another round of fighting, the four of them finally came up with a solution that everyone could accept.

Since no one wants to be dominated by another god, then let's just make the body resemble no one else.

So, after some discussion, they simply chose the snake's body as the vessel. It had no hands or feet, no wings or feathers, and no rotten sores. It resembled no one else, which meant that no one could take the lead. Moreover, they could even use this body to disguise themselves as that ancient snake.

This seems like a really good idea. As long as they can steal the ancient serpent's faith, they can gain the support of all the natives. With the natives' worship of the giant serpent, they can immediately turn the tide.

But what they didn't expect was that the outside world had already changed.

A new generation replaces the old.

Those who once worshipped the giant serpent had all perished in that final battle, and the new generation no longer acknowledged the belief in the giant serpent—which directly led to the extremely fierce blow suffered by the first arrival of the four gods.

The newly formed local natives regarded the giant serpent as a rare monster. Like other monsters on this land, they immediately organized themselves and chopped the serpent into pieces.

Moreover, it utilizes the power of the Four Gods themselves.

The influences that spread across this land when they arrived have already been turned into their own by these natives—which makes the four gods feel extremely disgusted, as they have actually been trapped back by their own power.

Fortunately, a very small number of the natives still supported them, but these natives who supported them were also killed and driven into the deep mountains and forests, barely surviving, and only occasionally able to summon the four of them back to the material world.

The supporters of these four individuals were referred to by other indigenous people as the "Snake Worship Cult".

The fact that the Serpent Cult was loyal to the four of them, while the natives who had accepted their power were chasing after their incarnations, was extremely ironic to the Four Gods.

This led the Four Gods to simply give up and do nothing.

Since we can't steal the ancient serpent's location, we might as well ruin its reputation. As long as we can destroy the ancient serpent's faith, that would be a great achievement.

Although they didn't know what was worth destroying in a place where even the natives didn't recognize the ancient serpent.

They couldn't rely on the natives, so the four of them had to think of other solutions.

Fortunately, they did find another way. Although they were usually killed on the spot every time they went out, after going out a long time, they actually found a way. And this only way was the God of Courage, who seemed the least likely to do it.

Wolf Swordsman Gekala is the only trump card the God of Courage currently has. Although Gekala is just an ordinary person among the warriors under his command, his loyalty is first-rate.

That is why, when the tree fell and the monkeys scattered, when the four gods were all sealed in the underworld, only he could still rely on this loyalty to maintain a connection with this loyal dog.

But who would have thought that this loyal dog he summoned would actually attack him on sight?

The god of courage would not tolerate a vicious dog that had attacked its master. Even if it was just using the unfamiliar snake body, it would have been more than enough to kill the not-so-strong vicious dog. But who could have imagined that the vicious dog would break through in the face of battle and forcefully cut the four of them back.

This is so unlucky, so incredibly unlucky.

“Those chosen ones… how could they have turned out like this!” The other three evil gods were also filled with gloom, because they, who also controlled the serpent bodies, saw the figures of their own followers—being cut down by the natives. They accepted it, after all, similar things had happened too many times.

However, he was cut down by his own followers...

"Ah ah ah ah ah--"

The enraged god of courage simply grabbed a large axe and rushed over to chop the snake's body in his fury.

Although the axe struck the snake's body without even producing a spark, this was the only activity they could vent their anger on recently—after all, the giant snake was already asleep, and they couldn't even break its scales, so the snake probably wouldn't even notice if they hit it once or twice.
"You beast!"

The great axe swung down fiercely, and the god of courage vented his resentment.

"I'm going to make you... um?"

Just as the second axe was being wielded, the god of courage suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

It was so quiet, so eerily quiet. Normally, the other three gods would have come with him to vent their anger, but this time, there wasn't a sound from him at all.

This made the god of courage turn around instinctively.

Behind him, the other three gods made no move at all, only looking at him with regret.

And when they turned their gaze back, the god of courage saw it too.

Before him, the giant serpent, which should have been asleep, had opened its eyes at some point.

"hiss……"

The god of courage instinctively lay down on the ground.

They would endure the beatings with their thick backs, which would lessen the pain. Over the long period of torture, this had become an unconscious instinct for them.

This time, however, the giant snake ignored him and instead turned its head in confusion, looking at something.

This unusual behavior made the god of courage even more sweaty.

……

Like the God of Courage, who was drenched in cold sweat in the Underworld, the wolf-headed swordsman Gekala outside the Underworld was also drenched in cold sweat.

This was because, right before him, a new snake head was growing from the serpent's head that had already been split in two.

The newly formed snake head broke through the demonic serpent's body and quickly pulled out its enormous body. The serpent's body, emitting a faint glow, was merely coiled there, yet its powerful soul fluctuations were enough to make everyone breathless.

"There's... a second stage?"

Gekkar immediately pushed away the female assassin next to him, and with his greatsword in hand, he wanted to stand at the front of the group again—but this push caused him to kneel down on the spot.

As for the other teammates, they were even worse off. Under that immense pressure that went straight to their souls, even standing up had become a luxury.

"This monster... is even comparable to a god himself."

Under immense pressure, Gekkar gritted his teeth.

There was an even more blasphemous feeling, which Gekkar refused to believe: the giant serpent emitting a fluorescent glow was even stronger than the God of Courage—this could be seen from the glow around its body, a manifestation of a soul so vast that even the body itself could not contain it.

The body determines the shape of the soul, but there are always some souls that are too powerful to break through this limitation.

Those who can do this are all top-tier experts.

Before Gekkar, the unfamiliar serpentine being spoke.

It was a rather ancient language, difficult to pronounce and monotonous, but its soul-searching expression immediately made Gekala understand its meaning.

"your name."

The giant snake, emitting a faint glow, spoke these words.

(End of this chapter)