Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 333 Serving the Earth

In the first year of the Holy Calendar, the great Hapisa II founded the Earth Church and became its first pope. From then on, all living beings in the world had faith and the courage to fight against the Serpent Cult and many demons.

In January of the first year of the Holy Calendar, the newly appointed Archbishop of the Serpent Worship Church died on the border of the Empire, at Mount Kemennu. Although remnants of the Serpent Worship Church still roamed around, they were no longer a force to be reckoned with.

In February of the first year of the Holy Calendar, the Earth Church expanded its army, preparing to launch a general offensive against the World Tree that parasitized the earth.

On February 1st of the first year of the Holy Calendar, before the order to expand the army was issued, the World Tree sent an avatar to surrender.

"……what?"

Habisa II felt his brain wasn't working properly.

It seems like they won, they should have won, after all, the World Tree had already surrendered before they even started fighting—but even though it was good news, Habisa II still had a sense of unreality.

"That...easy?"

Habisa II still found it hard to believe.

However, things really didn't go that easily. The World Tree did announce its surrender—though that wasn't the official statement. On the surface, the World Tree merely expressed its attachment to the planet, claiming that it had been ignorant and still growing before, but now it understood the difficulties of the Earth and would no longer have any thoughts of leaving.

They didn't even intend to leave, including the ancient serpent.

"This……"

Habisa II remained stunned for three days and three nights.

He clearly possessed immense power, he clearly had gathered the will of the masses, he clearly possessed power comparable to, or even surpassing, that ancient serpent, and he was now capable of easily defeating the Chaos God in the Star Sea—yet now, after he had such great power, his enemies actually gave up the idea of ​​leaving.
What should have been a cause for celebration felt like a punch to empty air to Habisa II. The unexploded power stagnates within him, making him feel as if he were about to vomit blood.

But Habisa II had no blood to vomit, which made him even more frustrated.

"There is a problem! There must be a problem!"

This was Habisa II's first judgment.

His intuition told him that this reconciliation was absolutely unacceptable. If he did, something he didn't want to see might happen. But if he insisted on continuing the fight, he had no reason left, and not only did he have no reason, but the entire Earth Church had no reason to continue fighting.

The other side has already surrendered and made peace, so what else can they do to threaten and kill?

"No reconciliation...no reconciliation!"

Habisa II wanted to make one last effort; he wanted to kill all the remaining survivors.

But at this very moment, the World Tree made a new move.

The first thing to arrive was a large amount of war reparations, which were resources that the Serpent Cult and the demons had previously plundered. These resources were originally intended to be converted into energy and taken to the Star Sea, but now they were simply given away all at once.

In front of everyone, it was given directly to the Earth Church. At the same time, the World Tree claimed that this was an apology to everyone.

As a result, the shouts of violence and killing that had been heard in the Earth Church became much quieter.

As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's money is bound to him." When the World Tree clearly stated that this was only the first batch and that more would be transported, even the most extreme priests had to admit that keeping the World Tree here a little longer wasn't a bad thing.

Even if we're going to kill someone, it would be better to wait until everything has been taken out before doing so.

Something's not right... something's still not right!

Habisa II frowned, the feeling of unease still lingering.

After all, this is all too abnormal. The World Tree, which was so eager to leave before, suddenly doesn't want to leave anymore, and has even gone to such lengths. There must be a conspiracy involved.

But given the current situation, directly attacking is extremely difficult. Not only would the followers of the Earth Church be puzzled by his actions, but even he himself has no reason to act. If there's no reason to act, then he'll simply find one.

"You want to reconcile? Then let me see your sincerity!"

With this in mind, Habisa II began to present his conditions.

To prove its mistake, in addition to paying reparations, the World Tree even had to bind its roots and reduce its power until the Earth Church determined that the World Tree no longer had the ability to leave the planet itself, only then would it be considered qualified.

This is already an extremely unreasonable clause, it can even be said to be forcing the World Tree to its death. If it really wants to tighten its roots and reduce its power, it is no different from voluntarily putting its neck to a knife.

If one doesn't even have the power to protect oneself, then one's life and death are no longer in one's own hands. Habisa II didn't believe that the World Tree would dare to do such a thing.

"And that ancient serpent, that demon... their power must be reduced, their bodies can no longer be so large, they must become smaller!"

Habisa II issued this decree.

Such harsh regulations would not be obeyed by anyone, since obeying them would mean that one's life would be threatened at any time—this was also Habisa II's plan. As long as the World Tree and the Ancient Serpent did not obey, he would have a reason to take action and an excuse to kill them.

However, to Habisa II's surprise...

Even with such demanding requirements, the World Tree accepted them nonetheless.

The World Tree naturally accepted this condition and had even begun to actively retract its roots. The massive wooden stump, which was originally comparable to a city-state, had been reduced to a small sapling. After that, the sapling further tightened its root system and simply rose up from the ground, standing on the ground like a tree person.

An old, giant snake had shed its skin and draped it over the sapling, making it appear more human-like.

As for the sapling's shoulder, a small snake was crouching there.

Even the ancient serpent cooperated by retracting its body.

"Yes, yes, that's it... No, no, there still seems to be a problem. Yes, yes, no, no..."

Seeing that every idea he had made was being executed perfectly, Habisa II felt a strange sense of unreality. His intuition was screaming alarm bells, and he knew something was wrong.

"That's it! The snake!"

Habisa II felt he had found the key to the problem.

The World Tree shrinking does indeed mean it loses its ability to draw power from the earth, but the Ancient Serpent shrinking doesn't mean it loses any power. He had personally witnessed that the Ancient Serpent could shrink and grow at the same time, and this had absolutely no effect on it.

"You must also erase all power, making yourself completely harmless!"

Habisa II issued another decree.

However, this time, the order was not carried out.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't."

After receiving the order, the World Tree gave its reasons.

“These powers are innate, and I can’t think of any way to erase them except through death.”

"Moreover, with these powers, we can better benefit all living beings in this world and better serve the earth."

...to serve the earth?

Habisa II was stunned. What kind of conspiracy was this?
But to Hapisa II's surprise, both the World Tree and the snake actually began to serve the land beneath his feet.

(End of this chapter)