Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

As he spoke, the strongman beside him reached out his hand.

"If you don't eat it, I'll eat it all."

"I……"

Habisa persevered in upholding his beliefs.

Faced with the temptation of delicious food, especially after being hungry for two whole days, it is quite difficult to maintain one's resolve—smelling the overwhelming aroma, Habisa could only try to close his eyes and continuously praise the glory of the sun god in his heart.

"The sun god will surely save me!"

Habisa thought to himself.

In a daze, he seemed to actually feel a strange sense of fullness.

"As expected! We must remain steadfast in our beliefs!"

Thinking this, Habisa, coming to his senses, opened his eyes.

His right hand, which should have been resting on the sword hilt, was somehow gripping half a chicken leg. It was only half a leg because he had already taken a big bite out of it. In front of him, beef and mutton bones were piled up like a small mountain on his plate. Heaven knows how much he had eaten.

"amazing!"

Beside Habisa, the strongman who had captured him was loudly praising him.

"I didn't eat as much as you when I first came here! I knew I didn't pick the wrong person! Eating so much in one go... you're practically the incarnation of a snake god!"

"I……"

Habisa wanted to say something.

But he hadn't swallowed the chicken in his mouth yet.

While Habisa was struggling to swallow the chicken meat, the strongman who had captured him introduced himself—the strongman's name was Setka, originally a warrior of the sun god, who had even participated in setting fire to the serpent demon's army camp before joining the serpent demon.

"This……"

Habisa was stunned. He remembered that battle, in which several groups of warriors stormed into the camp of the serpent demon army and set fire to several tents—and after that, these warriors even escaped unscathed and were not captured by the demon lord under the serpent demon's command.

Infiltrating the enemy camp at night demonstrates courage, while escaping unscathed showcases remarkable wisdom. These brave and resourceful warriors have always been role models for other soldiers.

But now...

"why?"

Looking at the snake demon cloak on the other party, Habisa really couldn't understand why this strongman named Setka would betray him.

But Hercules' answer surprised Habisa.

"The food the priests provided was terrible."

Luxsetka gave this reply.

That's it?

Habisa couldn't understand why someone would betray them just because the food was bad.

"Isn't everyone eating meat broth with beans? Even the flatbread is the same. Right now it's wartime, and supplies are already scarce..."

"I originally thought the same thing as you."

Luxetka chuckled.

“Until I saw the priests take the meat out and eat it, and then give us the broth to stew beans.”

Habisa was speechless.

But the strongman Setka continued talking, saying that after he burned down the serpent demon's camp, he thought he would be rewarded, but who would have thought that the priests didn't care about him at all, and didn't even give him a suitable weapon - the priests only held a victory banquet and gave them a pitiful amount of meat, that was all.

“But that’s not what I want. I want to become stronger, I want to level up, I want to become even stronger… But those priests only tell us to kill the serpent demon army, saying that as long as we kill enough, we will become stronger and be more loyal to the sun god.”

"They don't intend to give me anything except divine magic."

"But the serpent god gave me everything."

As he spoke, Sethka patted the two-handed axe hanging on his back.

"The best weapons, the best armor, the best combat skills, the best food... and of course, the most important thing is this."

Sethka pointed to the monocle on his eye socket.

"Want to try?"

"..."

Habisa remained silent for a moment.

Since things have come to this point, he definitely has to give it a try. Besides, he's also very curious about how this strongman named Setka managed to be completely unharmed despite being pierced through vital organs.

Thinking this, Habisa took the monocle and, like Setka had done before, put it on his left eye.

"Yes, that's it... then relax."

As he said this, Setka picked up an ordinary hand axe and chopped it into Habisa's right arm.

Even with an ordinary hand axe, severing an arm would be a piece of cake, but right now the axe blade only barely pierced the flesh and didn't even break the bone.

"you!"

Habisa, feeling pain in his arm, instinctively raised it.

It was at this moment that Habisa realized that his arm, which should have been damaged and unable to move, was now as flexible and free as if it had not been injured at all.

If it weren't for the throbbing pain that continued unabated, and if it weren't for the small hand axe still embedded in his arm, he might have thought it was all just an illusion.

"As long as your health points don't drop to zero, you won't die."

Hercules Setka patted Habisa on the shoulder.

"Let us thank the serpent god for his power."

Chapter 148 Going South

Habisa didn't know whether he should thank the serpent god for his power; he only knew that this power was far too domineering.

As long as your health points don't drop to zero, it's practically the same as not being injured. As long as you bandage the wound and stop the bleeding, even if the injury is severe, you can move around like a normal person.

It's practically like being immortal, just like in legends.

Of course, it's not that they're truly invincible. According to Setka, once their health reaches zero, they'll die instantly, no matter how healthy they are. But this so-called limitation is practically nonexistent in actual combat.

Just now, having only just realized the importance of health points, Habisa immediately came up with a few crude strategies.

For example, you can choose to retreat when your health is halved, and come back to continue fighting when your health is fully restored. Or you can take a surprise attack at a crucial moment and exchange a serious injury for the life of your opponent. In short, as long as your health does not reach zero, it doesn't matter what kind of damage you suffer.

Furthermore, in terms of details, these rough tactics can even be further optimized.

If the opponent doesn't know the details, they might lose their life on the spot.

Even if the opponent knows the details...

"Even if we know the details, what can we do?"

Habisa felt a surge of despair whenever he thought about how he had been knocked down with a single punch.

Even if he knew the details, he couldn't do anything about these undead warriors. With life points, these undead warriors had several chances to make mistakes, but without life points, if he made a mistake even once, he would die on the spot.

On one side, they wielded their weapons with confidence and boldness; on the other, they were filled with trepidation and caution. It goes without saying which side would perform better.

"This is the power of the serpent god."

Seeing Habisa's shocked expression, Setka immediately burst out laughing.

"Once you've experienced it, you'll probably understand why I have any reason to continue fighting for those priests."

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to fight for the Sun God, but what has the Sun God given me? He gave me a set of divine magic and then watched me go and throw my life away… As for the priests, they gave me nothing, not even an axe, which I brought from my hometown myself.”

"But the great serpent god... He truly gave me everything."

"I want to be full, and the Snake God will give me cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks. I want weapons, and the Snake God will give me blades and even armor. I want to become stronger, and the Snake God gave me this, so I can enjoy fighting without worry..."

"Tell me, what reason do I have not to submit to the snake god?"

After Setka finished speaking, Habisa was speechless.

If he could still have some doubts about Setka's betrayal just now, he was truly speechless now—he even began to reflect, waver, and even question his faith in the sun god.

"Why does the great sun god give me nothing, while the serpent god, who is called a demon, gives me everything?"

Without realizing it, Habisa even stopped using the word "snake demon".

After all, the great serpent god had given so much.

So, after a short rest, Habisa received his own set of equipment, including a scabbard made for his longsword, a suit of armor tailored to his measurements, a monocle, and most importantly, a rather thick snakeskin cloak.

It was at this moment that Habisa realized why all those who had pledged allegiance to the serpent god wore cloaks embroidered with the serpent god's image—because these cloaks were not only used as sleeping bags when tired, but also as important tools for identification when returning to the camp.

Simply put, only upon seeing this snake-patterned cloak will the camp's chef bring out the large fish and meat dishes.

"So... why did you spare my life?"

It was at this moment that Habisa finally spoke to Lisztkar.

“You could have killed me and taken my sword…”

Thinking about this, Habisa couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.

Yes, Setka is fully capable of doing that, after all, Habiza himself stole his sword—in other words, this is a kind of judging others by one's own standards.

However, just as Habisa was still in a state of confusion, Setka's large hand patted him on the shoulder.

"You're right, I can indeed kill you directly and take everything from you."

To Habiza's surprise, Hercules Setka readily admitted it.

“But if I kill you, all I can get is a sword… As you can see, I’m more comfortable with an axe; a sword is useless to me.”

As he said this, Hercules Setka looked into Habisa's eyes.

"The person who wields the sword is more important than the sword itself."

"This……"

Habisa was stunned for a moment.

Although he had been a swordsman for some time and had even led a small team as a swordsman, this was the first time in all that time that someone had openly acknowledged his worth.

What is truly valuable is never the sword, but the swordsman himself.

If his teammates had thought that way before...

How could they have died?

"You...speak."

Habisa took a deep breath and clenched his fist.

Because of this recognition of his abilities, he decided to help Setka with some things.

After all, he himself had once led a small team, so he could sense that the strongman Setka in front of him clearly wanted his help.

"As long as it's within my power, it's all negotiable."

"Indeed, it's convenient to talk to capable people."

Seeing how cooperative Habisa was, Setka's smile widened even more.

"However, I won't let you do anything that could get you killed. After all, your swordsmanship is invaluable, so it's best if we practice together for a while and do some missions to further test each other's skills..."

"……Task?"

Habisa instinctively raised his head.

He had originally thought that the Serpent Demon army, like the warriors of the Sun God, was composed of individual squads making their own decisions—but now it seemed that these warriors who had pledged allegiance to the Serpent God were under unified command.

So what should we do?

"You'll know when you go there."

As she said this, Sethka stood up.

"Once you see the snake god, you'll know what we're going to do."

Chapter 149 God is a forgery