Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

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...

Habisa truly couldn't bring himself to do it. If those green-skinned monsters were truly enemies, it would be easy to explain; in a war, each side serves its own master, and swords have no eyes—but now that he had pledged allegiance to the Serpent God, those green-skinned monsters were his own people. How could he possibly kill his own comrades?

"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.

After all, most of these so-called Sun God Warriors were just like him, ordinary farmers from humble backgrounds, before they became warriors.

Is this what war is?

At that moment, Habisa suddenly felt something was absurd.

"Just a group of conscripted farmers, sent to kill another group of farmers who wanted to defend their homes?"

"This……"

Habisa was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly felt that this war seemed meaningless.

However, at that moment, a group of green-skinned monsters suddenly appeared in his line of sight.

"come yet?"

As these green-skinned monsters walked in, Habisa frowned slightly, remembering the location Setka had told him about.

Right now, Habisa's fighting spirit is at its lowest. Even though these green-skinned monsters were arranged by Setka in advance, he is reluctant to go and kill them. After all, if he kills these green-skinned monsters who want to protect their homeland just for the sake of so-called merit, then what difference is there between Setka and those priests, whether it is Setka or himself who did it?

"Or maybe... um?"

However, just as Habisa was feeling disheartened and preparing to return to accept his punishment, he vaguely heard the conversation of those green-skinned monsters.

After that brief moment of listening, Habisa suddenly froze.

These green-skinned monsters that entered the designated location did not appear to be farmers.

They were not just farmers; they even came to seek refuge with the sun god.

(End of this chapter)