Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 297 The God of Courage Descends

"The souls of the soldiers have returned, and they even brought back a message."

In the distant Tatunbuto, the four priests breathed a sigh of relief after summoning several terracotta warriors.

The good news is that the warriors did achieve unprecedented results. These terracotta warriors, after filling their bodies with flammable and explosive oil and explosives, even blew up most of the portal, successfully slowing down the enemy's summoning progress.

But the terracotta warriors also brought back bad news: another group of warriors of the God of Courage had also entered the underworld by committing suicide, and had even begun to hunt down the souls of those warriors who were about to return.

"Some warriors remain in the Underworld to hold them off, but they probably won't last long, given the swords in the hands of those 'tin cans'..."

"It doesn't matter."

Ansag patted the terracotta warrior on the shoulder, indicating that the other person should go and rest.

Indeed, this was bad news. Not only did the warriors have a way to reach the Underworld, but their enemies did too—but this also reminded Ansag that those enemies who infiltrated the Underworld had all signed a pact with the Serpent God.

Clearly, the pact with the serpent god granted these extraterrestrial visitors the right to travel to the underworld.

But this also means that both the serpent god and its priests have begun to have jurisdiction over these extraterrestrial visitors.

"I come."

Of the four priests, Melk, who had died before, decisively drew his sword and committed suicide, and his soul immediately went to the underworld.

Watching the chosen champions wielding rune swords and relentlessly hacking and slashing, Melk raised the scales in his hand.

"I will weigh your sins!"

The golden, illusory scales flew high into the sky, and heart after heart flew out of the chests of the chosen champions, who couldn't even stop them.

This is simply because these are the rules of the Underworld; they are not yet powerful enough to oppose the Underworld itself.

Then, as the illusory scales tilted, a broken giant beast with a crocodile head sprang out from the ground, its gaping maw seemingly ready to devour them completely.

If it were an ordinary soul, reaching this point would mean certain death.

But they are not ordinary souls.

The red light on the rune sword grew increasingly crimson, and many of the chosen champions raised their swords high. One after another, sword lights were unleashed, and the giant beast with the crocodile head was blasted straight back into the ground.

"This……"

Melk, who had thought he could solve everything by taking matters into his own hands, was immediately covered in sweat.

The power he could mobilize didn't seem as strong as he had imagined.

But just as Melk was sweating profusely, the chosen champions burst into laughter. When the golden scales appeared, they had thought the defense mechanism of this subspace was terrifying, but now it seemed that if it was only this bad, they really had nothing to be afraid of.

"Take this place! Make it our transit point!"

The chosen champions exchanged glances for a moment, then all raised their longswords and charged toward Melk.

Facing a group of menacing armored swordsmen, and those rune swords gleaming with a blood-red light, Melk took a deep breath and simply shouted out loud.

"Great Serpent God! Save me!"

"……Um?"

With a questioning voice, the phantom of a giant snake solidified in front of Melk.

When the Chosen Champions saw the phantom of the giant serpent, they were startled, but after estimating its size, they were no longer afraid—because the serpent that appeared before them, while large, wasn't actually that big.

It wasn't even as big as that crocodile-headed beast from before; it was only this size. How could such a tiny snake possibly stop them...?

"Oh!"

The world suddenly fell silent.

With an unprecedentedly massive explosion, the Netherworld, which had been filled with shouts of battle, fell silent on the spot—but immediately, these chosen champions realized that this was not silence at all, but rather that their souls were violently shaking.

"This is……"

Before these chosen champions could react, their souls were instantly shattered.

Only those shattered fragments of the soul remain, like countless specks of light in the sky.

"Hey?"

Du Yi, who was about to continue fighting, was stunned. He had only flicked his tail and hadn't even hit the armored warriors yet; he hadn't even exerted his full strength.

But in that moment of doubt, the shattered fragments of light began to move.

Some of the light fragments rose into the sky and merged into the black cloud that symbolized death, while others sank to the ground and blended into the vast expanse of yellow sand.

The last part, the most radiant light fragment, was directly integrated into Du Yi's current body.

As the light fragments poured in, Du Yi felt a long-lost sense of fulfillment, even having the illusion of being full.

"This is……"

Du Yi, who didn't have a deep understanding of the soul, was somewhat confused for a moment.

What's more, Melk just happened to start reporting intelligence at this very moment.

"You mean, you want me to help you think of a way to kill those aliens who signed the contract?"

After listening to Melk's idea, Du Yi pondered for a moment, and then realized that it all seemed to be feasible.

Although he had never tried to do such a thing before, that is, to use those contract lists as a book of life and death, it was clear that he could at least give it a try now. So, after Melk gave the corresponding names, Du Yi began to call them out one by one, trying to pull their souls directly to the underworld.

However, this attempt ultimately failed, simply because there seemed to be something protecting those souls, like some kind of powerful protection or blessing.

As Du Yi drew out the blessings, those protections, or rather, the blessings, surged forth along with the force of the drawing.

Even Ning Shi was right in front of Du Yi.

It was a figure like a volcano, with veins flowing like lava all over its body, muscles bulging like steel, and its burning head covered with terrifying crisscrossing scars.

"Where is this... Ha!"

After surveying its surroundings, the terrifying behemoth with its face covered in scars immediately removed the heavy axe from its back.

"There's even a place like subspace! This planet is truly a treasure trove!"

With each swing of the great axe, the cries of countless living beings echoed, and even the entire underworld itself trembled.

Crimson lava flowed into the quicksand, bringing a glaring bloody stain to this land.

"First come, first served! Courage is destined to fill this world!"

(End of this chapter)