Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

The ancient snake turned into the shadows, curled its lips, and quietly withdrew the two arms that were wrapped around the waist of a humanoid pillow.

However, just as Samael was trying to downplay the awkward situation, another figure swift as the wind darted into the house, and before even entering, it made a smug shout.

"Samael, you're awake. How did you sleep? You've always liked to sleep with things wrapped around you since you were little. We tied that woman up and stuffed her into your bed. See, we've treated you well, haven't we?"

Holo, munching on an apple, glanced contentedly at the half-arm wedged around the waist of the human-shaped pillow, feigning genuine satisfaction. Then, her true intentions were revealed; she leaned close to Samael's ear and whispered furtively...

"Then when will you steal Thor's sheep again and cook them for us?"

……

Upon seeing the perpetrator, Samael felt the burning gaze of the victim behind him, a gaze that seemed to scorch him. His face twitched, and he felt a surge of rage.

Sis, have some decency!

No, you should be the wolf, can we spare the sheep of the Thor family?

By the way, for a bite to eat, you resorted to kidnapping people and forcing women into prostitution. Where is your integrity?

Even if we're going to do it, even if it doesn't cost money, can't we do it secretly? You're putting me in a difficult position!

Martha's voluptuous curves and her defiant suffering on the bed stirred up a certain lecherous man's fantasies, and his righteous condemnation gradually turned sour.

Finally, Samael took several deep breaths to lower his blood pressure, calm his chaotic emotions, and steered the conversation back on track.

"How long have I slept?"

"It's only been a day. Don't worry, nothing's happened. You can rest a bit more."

When the conversation turned to serious matters, Holo quickly got into the zone, answering earnestly while glancing at Samael's chest with a hint of comfort in her voice.

"How's the battle going?"

"Report: The Persian fleet has been cleared, and the Chaos Sea is being blockaded by the Deep Sea Fleet. The camps and fortresses built by the Persians in the vicinity have also been destroyed by us. Their main force is now retreating to Tanbei Canyon to defend it!"

Harpy, seizing the opportunity to shine, raised his hand high and answered first.

Looking at the proud and unusually articulate fool, Samael suddenly remembered that Harpy was a messenger of the Olympian gods on the Oceanus Sea back in the Greek Age of Gods.

Samael then came to his senses, composed himself, and began to express his confusion.

"The Age of Gods has already declined on the surface. Didn't you move to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss to live? How did you come up here?"

"The Great Altar! The Mother Goddess sensed your prayers and was worried about you, so she used a portion of her power to reopen the Arima Cave, which connects the Underworld and the Pure Land of Elysium!"

Harpy pointed out the window. In just one day, a magnificent altar had risen from the ground in the plaza opened up inside Thermopylae, with the sacred flame burning brightly.

At the center stands a statue of the primordial serpent Ophion entwined with Eurynome, the goddess of chaos and order. On the outside are sculptures of the three goddesses of Mount Ares, the twin goddesses of Mesopotamia, and the eighty-eight star gods, surrounding and protecting it.

The enormous magic circle was hanging upside down and rotating. With the blessing of divine power, it expanded outwards, and magicians continuously embedded flying runes into it. The purplish-red defensive barrier had been reinforced to an outrageous degree.

Amid the prayers of the priestesses, incense was thrown into the flames, and as it burned, its fragrance filled the surroundings.

At the same time, specks of golden particles drifted out from the bodies of the guards, gathered in the sky above Thermopylae, and formed hundreds of dark golden ribbons that were invisible to the naked eye, flowing into the body of Samael, the supreme deity of Orpheus, inside the house.

The power of faith? No wonder he recovered so quickly.

As Samael murmured, he loosely clenched his fists and immediately felt his dormant cells greedily devouring these golden particles to replenish themselves and block the erosion of the Angolan Manuel curse.

"How about them?"

Everyone's busy, but I'm relatively free, so I'm staying here to keep an eye on you.

Holo's casual reply made Samael understand.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong while I was unconscious. It seems they are more capable than I imagined.

The ancient serpent breathed a sigh of relief, its anxiety finally eased. It then shooed Holo and Happy out of the house, prepared to change its clothes, and went to check the situation inside and outside the Thermopylae defense line to make the next steps.

Chapter 172 Idle Wolf = Wise Wolf?

However, with Holo and Habi leaving, Samael realized a rather awkward problem.

In other words, what should we do with this human-shaped body pillow?

Samai's eyes darted around, and he coughed lightly before asking a question.

"Uh, if I told you it was an accident, would you believe me?"

I believe you!

Martha glared at him, her chest heaving with anger, and her clenched fists hardened.

"Uh, okay, I get it..."

Seeing this, the ancient snake raised its hand and lightly touched the bridge of its nose, then turned and walked towards the door, calling over the fast-flying Harpy and whispering instructions.

What are you up to now? I'm not easily intimidated! No matter what underhanded tricks you use, don't even think about making me submit!

Unable to move, Martha felt a sense of foreboding and immediately cursed in her mind, reaffirming her faith.

……

A moment later, the poor saintess stared at the wicked blasphemer standing before her bed, and at the small, pale pink medicine bottle in his hand. Her body stiffened, and she managed to utter a mournful cry of grief and indignation.

mean……

"Are you sure you didn't take the wrong medicine?"

Samael stared at the potion bearing the serpent staff symbol in his hand, then turned to Harpy behind him and asked with a dark expression.

"That's right! That white-haired guy only gave me this one. Oh right, there's also the dosage instructions."

The silly bird made a solemn promise, then tapped its head as if it had remembered something, took out a piece of parchment from the magic circle, and handed it to Samael.

With the prescription and corresponding medical orders in hand, Samael finally felt relieved. He drew one-third of the dose with a syringe, expelled the air from it, flicked the needle with satisfaction, and smiled as he walked toward Marda, who was lying stiffly on the bed.

You beast! Don't come any closer! Don't even think about tainting my innocence with violence! Don't even think about making me fall into depravity...

The purple-haired saintess's gaze was firm, but as she envisioned a series of unspeakable scenes in her mind, her pretty face flushed with shame and indignation.

Seeing this, Samael's kind and gentle smile, meant to convey goodwill, froze on his face, and he inwardly grumbled.

No, I haven't even done anything yet, how come you've already had an intracranial orgasm?

Cough cough, wait a minute, am I that thirsty? Hey lady, you're thinking the wrong thing!

The ancient snake raised the needle, twitched its lips helplessly, and patiently explained.

"Don't worry, this is just a magic potion that blocks ether transmission and inhibits muscle activity. Other than that, there are no other side effects."

Greece treats prisoners of war well, and as a hero deserves such honor, I can allow you to roam freely within Thermopylae. However, given your high level of danger, to prevent you from suddenly turning on me and killing my men, I must disarm you and make you a dutiful prisoner.

Seeing that Martha still had a cold smile on her face after hearing this, as if she were a fool to believe him, Samael couldn't help but curse Asclepius's mother in his heart.

I asked you to make a magic potion version of a muscle relaxant, and you went and used this ridiculous bright pink color!

After internally criticizing a certain medical genius, Samael decided not to explain further and injected the pink potion into Marda's body with a dark expression.

Then, while waiting for the medication to take full effect as prescribed by the doctor, the ancient snake casually summoned Holo, who was wandering outside, and dumped the trouble on the instigator.

"You're bored, aren't you? She's yours to manage now. In 15 minutes, untie her and take her for a walk. You just need to keep an eye on her from behind. Remember to give her an injection every four hours. When you come back tonight, take her to the temple."

"You still need to use that kind of place?"

Holo looked horrified, but showed admiration for Samael.

"Use it my ass! I want to talk to her about this war!"

The ancient snake's face darkened, and it couldn't help but slam its fist into the she-wolf's head.

"Tch, why should I? I won't do it!"

Holo held her head in her hands, glanced up, and shook her head in refusal.

However, as Samael decisively raised a finger, the she-wolf's throat gurgled, her amber eyes moved again, and then she solemnly stepped forward and firmly grasped Samael's hand...

Then, Lord Wise Wolf narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his hand to straighten the other three fingers of the ancient serpent...

Four times? You really know how to take advantage of someone's misfortune!

Samael, under Holo's shrewd gaze that seemed to know he was being taken advantage of, twitched his lips and reluctantly agreed to the dirty deal. He then turned and grabbed Harpy to act as his guide, before heading out to patrol without looking back.

It turns out, it really is just an inhibitor...

In the dimly lit room, Martha, having recovered from her stiff state, rustled out of bed. Aside from feeling weak and limp in her limbs and a slightly groggy head, she felt no other abnormalities and gradually relaxed.

After a short rest, the purple-haired saintess grumbled that she wanted to go for a walk, and Holo nodded in agreement.

However, along the way, Martha carefully observed the structure and path of Thermopylae, making her own decision.

We must find a way to escape this dangerous place as soon as possible and rejoin our main force.

As Martha was lost in thought, she unknowingly drifted some distance away from Holo. The Wise Wolf stopped and turned around to remind her.

"Young lady, we advise you to stay close to her..."

The purple-haired saintess nodded perfunctorily, clearly distracted.

However, the ensuing soft moan jolted Marda awake, leaving her body stiff.

"Friendly reminder: Samael's character does not represent the moral standards of the entire Greek army. Just because he spares you doesn't mean that everyone in Greece will be so kind. I seem to recall that the army still has the custom of dividing up spoils and slaves..."

She actually forgot!

She used to be able to easily swing Tarasque around, but now she struggles to even break an apple. Not to mention, even if she gets rid of the monster that defeated her, there are still hundreds of thousands of troops gathered in Thermopylae.

Three or five trained adult soldiers could capture her.

What if they...?

Martha shuddered at the memory of those disgusting images, and suddenly felt the intense malice in the eyes of those around her, who wanted nothing more than to strip her naked and ravage her body on the spot.

"Click..."

At that moment, the flaxen-haired girl under the sunlight, munching on a juicy apple, turned her head with a smile, a joyful curve appearing on her lips.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you for Samael, so make sure you stay close..."

As Holo turned and started walking, Martha hesitated for only a moment before quickly following, unconsciously closing the distance and even diminishing her hostility towards her.

Xianlang caught a glimpse of Martha's subtle movements behind him out of the corner of his eye, nodded in satisfaction, and secretly made plans in his mind.

So next, while she's been deprived of her power and lacks a sense of security, we need to continue to reinforce her fear of her surroundings and her positive emotions toward specific targets, such as sympathy, identification, reliance, and admiration...

This seems to be what Samael called... Stockholm syndrome?

Beautiful amber eyes, gleaming with a cunning light in the shadows.

Hmph, using her once costs two sheep. If we keep her, it seems we can eat sheep anytime, anywhere for the rest of our lives.

"Ah!"

At the same time, Samael, who was inspecting the Thermopylae defense line, suddenly felt a chill and sneezed violently.

Chapter 173 Did I Scumbag the Wrong Person?

Wenquanguan.

Accompanied by Habib, Samael walked and stopped frequently to carefully observe the conditions along the way.

Along the way, the heavily damaged Spartan garrison has retreated to the rear to recuperate and receive treatment, and has been replaced by Athenian hoplites, Norse berserkers, the Blood Guard of Ares, and reinforcements from other city-states.

The number of regular troops along the line has not only increased tenfold, but also included organized spellcaster teams such as druids and magicians from the Academy of Athens, responsible for fire suppression and long-range support, making their combat power incomparable to what it was before.

In addition, a large number of summoned golems and dragon tooth soldiers worked tirelessly to transport supplies and assist in contact operations.

A large number of priests and priests, as well as the medical teams trained by the Temple of Medicine, were also deployed to provide backup reinforcements. After the previous battle, the initial results were evident, and the casualty rate of wounded soldiers after the battle was greatly reduced.

Moreover, these brilliant minds from the Academy of Athens managed to reconstruct a metal fortress at Thermopylae in just one day using existing materials and metal modules transported by the deep-sea fleet!

Even new weapons such as magic cannons similar to the Uruk Seal of God, prism towers that perform magical diffraction, and blasting catapults with various superimposed runes were brought to the battlefield by this group of all-rounders.

From afar on the wasteland, Thermopylae's dense array of cannon muzzles, its almost magical fortifications, and its metal fortifications instilled fear in any army, let alone made it a formidable fortress.

The talent cultivation at the Academy of Athens has indeed yielded results; Athena and the others have not disappointed me.

As the ancient serpent gazed upon the bustling city fortress and the spellcasters' quarters where scholars were engaged in heated discussions, it felt as if it had transcended time and space to witness the manifestation of the world-famous oil painting known as "The School of Athens." It was filled with emotion and a sense of pride in having personally orchestrated the course of history.

In fact, as early as the beginning of the Academy of Athens, Samael had discussed the “teaching philosophy” with Prometheus, Chiron, Athena, and Themis.

The age of gods will eventually fade away; this is an inevitable historical trend.

Just like Uruk before it, one day, childhood will be gone, and humanity will no longer need the guidance of gods.