The elite squad unanimously decided to follow Rody. In the battles against the orcs and demons, they had unknowingly formed an inseparable collective.

The thought of going back now, parting ways with Rody and Chris, brought them an immense sense of unease. Leaving behind the glory and victory, bidding farewell to the brave battles, and returning to their previously obscure lives was not what they yearned for, even though it promised safety.

Here, they could shout into the magic one-way communication device: "I killed two more Green Demons! When I woke myself up looking handsome this morning, I knew it was going to be my lucky day, just like yesterday. Everyone, cheer for me!" Or they could arrogantly say: "Hey, eavesdropping orcs and demons, can't you send more minions to die? I'm getting a bit tired of killing human-faced spiders. Why not send some hellhounds next time?"

They didn't care whether their voices were heard by a famous human general or an orc Blood-Axe savage contorted with rage.

This place had become their paradise.

Despite the immense danger, they couldn’t bear to leave, couldn’t bear to part with Rody and return to the safe but dull human Grand Alliance. Perhaps flowers and applause awaited them, maybe even women with large chests and shiny medals to satisfy them, but what could compare to the thrill of beheading orc warriors with a sword? What could compare to the glory of standing victorious atop the corpses of demons?

Following Rody, this was the only thought in everyone's mind.

As the days in the Evil Forest passed, encountering demons and orcs was commonplace. Fights could break out anytime, anywhere. If it had been earlier, they would have found it hard to believe in their own combat strength and resilience, but having come this far, they no longer felt it was especially hard.

"Look, there's a giant python, our dinner is settled," Stanley excitedly reported, spotting a forest python near a river.

"No, something's off about it!" Rody halted Jesse and others who were ready to kill the python, his expression serious, signaling everyone to maintain high combat alertness. Chris, hearing the news, hurried over and, seeing the languidly lying forest python, was also surprised, "Rody, this python has the aura of demons. It’s one of them!"

"Smart indeed, no wonder my subordinates can't handle you!" Suddenly, the forest python stood upright, its massive head speaking.

"A talking snake?" Stanley almost fainted.

"I am the Demon Army's Dragon-Eating General, Sergeant Rody, pleased to meet you!" A lump on the python's head rapidly transformed into a humanoid shape, quickly revealing a man with an ugly face and green scales all over his body. He laughed weirdly atop the python's head, his lower body fused with the python, but his upper body indistinguishable from a human's.

"Snake people? Or some other kind of monster?" Rody, who had not seen such a demon in Dean Buck's notes, was puzzled.

"My ability allows me to assimilate with any kind of snake," said the green-scaled Dragon-Eating General with a sinister chuckle. "I am the king of the reptilian demons. As long as there are snakes where you’ve been, I can know everything about you. Sergeant Rody, you are a smart man, I don’t need to say more. Please, come with me! I assure you, you will be warmly welcomed by His Majesty Demon King Nyarlathotep."

"Do you have anything valuable on you?" Rody sighed lightly, "I really don't want to go through the trouble of killing a demon general and end up with nothing!"

"It seems you're not as smart as I thought!" The eyes of the Dragon-Eating General flashed ominously as he snorted, "Are you going to fight me?"

"As our dinner, what nonsense are you spouting? A meal should act like a meal!" Such words could only be uttered by Lopek in the group. Stanley, hearing this, looked uncomfortable; he could eat snakes, rats, even drink earthworm soup, but he couldn’t stomach eating something that resembled a human.

"If I don't show you my abilities, you’ll think a demon general is a title for nothing!" The Dragon-Eating General laughed coldly.

"Everyone, retreat! Jesse, lead the team northeast. Chris, stay and cast enhancements!" Before Rody could finish, several giant pythons as thick as water barrels burst out of the river. If they were ordinary forest pythons, no one would care, but these pythons had horns on their heads and long fangs in their mouths, clearly not ordinary magical creatures.

"Run!" Stanley was the first to dash away, always the quickest to execute Rody's orders.

"None of you can escape!" The Dragon-Eating General waved his hand in the air, casting a black light on the ground, summoning countless writhing poisonous snakes – some with wings on their backs, some with horns on their heads, some with feet under their bellies, some with the bodies of wolves and heads of snakes, and others with the bodies of birds and heads of snakes – an utterly horrifying sight.

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Rody swung through the air with vines, with all the bizarre snakes chasing after him.

Chris quickly buffed himself and, with an orc berserker’s giant axe in one hand and a human barbarian's giant sword in the other, crazily hacked away in pursuit. No snake attacked him; they all furiously chased Rody. The Dragon-Eating General, stunned, momentarily lost control of all the snakes.

"Damn, you're a mental mage!" The Dragon-Eating General, slowly emerging from the body of a pursuing forest python, brandished a long blood spike and shot it at Rody. It was common knowledge that mages feared close combat!

Chris and Rody coordinated seamlessly, with Chris firing an arrow at the Dragon-Eating General.

Unexpectedly, the swift and sudden arrow was dodged by the Dragon-Eating General twisting his body in mid-air, his body as flexible as a snake, rendering the sneak attack ineffective. The Dragon-Eating General was faster than Rody, his blood spike even capable of extending automatically, piercing through Rody's vine shield and continuing to stab into Rody's arm.

"Hehehe, you're done for!" The Dragon-Eating General landed triumphantly.

"Rody, what's wrong?" Chris screamed in shock, seeing Rody’s face turn black in an instant.

"It feels quite comfortable!" Rody replied and then coughed violently. Black blood flowed from his nose, covering his hands. He carelessly flicked it off, splattering a giant python. The python’s skin rapidly decayed in pain, rolling on the ground and dying instantly. The other snakes, as if seeing a natural enemy, scattered in all directions, seemingly very afraid of Rody's black blood.

"This is a super poison concocted from 398 types of venomous snakes in the demonic realm, combined with the venom in my body. There’s no cure for anyone who is poisoned," the Dragon-Eating General sneered sinisterly.

"Rody..." Chris rushed over, but Rody kicked him away.

"Stay away from me, now is not the time for you to cry." Rody lunged at the Dragon-Eating General, yelling, "Want me dead? You'll be the one lying dead beneath me!"

"Hmph, wishful thinking!" The Dragon-Eating General stood his ground, watching Rody charge at him.

After running a few steps, Rody spat out a mouthful of black blood, staggering and finally collapsing to the ground. The Dragon-Eating General, knowing this would happen, laughed loudly. Enraged, Chris charged at him, exerting his utmost strength to strike with both sword and axe.

The Dragon-Eating General dodged smoothly like a shadow and slid behind Chris, extending his blood spike, ready to strike.

Chris dropped the axe and grabbed his bow, concentrating his battle aura into a sparkling silver star, then firing it with an arrowhead at the Dragon-Eating General. The general somersaulted to dodge and twirled up a tree trunk, whistling. Suddenly, Chris found himself surrounded by a swarm of snakes. After the Dragon-Eating General whistled, the snakes surged up, engulfing Chris...

"Humans are indeed weak," the Dragon-Eating General shook his head and sighed, "What Rody, what genius, what elite, all rubbish!"

"Smack!" Suddenly, the Dragon-Eating General was slapped on the face, followed by an angry roar, "Damn it, daydreaming is one thing, but cursing? Don’t you know you should behave as a captive?"

"What captive?" The Dragon-Eating General was stunned.

Then, everything in front of him shattered like a mirror.

The Dragon-Eating General hadn’t figured out what was happening when he found himself bound, surrounded by a group of people – the ones who had just abandoned their companions and fled. There stood Rody, curiously examining the blood spike, and beside him, Chris, who was supposed to have been torn to pieces by the snakes.

"What’s going on?"

Impossible... The Dragon-Eating General was utterly confused.

"Fool, you were dreaming! You fell for our boss’s hypnosis spell, and you were wildly fantasizing just now! Did you really think you could defeat our boss? Idiot!" Stanley didn't hold back, slapping the Dragon-Eating General hard, making his head spin.

"Although hypnosis spells are somewhat sneaky, I've never seen anyone so clueless about being under a spell like you," Chris chuckled.

"How did you even become a demon general? Hey, are you the demon king’s mistress’s brother? Or his catamite?"

"I hate you; you've completely ruined the imposing image of a demon general I had in mind!"

"Poor thing, he hasn’t woken up yet."

"Actually, it’s normal to fall for our boss's spell, but don’t ever tell anyone how you died, because such a stupid way to die is really sad! Good heavens, how can there be such a foolish and naive demon in this world? I can’t understand..."

The crowd bombarded the Dragon-Eating General with words, leaving him utterly baffled and clueless about what was happening around him.

Looking around, he saw that the snakes were already dead, scattered all around. Even a few guys were roasting snake meat.

A big-bearded mercenary was vigorously recording him with a memory crystal. What on earth was happening? How could he, a proud demon general, be captured so easily without realizing it? He tried to struggle, only to find himself more securely bound than a mosquito on a sticky pillar. The silver chains binding him were tighter than the demonic chains used to suppress demons in hell, leaving him hardly able to breathe.

"Don't bother, it's a Holy Silver Cross," Rody said as he took away the Dragon-Eating General's venomous blood spike, patting his shoulder with a smile. "It’s said that even a Pope can't escape the binding of the Holy Silver Cross. Filled with the will and the power of the laws of the God of Light, the more evil one is, the more insignificant they become before it. So, I think it’s better for you to keep fantasizing! Oh, and if you have any valuables, feel free to hand them over. The more you give, the quicker your death will be!"

The Dragon-Eating General felt as if the sky had darkened. He wanted to die, but it seemed to be a bit difficult.

"Keep hypnotizing him; he’ll surely get carried away," Lopek shouted. "See if he has any naked paintings of demon women. I bet he does; my instincts are always right!"

"Rody, I've got a great idea," Chris suddenly said with excitement. "Let me try using the 'Rooting' spell from natural magic to let your man-eating vines root in this guy's head and suck out all his brain energy. That way, your man-eating vines could evolve. Also, since your man-eating vines are your summoned creatures, everything he owns, including the items in his storage space, should belong to you."

"Chris, you're too cunning, but I like this idea!" Stanley clapped his hands.

"Using the man-eating vines to pierce through this guy’s head?" Rody pulled out his man-eating vines and let them slowly climb onto the Dragon-Eating General's head, frightening him into fainting. He was willing to die, to sacrifice himself for the demons, but he was not willing to let man-eating vines root in his brain and suck out his brain fluid and energy...

"What a demon general, no guts at all!" Jesse burst into laughter.

"Good, now that he’s fainted, we can take off his storage ring!" Rody pulled a ring off the Dragon-Eating General's finger. Golden spiritual energy turned into numerous thin threads, consuming and driving away the Dragon-Eating General's will. Rody's other hand hovered over the general's head, probing his mental fluctuations and memories.

When the Dragon-Eating General finally came to, he found himself stripped to his underwear, with everyone around him clapping their hands and looking at him with enthusiastic eyes, as if staring at a delicious and juicy steak.

"Please, just kill me!" The Dragon-Eating General was terrified enough to beg for death. He would rather die immediately than endure torture. If it weren't for the Holy Silver Cross, he might have harbored hope of breaking free to fight again. But as a demon general, once bound by this artifact embodying the will of the God of Light, choosing to die immediately seemed like a blessing.

"Don't rush; our conversation has just begun!" Rody revealed a smile, making the Dragon-Eating General nearly burst into tears.