The Devil's Cage

Kagu turned his stiffened body around.

He shockingly saw Kieran, who somehow stood behind him without his knowledge, and Borl.

The hospitality and the passion on Borl's face earlier was absent at the moment.

What replaced it was a look filled with sneers.

'He discovered everything? He was just playing along with me?'

After the thought popped, Kagu shook his head strongly.

'Impossible! My plan was flawless!

Even if my initial plan had failed, the backup could make it up and fill all the holes!

It's a coincidence! They are just being lucky and coincidentally noticed my plan!

That's right, coincidence!'

Kagu took a breath after the thought.

"You've ruined my plan with coincidence but don't you think…"

Bang!

Kagu, who still thought he had everything under control, spoke slowly but before he finished, Kieran raised his musket and fired.

Kagu's gaze showed disdain. The item in Kieran's hand was indeed decent but no matter how decent it was, it had to hit the target to be useful.

A musket that couldn't hit its target?

How was it any different from a stick with fire!?

Right when Kagu was about to move his steps and perform a dodge, the space around him started to shake and black tendrils came out from the void.

[Twine Stinger]! The Legendary item from the treasure vault of the three kings!

This legendary item was forged using the remains of a monster using alchemy and by Kieran's will, the tendrils extended and constricted Kagu.

Although Kagu was able to break free the next moment, the bullets from [Dark Shining Musket] had hit Kagu's head.

It wasn't the air bullets anymore but real iron pellets which were loaded earlier. It had a Powerful attack and Strong incendiary effect.

A musket that couldn't hit its target was a stick with fire, but a musket that could precisely shoot its target was a lethal weapon of destruction!

Boom!

Kagu's head was blasted to smithereens, the headless body falling on the ground with a thump.

A formless energy started to come from the body and gushed into the [Lord of Mist] in Kieran's inner coat pocket.

Kieran wasn't in a hurry to check the [Lord of Mist], instead looking at the headless body of Kagu with an interested gaze.

The body did not change, it remained as a human figure, but it was just the figure that remained.

The inside of the body was replaced by something evil.

Under [Tracking]'s sight, details as small as a speck of dust could not escape Kieran's eyes, especially in this world, which was majorly dominated by a wicked misty aura. Having someone with a similar aura in front of his eyes was too obvious.

After all, a true human would be like a square peg in a round hole when stood together with the wicked aura.

However, Kieran wasn't exactly surprised at these monsters that attacked the convoy because it was normal in his eyes.

When the convoy with a weaker defense was compared to a city with sturdy walls, the former was no doubt a better target to make a move against. Even though the former had less people in terms of overall numbers, it would be the same.

According to Kieran's expectation, the convoy would attract many other presences similar to Withering Branch and Resting Deer, but the numbers exceeded Kieran's expectation.

It wasn't a lot, but it was surprisingly less!

In Kieran's initial expectation, three to five pagans appearing wasn't surprising or a lot but now?

Kagu was the only pagan!

Those merchant representatives who transformed after death were just monsters corrupted by Kagu.

'Is he a pathfinder sent out by someone? Or some idiot who eagerly jumped out to seize the upper hand?'

Kieran was in thought but he saw the merchant crowd coming closer for a look, quickly signalling to Borl with a hand gesture that said 'I'll leave this to you' and then heading towards the wagons.

Kieran was always cautious against strangers.

He knew a person like himself was not a suitable person to deal with.

If he was alone in this, he would have to embrace it with clenching teeth, but now that he had Borl, things would turn out differently.

Borl nodded slightly at Kieran's back, knowing what he should do.

Settling things that the Flaming Devil wished not to participate in, it was the basic of their mutual relationship.

"Fret not people! Kagu is the same as he others before this, they are not the people you know anymore. They, or it, have been corrupted by the wicked…" While Borl explained to the crowd, he glanced over Kagu's body.

What a smart-ass!

If the high-ranks of Kate Trading Company had fallen and transformed, as the 'only' survivorl, Kagu was more obvious than he thought.

Borl didn't possess an inspection skill like [Tracking], but he had enough common sense to make judgements.

If you want to hide a piece of leaf, the best way was to toss it into the forest but when the forest was filled with dried yellow leaves and the one you tossed in was a green one, it would be suicide.

After a small sigh in his heart, Borl started to talk with the other temporary person in charge of Kate Trading Company.

When Borl finished explaining and stated that he was willing to sign a contract under the witness of God to prove what he said was the truth, the temporary person in charge heaved a breath of relief.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Borl, this really caught us off guard. We prepared a lot but were still unable to prevent accidents from happening."

The temporary person in charge, Ainte, smiled bitterly, his wrinkled face folding up tightly as he smiled, the wrinkles looking even deeper.

Ainte was truly a middle-aged man but his face looked a lot older than his actual age. His attire wasn't exactly clean, it was just enough to keep himself warm and was like heaven and earth apart compared to Kagu earlier.

However, a person like Ainte formed an important part of the convoy.

Borl also played the role once, so he knew exactly what this kind of person was thinking.

Or in short, he knew what he should do to communicate and negotiate with people in the likes of Ainte.

"I know right, after the Black Cataclysm, accidents tend to loom everywhere. Things we can't predict appeared here and there and danger looms under our eyes. But believe me, Colin is stronger than we expect. Of course, we better check the group first just in case and for the sake of safety, all of you better tell me what you've prepared, safety precautions or anything. I don't want to cause more unnecessary problems because of the misunderstandings and lack of communication between us," Borl gave his words.

Ainte heaved a breath of relief right away.

"Of course, please follow me," Ainte nodded in agreement.

He then turned around and led the way without the slightest delay.

Although Ainte was promoted to the temporary person in charge because of his age and experience, if he had a choice, he would turn down this position.

Ainte had walked the route from Edatine to Mozaar for more than a decade and he had never before felt as scared as he was today.

Despite there being many danger-filled incidents in the past, none happened from within the convoy.

One thing worth taking note of was that there was an 'absolute' guarantee among the convoy and now this title of 'absolute' had failed!

Ainte' had no idea why it failed but he knew he was in need of someone to guarantee the safety of the convoy.

Therefore, after the initial guarantee, Ainte brought Borl to the biggest 'secret' of Kate Trading Company without a second thought: a wagon with two horses.

From the outside, the wagon looked like the other wagons in the convoy and the wagoner looked very normal too but when Ainte opened the carriage door, an emblem was revealed.

The emblem of God of War!

It wasn't a decoration hung on walls or whatnot, it was an independent, solid, sculpture carved out of a red colored rock and as tall as half a person.

Borl jolted when he saw the emblem.

The emblem of God of War might not be as exclusive as the time before the Black Cataclysm, but it still wasn't something a person could simply use, let alone an independent one like this.

According to what Borl knew, this kind of independent emblem could only be given by the War God Temple.

It wasn't an easy achievement though. Even the late viscount, the ex-lord of Sicar, a well-known believer of the God of War, had never acquired one before.

In fact, since the days of Edatine I, this kind of independent emblem was given out to less than 10 people.

The majority of the people who acquired it were in the royal court of Edatine and only a few renown nobles in Edatine acquired the rest.

Now then, which one would this be?

Borl was combing the information in his mind.

Although there were only those few renowned nobles in Edatine, trying to pinpoint which would require time and more information collecting. Unfortunately, now wasn't the time.

"A divine emblem! No wonder Kate Trading Company became one of the biggest trading companies in Edatine lands," Borl feigned shock as he exclaimed.

Ainte beside him was proud.

The pride came from his identity as being a part of Kate Trading Company but when he realized this emblem, the biggest assurance, had lost its magical effect, his pride was replaced by gloominess.

He then looked at Borl with anticipation.

"Mr. Ainte, I'm just a businessman. I don't even know what's wrong with the emblem, let alone solve the problem. I think you better go ask those priests about how to solve this."

Borl laid his hands out with perfect timing and showed a helpless face.

"I know right, how can we solve a problem of this caliber?"

Borl's helplessness won the fondness of Ainte, a normal man. He nodded right away and closed the door. Both of them talked for a while before the convoy continued its journey, Borl also returned to his wagon as the convoy took off.

Right after he entered the carriage, Borl saw Kieran with a curl on his lisp.

Feeling good? Borl was rather surprised.

He then instinctively blinked for a clearer look and after he regained his sight, he saw the cold Kieran he remembered.

Borl heaved a breath of relief.

To be honest, Borl was used to Kieran's old looks. He couldn't get used to Kieran's sudden changes. It was like when he was confessing to a girl and had prepared to be rejected and remain friends, yet the girl accepted him!

Leaving the friendzone is kind of regrettable.

"Colin, I've found a divine emblem in one of the wagons of Kate Trading Company!"

Borl sat down and told everything he saw to Kieran, not a single piece of detail missed, and then started to voice his opinion.

"The God of War is weaker than we saw. When he fought the Mist back in Sicar, all he did was send a projection and now, even his divine emblem couldn't repel those mere pagans, I think… he might be stretched to his limits," Borl purposely softened his voice at the end.

If it wasn't because of the divine emblem in the convoy, Borl would probably use the word 'fallen' to describe the situation. It sounded more appropriate in the situation.

Kieran declined to voice his opinion on this.

Based on the information he got, the God of War was undoubtedly at a disadvantage, but who could tell whether or not it was a fake?

Or more precisely, a God in a world that Broker spent so much time in setting up, was he really as weak and bulliable as he looked?

Kieran did not believe it, so Kieran carefully replied to Borl.

"Probably but unlikely."

Borl pondered upon Kieran's answer for a while before nodding heavily.

He had never met a God before, so he'd take Kieran's answer as reference.

Then, he realized a 'newbie' like him had started to think about those divine things. He couldn't help but mock himself with a laugh.

'I think I should think about my upcoming plan, not the things that Colin is thinking about!'

"Edatine Castle will be the epicenter of all the problems in the upcoming days, I hope it won't affect me too much!" Borl said with anticipation.

Kieran remained silent.

No one could guarantee things about the future.

Among those he knew, other than Nikorei, the God of Earth, no one could tell for sure. Even Lady Thorn, who had the ability to control 'fate', was able to only peak into the tip of the future.

This particular tip was susceptible to random changes too.

Maybe one day, he too could peak into the tip of the future but compared to all this, Kieran thought it would be better for him to seize the moment.

Unconsciously, Kieran touched [Lord of Mist] in his arms.

New changes occurred to the item.

The rarity and attributes remained the same but in the Effect column, a new one had been added.

[Deceive Contract: You've been treated as the God of Mist, you can use the Lord of Mist to accept a great amount of worship from the worshippers and then give them some rewards (rewards is not limited to actual items)]

...

A decent effect, even in Kieran's eyes.

Although the Mist Sect was still in development and was not suitable to use this effect, this religion would only grow bigger, eventually reaching the ranks of War God Temple and Lady Calamity, or even surpassing the former. Until then, this effect's value would be brought out.

There was strength in numbers.

The saying wasn't without weight.

Maybe Kieran could easily thrash an entire army of ten thousand but when ten thousand men were sent out to search or create something, the assistance could put even Kieran to shame.

Quantity incites qualitative changes.

The golden phrase that lived in Kieran's heart, his mood instantly lifted.

The good mood lasted for a while but his mood would soon be lifted to new heights.