The Devil's Cage

A big counterattack?

Anderson looked a little absent-minded at the term.

Back when he woke up from that dungeon, he thought of something like this too but as time flew by, everything changed. Especially after the souls of the evil pagans were forcefully poured into his body, his last bit of hope vanished without a trace.

But now?

Anderson sat straight and looked at Kieran.

Kieran emanated a very familiar presence, a presence which only a Demon Hunter would give.

On the contrary, the guy who smiled gave him a very uncomfortable feeling.

If he didn’t know this guy was on his side, he would have stabbed him.

“I will participate in this counterattack! But I need some time, I need to go rescue two of my friends in the dungeon. Miers and Tandeker. They should not have endured such insults.”

Anderson made a promise to Kieran and also voiced his request.

It was very reasonable, so Kieran nodded.

“Sure, but please hurry up. My men can assist you,” said Kieran.

Bloody Mary immediately looked at Anderson with all smiles but Anderson shook his head.

“I’m used to working alone. After I rescue them, I will find you.”

The old Demon Hunter thought of leaving after that and Kieran had no intention of stopping him. Bloody Mary even gave its blessing and wished him all the best.

“I wish you all the best in your rescue attempt.”

Anderson snuck out from the carriage right before the wagon drove out the city gate passage, then hid in the shadows and watched the wagon drive further away before he slightly heaving a breath of relief.

There was no hindrance, meaning the words that he heard were quite trustworthy, plus one of them had the presence of a Demon Hunter…

“Snake Sect, eh?” Anderson muttered in his heart.

He then dashed towards the Central Third Ring district with killer intents hidden in his gaze.

Something must be settled, once and for all.

…

The wagon continued forward, Kieran and Bloody Mary down face to face.

“Boss, did I look askance just now?” Bloody Mary looked at Kieran with an innocent face.

“Em,” Kieran nodded.

“But I woke him up from his crazy state! I am his savior! How can he look at me like that?” Bloody Mary grumbled in an upset tone.

“You are not human,” Kieran spilled out the simple truth with a blunt face.

“…”

Bloody Mary was rendered speechless by the face but millions of words were floating in its heart.

“Don’t underestimate those true Demon Hunters. Even if he was imprisoned for a long time, his instinct is still with him, he can at least differentiate the roots of something,” Kieran reminded his follower.

As the plan unfolded and his follower’s role in all this became more and more important, he wouldn’t want non-essential issues to mess up the entire plan.

“A person who takes his enemies with him to hell is of course scary!”

Bloody Mary couldn’t help but furrow its brows as it recalled the memories it saw in Anderson earlier.

The scene about the unyielding and tenacious Anderson pouring gasoline on himself and running into the fire would never be forgotten by Bloody Mary for the rest of its existence.

Likewise, they too must pay more attention to Silent Night Secret Society, who fought Anderson and emerged the victor.

“Boss, I need to return to the convoy. Although we’ve already gone through the Edatine outpost, I’m afraid that Edatine IV has much more tricks up his sleeves,” suggested Bloody Mary and Kieran nodded in approval.

After a bow at Kieran, Bloody Mary entered its ghost form, sinking into the ground and flying outside of Edatine Castle.

When Kieran sensed Bloody Mary had left Edatine Castle without any hindrance, he shifted his posture and squinted his eyes.

He was recalling the scenes he saw in Anderson’s memories.

What Bloody Mary saw in Anderson’s mind was transmitted to Kieran through the power of the contract and it allowed Kieran to view it more objectively.

With the talent [Memory Palace], it granted Kieran a retentive memory and allowed him to remember anything in a single glance. After watching Anderson’s memories once, he already had quite a clear understanding and knowledge about the once big faction in this dungeon world, the Demon Hunters.

The Demon Hunters usually extended their line through family or teachers.

The former would work together in groups and the latter would be lone rangers.

It also allowed the latter to surpass the former in terms of strength but it wasn’t definite.

According to Anderson’s memories, the Demon Hunters who acquired titles for themselves were not all lone rangers. There were around 40% of Demon Hunters who acquired titles from a group or a family.

The other way was a lone ranger Demon Hunter who had acquired a title and decided to build a family and change his way of operating.

On top of that, the Demon Hunters had many branches throughout the land and they survived by operating in hotels or taverns.

Of course, there was also a headquarters: it was located outside of Edatine Castle, inside the forest beside Yuwen Road, which was the road connected to the south.

Though it should have fallen a long time ago.

What caught Kieran’s attention the most was the power the Demon Hunters possessed.

For example, Anderson’s teacher, that crippled and retired old Demon Hunter, was undoubtedly a powerhouse in the Advanced Rank. He even had secret techniques which allowed him to perform explosive actions in split seconds; such power would be enough to turn eyes.

Next would be the high ranks of the Demon Hunters.

From normal Advanced Rank to rank IV, there were more than 5 rank IV Demon Hunters in the higher ranks; there were more than 20 Advanced Rank Demon Hunters.

What Kieran saw was just part of Anderson’s memories, he had no idea whether or not there were more powerhouses hiding there. Kieran clearly noticed that Anderson’s memories were incomplete, and the most crucial point of all, were the ‘man’s voice’.

Regardless of what he heard or saw, it seemed like there were some kind of restrictions implied, hence it was forced to change.

‘A spy from Silent Night Secret Society,’ Kieran thought.

The appearance of this voice and the fragmented memories of Anderson was enough to let Kieran deduce that Silent Night Secret Society didn’t simply target the Demon Hunters all of a sudden, it should have been planned a long time ago.

As for why?

The pagans!

Silent Night Secret Society had many pagan’s souls at their control, they were even using the souls to perform experiments, experiments that involved live human subjects.

This undoubtedly had gone against the beliefs of the Demon Hunters.

Protection on one side and destruction on the other.

It was fair to call the society and the hunters archenemies.

Given how Silent Night Secret Society operated, it wasn’t all that strange for them to strike preemptively.

The strange thing was taht after the society eliminated their biggest foe and achieved victory, they went silent too.

One thing worth taking note of was that the society did not clutch at the victory, they truly won in a landslide victory over the hunters. They had no reason and no need to rest up.

Based on how they operated in the past, they should have gone all out and reaped the fruits of victory boldly and resolutely, not go back into hiding and laying dormant for so long.

Unless…

“Lady Calamity?”

Kieran’s index finger tapped twice on the arm of his chair then squinted his eyes slightly.

It was without a doubt that Lady Calamity was the key factor in the entire incident.

Regardless of Edatine’s royal court or the Demon Hunters, or even Silent Night Secret Society, everything revolved around her but Kieran had extremely limited info on her.

The identity of Mist was too widely known and the identity of a Demon Hunter from Snake Sect was too sensitive.

Maybe he should search for a better and milder entry point?

While Kieran was in thought, the wagon slowed down.

Borl knocked on the window.

“Colin, we are here.”

Kieran opened the door after that.

He sized up his surroundings and went to confirm their whereabouts.

They should be in the passage between the Central Third Ring and Lower Seven Ring.

Edatine Castle, from bottom to top, had a total of 17 rings. The lower 7 rings were the civilian district, the central three rings were commercial and the upper 7 belonged to the nobles. A military camp was also established in every ring and the patrolling soldiers were on duty almost all the time, especially the entrance of every single ring, where there were at least 30 soldiers on guard duty at the entrance at all times. The numbers rose to 50 at the upper 7 rings entrance.

Standing here, Kieran looked outside the city gate.

His spot allowed him to clearly see the passage of the city gate, which was still crowded as ever, the real city gate was absent from sight though.

Other than that, following Kieran’s watch, his sharp perception picked up several gazes on him from the soldiers on guard at the Central Third Ring’s entrance.

“A sharpshooter is hidden among them?” Kieran talked to himself.

He played along and kept away his own gaze, then sized up the place which he would be living for the next couple of days or a week or two.

A three story building.

The door had two planks and opened on both sides, the wide living hall inside was visible through the seam. The first floor had a total of 8 windows—3 windows on the left, 5 on the right. The second floor had 12 and the third had a balcony. The third floor had only 6 windows as the rest of the space was for the balcony.

Standing at Kieran’s spot, he was able to clearly see the pine trees planted on the balcony.

The dark green pine trees had great resistance to the cold, they could even survive in the northern winter and it’s strong life power brought a different color to others.

Especially in this hotel, where the main building was built with a mix of wood and stone, coupled with fading orange tiles and garnished with a dash of green, one would easily feel comfortable by looking at it.

The signage on the hotel would also leave an impression: it was in the shape of a carrot and its name was… Carrot.

“Don’t worry, this hotel might sound weird but it is very reliable. The beef they offer is quite decent too,” explained Borl.

“Carrot braised beef belly?” Kieran asked.

He then pushed the door to go inside.

Right after he entered the hotel, Kieran sharply noticed the gaze on him went away but he was a little disappointed.

The hotel had the smell of steak but not braised beef.

Though soon enough, as the black pepper and the sizzling steak collided, the smell it produced captured Kieran’s attention.

While Borl was arranging their rooms and settling their wagon with the hotel owner, Kieran already ordered one for himself, the hotel waiter recommending the signature black pepper steak to him.

The steak chosen wasn’t the best but it was quite substantial.

The edge was seared to perfection, it locked the juice inside and wasn’t overcooked.

The side dish was… a carrot.

It was sliced and placed beside the plate, half boiled and half raw. The spoon was used to scoop up the gravy to draw a beautiful arc around the empty space of the plate.

Kieran used his fork to dip a little bit of gravy for a taste and the taste of mushrooms spread on his tongue.

“Not bad,” commented Kieran.

Being able to taste food cooked by a decently skilled chef in a random hotel, what else would be happier than this?

It would be… eating 10 servings of this steak!

After Borl arranged everything, he returned to the dining area and saw the stacked up plates in front of Kieran. His heart throbbed ferociously.

Although he had a premonition that it would go down like this, when he truly saw the scene for himself, it was still quite hard for him to handle.

The expenses in Edatine Castle were totally different from Sicar City.

The food tasted better and was more delicate looking, meaning the price would also be more expensive.

Fortunately, the Carrot Hotel that he had chosen was situated in the passage between the civilian and commercial district, not the passage between the commercial and noble district, otherwise…

He would probably go broke.

With gratitude for surviving a disaster in his heart, Borl also ordered two servings of steak from the waiter.

Right before his bodyguard, Aschenkano, ordered another 10 servings for himself, Borl stuffed one plate to him.

“This is Edatine Castle, not the outskirts of Mozaar or the transfer hub Sicar City. The expenses here are not what you can imagine. Given how much I pay for your salary, should you eat without limit, three to five days later, we would be in debt. If you don’t want to eat charcoal bread for the rest of the days, try to keep the expenses in check,” Borl told his bodyguard.

Aschenkano then looked at Kieran and the highly stacked plates.

“Colin is different from us,” Borl explained.

Dare he reject Kieran?

Please be reasonable, he is the Flaming Devil!

He didn’t want to be a human torch and get burned into cinders.

Follow the heart’s option in front of death, it was the way of survival.

Borl branded it in his mind.

As for Aschenkano?

The bodyguard was exceptionally easy to persuade, he didn’t complain at all and after finishing the steak, he went out to buy charcoal bread.

He was not yet full, and since he had sent a big portion of his money to his adopted father Mona, all he could settle for was the basic food, like bread.

“8 Copper Krak? Wasn’t it 7? Are you trying to trick me?”

Aschenkano remembered some of the price of the goods that Borl told him before, so when the price differed from his initial expectation, the bodyguard reacted exactly like a person from outskirts Mozaar, he widened his eyes and clenched his fist, his reaction was saying if he couldn’t get a satisfying explanation, he would punch the seller.

“It was 7 Copper Krak for a whole loaf of charcoal bread two weeks ago, but that was 2 weeks ago. Now it’s Copper Krak, and if you weren’t staying at my place, I would have charged you 8.5 Copper krak.”

A short old man with a goatee and white hair came out and stood in front of his frightened nephew, explaining to Aschenkano.

“Really?” Aschenkano turned around to Borl instinctively.

Borl nodded.

The old man was the owner of Carrot, Old Hank, and beside him was his nephew from his hometown, Little Hank. Borl found out about their identities when he was arranging the rooms.

While he was arranging the rooms, he also verified that Old Hank was indeed a good person, as it was rumoured.

Borl didn’t flatter Old Hank’s character just because Old Hank gave him a 5% discount on the lodging fees.

“I’m sorry, my bodyguard is a little rash, but he is a good person.”

Borl came over and explained with smiles, even tapping Little Hank’s shoulder a few times.

After he saw Little Hank look better, Borl immediately offered to buy Old Hank a drink.

Looking at the rather empty hotel lobby, Old Hank did not reject.

Naturally, Borl and Old Hank returned to Kieran’s table and Aschenkano followed Little Hank into the kitchen for his charcoal bread.

“The price of goods this year is really surprising, who knew even charcoal bread would get a price raise,” Borl clinked his glass with Old Hank then drained it to the last drop and grumbled lowly.

Old Hank also finished the drink in a single gulp without any hesitation.

A red flush immediately appeared on the old man’s face.

Edatine Castle’s alcohol was the traditional liquor of the Northern Land.

The liquor was brewed with potatoes and grains, pungent and spicy but loved by the Northerners who lived in the harsh cold, including Old Hank.

“It can’t be helped. In the previous years, the nobles would have gone south right now and stayed there for the winter. Together with their servants and those leeches that suck the blood out of the nobles, at least a quarter of Edatine’s population would go away, but not this year. After His Majesty issued the new decree, people could buy a dukeship with money now and the decree stated that all nobles must be present to witness the ceremony. Therefore, these migrant birds stayed behind and had a good meal every day. On a related note, the price of goods had gone up but it also retained a lot of work for the people here. It’s neither good or bad I guess.”

Old Hand, a native to Edatine Castle, had sufficient understanding of the situation in the city.

His mind was also very clear, conversing in a style unlike other small establishment owners, which was exactly what Borl needed.

He treated Old Hank a second drink.

“What do you think about the new decree?” asked Borl.

“I guess the king is running low on money.”

Old Hank laughed, placing his empty glass on the table, and before Borl could treat him another cup, he walked back to the counter and took a whole bottle of alcohol out.

“On the house,” Old Hank said as he poured Borl a glass.

He then poured himself one and finished it in one gulp again.

Three continuous glasses of liquor later, the old man’s conversation switch was turned on.

He talked to Borl in a straightforward manner.

“Do you know the war in the south? We won but the gain were not as much as we imagined, and our king eagerly placed his eyes on the islands in the south. Our overambitious king wants to achieve the achievements that his predecessors failed to achieve during his reign. And every single war required a substantial amount of money, especially when we don’t have enough time to rest. It made money extra important. You are asking me what I think of the new decree? What can I think about it? I don’t have the money to buy it.”

The old man then lied down on the table after a quick wobble.

Borl, whose face flushed, made sure that the old man was drunk before quickly carrying him into the kitchen.

A series of messy noises followed after they went into the kitchen.

From the start to the end, Kieran was a listener, not minding Borl playing his little tricks.

As a matter of fact, Kieran was always fond of using the least cost to get the biggest gains.

Of course, Kieran reserved his opinion at Old Hank’s comment claiming that the king was overambitious.

Based on how patient and secretive the king was during his younger days, Edatine VI was surely not an overambitious person.

Though it was hard to say for sure, since those people would stay the same through the changes of time.

Still, Kieran had other thoughts in his mind.

“While God of War and Lady Calamity were in a weird stalemate, he moved on to the islands in the south so that he could get away from the epicenter of the war, then expanded his forces further!”

With that guess in mind, Kieran was thinking about how he could seize an opportunity in all of this.

Then, a well-dressed servant came in from the outside.

When he saw Kieran, his eyes showing a gleam, he bowed.

“Good day sir, may I know are you Sir Colin?”

“Yes,” Kieran replied coldly and shortly at the stranger’s question.

“I am a messenger from Horton House, Young Master Kuer wants to invite you to dinner tonight,” said the servant respectfully.

Kieran frowned a little, instinctively wanting to reject because he did not like participating in a stranger’s dinner, especially when he might run into other strangers.

Though soon enough, Kieran changed his mind, because…

“Young Master Kuer has invited Snow Owl Candy House, Moose Pastry Maker, and the chef from Gray Bear Restaurant to cater the dinner.”

Kieran thought he should answer to the sincere invitation, so…

“Okay,” Kieran replied firmly.