The Devil's Cage

The light sword swept across everything, freezing even the air.

Everyone was stupefied as they looked at everything that was cut in half before their eyes, including Anderson and Sivalka.

Powerful!

Much more powerful than any Dark Hall priests that he had ever met. A very straightforward impression popped up in Sivalka’s mind.

Anderson was different though, he saw more.

‘Nearing a demi-god?’ muttered the old Demon Hunter, his stunned look quickly returning to normal because he had seen powerhouses nearing a demi-god level, more than one to be exact.

His teacher and several of his once comrades were able to reach this level. Even he, should he go all out, could reach a similar level.

However… Snake Sect was much stronger than expected!

The old hunter looked at Kieran’s youthful face and uncontrollably heaved a breath of relief.

Although age wasn’t an absolute factor among the Demon Hunters, the stronger the young ones, other than the natural gifts, the more powerful his teacher or family was.

This was good news to the old Demon Hunter, who was in desperate need of power right now! No matter what the source of the power was, Wolf Sect or Snake Sect.

The old hunter’s judgmental gaze had a trace of kindness.

Kieran sensed the change of gaze but he didn’t express himself further. He nodded at Anderson, then walked to the side.

The majority of the monsters in the slums were just sliced in half by his light sword and those remaining, restless pagans were gone. However, in the corners and alleys, the infected monsters were still at large, he had to go clean them up.

His action would fit his identity as Snake Sect Demon Hunter.

As for the minor change of gaze in the old Demon Hunter?

Expected. All he needed to do was follow the steps planned ahead.

The old Demon Hunter saw Kieran cleaning up the remaining ‘pests’, joining immediately and observing Kieran constantly. He saw how quick and clean the techniques were and the ability to predict the enemies’ next move, Anderson nodding again.

“You’ve been through the complete Demon Hunter training and learned the techniques and others, otherwise you wouldn’t be this familiar with the monsters’ habits. Able to be calm and deal with the situation with a clear mind, it seemed like you’ve passed the Green Grass and Summer Branch tests with flying colors. What a young man,” commented the old hunter.

Sivalka didn’t spare further attention to the two of them, squeezing himself into the crowd and seeing Ellie, who hid behind her sister Erin. After seeing Sivalka, the little girl finally had a trace of color returned to her pale face.

“Uncle, are you okay?” asked the little girl.

“Mm. I was attending some other business, I didn’t go into Cripple Inn,” Sivalka nodded, explained.

“That’s good, that’s good,” mumbled the little girl.

The tears that pooled up in her eyes rolled down uncontrollably.

She thought of her mother, of those she could never see again.

Perhaps she was still very young, so she didn’t know a lot of things but the feeling of losing someone was purer than ever, there weren’t any gains or benefits mixed up in it.

She wept silently, remembering when her father passed and she cried out loud, her mother scolding and beating her fiercely, telling her not to cry.

Now, her mother was not around but she remembered the lesson.

A soft hand wiped the tears away from the little girl.

Elli looked at her sister.

“There are a lot of people here, don’t cry. You can cry when there’s no people around, I’ll be with you,” Erin said in a mellow voice.

Erin felt the miracle from God after her prayers were answered, but…

The miracle did not make Erin feel good or acknowledge herself more outstanding than others, she still felt bad, hurt, and in pain, missing her mother and those she once knew.

Though she would not hate the miracle, she thanked it with her heart. Because of it, she lived, so she thought of repaying the life-saving debt.

Even though the God that just saved her required none of that, she thought it was what she should do and her mother once said: all debts must be paid.

“Hello, are you Lord Mist’s emissary?” Erin asked Sivalka.

“Mist? I have heard of his name, but I am not an emissary.”

Sivalka shook his head honestly. He really wanted to admit but as a Dark Hall deacon, he knew what the consequences of impersonating a God’s emissary were, especially when said God was at its prime.

Even though his work as a Dark Hall deacon had nothing worthy of his reminiscence, it allowed him to understand something more than the normal folks.

And right away, Sivalka was glad that he did not say ‘yes’.

“Excuse me, you are looking for me?” A voice came from behind the crowd.

Bloody Mary, in Simon’s look, came out with a warm and kind smile, its eyes tender. Anyone who exchanged a gaze would feel refreshed and would intuitively feel relaxed.

He was exactly like the preacher than the books described!

Sivalka commented as such.

Back in the Dark Hall, Sivalka had seen a lot of preachers but none were comparable to the one before his eyes.

Regardless of looks or bearing, the distance between was too far away.

When Bloody Mary walked past Sivalka, Sivalka couldn’t help but bow.

It was an intuitive habit that he cultivated in Dark Hall.

Before he realized it, Bloody Mary had laid its hand over his head.

“Thank you for what you’ve done for the sect.”

The words he uttered were no different from those preachers than he knew off, but when it came out from this ‘Simon’s’ mouth, it planted a different feeling in Sivalka: sincerity!

Sincerity that he never before felt!

Sivalka looked up at Bloody Mary, while the latter pointed at the two little girls.

Sivalka instantly realized what Bloody Mary was referring to, worries following right after.

“The Mist religious sect seems to think highly of Elli and Erin, is there any problem?”

Sivalka couldn’t help but curl up his hands into fist as he heard some insider news.

“Do not worry, neither should you be anxious about it. The Mist is here to protect, nothing else.”

As though Bloody Mary read Sivalka’s mind, it said with a smile before walking further to Erin.

A short encounter earlier in the evening left an impression on Bloody Mary, it remembered the sharp little girl.

Although there were many discomforts, this little girl was worthy for it to strike.

Whether for itself or for the need to ease up the situation in Edatine Castle for its boss.

“Hello. Lord emissary, I am Erin,” the little girl held her little sister’s hand and introduced herself.

“You can call me Simon, all of you can.”

Bloody Mary then went on stage and gave its best performance according to what it had rehearsed.

Everything felt so skilled and easy.

Kieran turned away after a quick glimpse at his best follower. He knew no one else could best Bloody Mary in its own game.

Not even himself, he couldn’t be as natural as the Superior Demon.

Every living being had its own traits, Kieran would never deny that. Similar to how he barely solves matters with his own hands after owning a plethora of followers.

What he should do was place the respective followers in fields they were skilled at.

Just like how he was looking at God of War and Lady Calamity, going after the big boss was what he should be focusing on.

Pawn versus pawn, rook versus rook, and king versus king.

However, the response from God of War and Lady Calamity somehow went over Kieran’s expectation.

Both Gods were still fighting, similar to before.

The situation was considered weird. Based on what Kieran knew about Gods, even if they were shackled down and couldn’t spare a moment, they would have shown some signs when Kieran invaded their turf righteously.

“Is there something that I don’t know of? Or… they care nothing about Edatine Castle?” Kieran’s thoughts started to expand further.

It was natural that when Edatine Castle came into his mind, he thought of that kind, Edatine VI.

The Lower Seven Ring and the Upper Seven Ring were quite far apart, it was an undeniable fact, but up until now, not a single soldier showed up. It was extremely strange.

Plus the silence from the two fighting Gods.

Everything instantly became interesting.

“What else is there that I don’t know?” Kieran frowned slightly.

An unknown situation would always invoke Kieran’s vigilance, especially when Broker, that cunning merchant, was involved.

Kieran kept having this feeling that something else was hiding in this dungeon world, otherwise it wouldn’t seem right.

“According to Broker’s habits, if he had to have a cover for his schemes, there would at least be an obvious one and a secret one. The obvious cover would be very straightforward; the secret one would make everyone think that that is his real goal. After these two layers of cover, there would be his true goal. Now the obvious cover is Borl. Theorize using Borl’s position, the secret cover would be expanding the Mist to Sicar. Then… is he using the Mist to seize Edatine Castle?” Kieran put himself in Broker’s shoes and pondered it from his perspective.

Quickly, he shook his head.

The Mist seizing Edatine Castle would certainly be a trend. In short, as long as Broker became the Mist, it would surely happen.

Hold on!

Just before Kieran discarded the thought, he thought of something else: Broker’s habit of hiding his true goal.

What else would be more suitable than hiding the true goal behind either the obvious or secret cover?

Intuitively, Kieran touched the Lord of Mist that he had with him.

This was just a theory.

The other theory would be… Borl.

Or more precisely, the likes of Borl.

What if Broker designed a launching board? Or had hidden another launching board?

Up until this point, Kieran couldn’t help but squint his eyes.

Then, the old Demon Hunter came over.

“Edatine VI is much more ruthless and cold-blooded than he looks. He’s acting like his ancestors now. This bastard, it wouldn’t be strange if he really did something outrageous.”

The old Demon Hunter seemed to have misunderstood something, but Kieran didn’t explain.

“What are you doing to do with these people?” Anderson pressed the question.

“The people from the Mist religious sect will come and settle them down, I’m not good at this,” replied Kieran.

Anderson nodded without commenting.

He was an action-taker, he was good at fighting enemies. Likewise, he too was not good at settling people after a disaster. As a matter of fact, during the prime of Wolf Sect, there were specialists who would come over and take care of things.

Now?

He was almost alone, so he was not capable of bearing the burden.

At the same time, the thought in his mind strengthened itself and was almost at the verge of erupting: rebuild Wolf Sect!

Of course Anderson knew it was a heavy undertaking, there was much still remaining to be done, it wouldn’t build itself with a word or two.

He would at least… need some Gold Purton and a safe location.

Fortunately and coincidentally, Snake Sect had those things.

“Young man, I want to have a talk with you, an honest and frank talk,” said the old Demon Hunter.

“Sure, but not now,” said Kieran.

“Of course,” Anderson smiled widely.

Both of them knew they would have to face the wrath of Edatine VI next.

Considering the king’s reputation, the ‘revenge’ wouldn’t be outright taken out on them, they still had to be prepare for what’s coming.

Anderson would at least have to move his two severely tortured Demon Hunter friends from Carrot Hotel to a safer place.

The old Demon Hunter walked side by side with Kieran as they headed back to Carrot Hotel.

Anderson was going back for his old friends and Kieran had something to tell Borl.

It was what their cooperation was built on in the first place.

…

Inside the palace, Edatine VI quietly listened to his men reporting to him about the incident that broke out in the slums of the Lower Seven Ring. He subtly waved his hand.

The reporting soldier immediately bowed and exited the council hall.

The king was left alone after the soldier left. He stood up all of a sudden.

The king had the height and physique of a Northerner, tall and fit. Despite his face having aged, his back was straight as a pole as he stood in the council hall. He looked up at the ceiling with an obscure gaze.

A few minutes later, a series of footsteps came.

There wasn’t an announcement.

Marquis Horton walked in straight away.

“Your Majesty,” the old marquis greeted and saluted his king.

“Our plan has failed,” said Edatine VI brazenly.

“This is just the test phase of our plan, a single failure doesn’t affect or mean anything. To be honest, we haven’t failed at all. As long as this incident is out there, victory will eventually be ours,” said the old marquis with a meaningful smile.

“Yes, you are right. As long as it happens, victory will be ours. Unfortunately, we are unable to accomplish the whole plan within a single stroke,” Edatine VI sighed in a slight regretful tone.

“Yes, that is unfortunate. Those Demon Hunters always appear at the wrong time and wrong place.”

“Sire, do you need me to…”

“No need to. The Demon Hunters aren’t out enemies. Quite the opposite, they are our natural allies from the beginning,” Edatine VI waved his hand.

“You are saying?” The old marquis looked up, he saw the smile on the king’s face and the sudden realization hit him.

After that, the old marquis left the council hall.

Another half an hour later, a squad of royal court guardians appeared outside of Carrot Hotel.

A palace attendant arrived together with the squad, bearing the decree from the king—

“Snake Sect Demon Hunter Colin is credited for the elimination of the pagans wreaking havoc in the slums. He is now conferred as duke by His Majesty Edatine VI.”