The Devil's Cage

Edatine VI’s heart was ripped out of his chest and displayed before his eyes, yet he did not die right away.

The king displayed a vitality far stronger than normal people.

He tried to reach his hand out and grab his heart but Bloody Mary didn’t give him the chance.

Right after its mocking comment, it clenched its fist.

Pak!

An unusual crushing noise later, the heart was crushed into a pile of meat paste.

Edatine VI’s half lifted hand froze before it fell back down, all the signs of life fading quickly.

At the same time, the already old-looking Edatine VI aged with exponential speed.

That lustrous and elastic skin of his quickly dried up, becoming like tree bark; those bloodshot eyes that people feared dried up completely.

An instant later, the eye balls evaporated, leaving behind two empty eye sockets.

Edatine VI’s hair started to fall off like leaves in autumn. The skin on his face loosened up, as though a layer of skin covered his skull.

His teeth fell off one by one, the tongue in his mouth disintegrating, leaving behind a deep dark throat, similar to the eye sockets.

Many more pagans came out from the dried eye sockets and mouth.

Bloody Mary shook its hand and Edatine VI, who had turned into a mummy, fell to the floor.

Bloody Mary watched the drying process in silence.

“Just like what you expected, boss. The Black Cataclysm didn’t just give birth to Lady Calamity, but this Edatine VI who can control pagans also. What a surprising revelation!”

Exclaiming in its heart, Bloody Mary thought of the guesses its boss provided earlier—

In the age of Gods, the rise of a kingdom would surely attract hatred.

No one would believe that the kingdom rose to prominence all on its own.

At first, Kieran thought it was Silent Night Secret Society due to all the evidence pointing their way.

Since the age of Edatine I to present day, Silent Night Secret Society has had unsevered ties and an equivocal relationship with the Edatine royal court.

The fight between God of War and Lady Calamity further proved that point, if… there was no Black Cataclysm!

Given that the Black Cataclysm had happened and deducing from the initial thought, Edatine royal court must have teamed up with Silent Night Secret Society to set God of War up.

But in the end?

Lady Calamity was born.

The forces of God of War had to shrink down, at least on the outside—the truth was God of War was still the major religion for most of the Northern Lands and reigned powerfully, it didn’t shrink a lot and the size was not much of a difference when compared to its status from before the Black Cataclysm.

Judging from that point, the God of War wasn’t the biggest loser, but there were the Demon Hunters!

The Demon Hunters who existed to protect the people from the evil grasp of the pagans were almost wiped out.

Lady Calamity was undoubtedly the biggest winner in that unusual war; God of War neither lost nor won.

However, the Demon Hunters were the biggest losers, from top to bottom, to the point that they lost everything.

Wasn’t the bleak ending for the Demon Hunters a sight sought after by Edatine royal court at first?

It was!

One thing worth noting was that Kieran had multiple confirmation that Demon Hunters once chased after by Silent Night Secret Society.

As a matter of fact, speaking from a certain perspective, the Demon Hunters were lured into the trap by none other than Silent Night Secret Society.

The equivocal relationship between Silent Night Secret Society and Edatine royal court could also be viewed as an allyship.

Given the circumstances, Kieran had a bold theory: Edatine royal court wanted to erase the Demon Hunters from the books.

With the theory in mind, a very interesting question followed: why did Edatine’s royal court want to erase the Demon Hunters?

Based on how the Demon Hunters worked, other than their eccentric behaviours, they were practically harmless. They could even be of help to Edatine royal court in ruling the Northern Lands.

There was no unconditional love in the world, neither was there an unreasonable hatred.

How did the Demon Hunters spend their time?

Other than training and drinking, they’d spend most of their time ‘hunting’.

Training couldn’t generate hate, neither could drinking, meaning the problem lay with ‘hunting’!

The Demon Hunters hunting monsters and pagans didn’t just stand in the way of the Edatine royal court, they somehow made the royal court hate them to their soul, to the point that the royal court had to devise a plan to erase them all.

The Edatine royal court stood with the pagans!

Kieran got the answer from his theories.

Then, he thought about the pagans that plagued the entire Northern Lands, plus the whispers in the ears, especially the latter which turned out to be very specific ones.

Clue after clue was added into the newly found answer.

In the end, all his findings fueled his answers to a bolder one: could the Edatine royal court have the ability to control the pagans?

It might sound ridiculous and unbelievable but excluding all the impossibilities, the rest would be possible.

After additional thought about how Edatine I built his kingdom, the dots seemed to have connected and started to make sense.

Therefore, before arriving at the banquet, Kieran told Bloody Mary to infiltrate the palace in advance.

He knew the king must have absolute confidence since the invitation was sent to him. Had he stayed unprepared, he would surely be forced into a passive state.

After all, all of this might very well be part of Broker’s plan, an interconnected plan that spanned from Edatine I to Edatine VI.

In simpler words, Broker planted a seed in Edatine I’s era. The seed then took its time to grow, day after day, year after year, spreading and growing further, expanding its coverage and finally during Edatine VI’s era, the seed had turned into an expanse of field and it was time for him to come back to reap what he sowed.

Based on how the big city shortened the time in dungeon worlds, it made perfect sense.

Therefore, Broker had his eyes on Borl.

Given Broker’s old influence in the big city, achieving this wasn’t too difficult.

Broker wanted to create an army of pagans!

Just like how he used to have control over an army of robots!

It was just that this pagan army was much stronger and mysterious.

But now?

Bloody Mary looked at Pride.

Correct, the one who entered the small council room wasn’t Kieran himself, it was Pride, which shared high resemblance to Kieran in terms of presence.

If he had a choice to avoid danger, why wouldn’t he go with it?

Bloody Mary couldn’t retort his boss’ suggestion and at the same time admired its boss.

It also wanted this kind of safe way to do things, but…

Sensing the contract power between itself and its boss, it wisely chose the other option: asking for an hour holiday.

Pride didn’t know what was going through Bloody Mary’s mind, but even if he knew, he wouldn’t care.

Other than his big brother and his little brothers, he wouldn’t even care about anything else. Although this cynical Superior Demon seemed to serve his big brother well as a tool, Pride wouldn’t react differently.

Smile and be friendly? Impossible.

Pride looked asquint at the ‘tool’ and then shifted his attention to the pagan-filled room.

It seemed like this room had a special effect of containing the pagans.

The pagans couldn’t leave the room and couldn’t move freely.

The pagans even maintained their kneeling posture and didn’t change a thing because of Edatine VI’s death.

“The restraint left behind by big brother’s enemy?”

Situations such as the subordinates surpassing the superior obviously wouldn’t occur on that cunning enemy. The cunning enemy was like his big brother, both of them were very cautious.

The cunning merchant had predicted the possible situation during the ‘harvest’.

He also predicted his failure and the outcome where he couldn’t reap his ‘harvest’.

That cunning merchant would never willingly succeed others and waste his own effort.

Therefore, these seemingly obedient and controllable pagans must have a set of insurance installed, not on them, but in the source!

Pride looked at Edatine VI’s body.

The special phantasmal mirage did not fade with Edatine VI’s death, the defense was still strong as ever. Therefore, Pride looked at Bloody mary.

“Me again?” Bloody Mary pointed at itself with its right hand, looking utmost unwilling to comply.

Pride did not say anything, looking at Bloody Mary in silence.

A second later—

“Fine, fine, fine! I get it! I’m inside here anyway.”

Bloody Mary raised its hands up, surrendering to the gaze.

It then started to check Edatine VI’s body, and soon, it found something.

It wasn’t any belongings the king had with him, it was… inside his body.

Bloody Mary wasn’t exactly sharp in this search but it was too obvious for it to miss!

Something red shone through Edatine VI’s dead chest. Without even cutting the body open, Bloody Mary could tell it was a ruby the size of a quail egg.

The ruby must have attached itself to the heart. Now without the heart and the blood all dried up, it revealed itself under Bloody Mary’s sight.

The ruby glowed as if it was breathing.

Under Bloody Mary’s gaze, the ruby floated out from the body into the air right in front of Bloody Mary’s eyes.

It wasn’t exactly weird, but even Bloody Mary felt numb on its scalp.

It was not the situation that was weird, it was the power!

Bloody Mary clearly sensed the weird power contained in the ruby.

Bloody Mary looked at the ruby, then Pride.

Ultimately, again under Pride’s gaze, it reluctantly reached out to the floating ruby.

When its fingertip touched the ruby…

Death arrived!

Immense power blasted out from the ruby and smited Bloody Mary into dust.

Not just once, but ten times continuously!

In less than 2 breath’s time, Bloody Mary died over ten times. It reappeared with a pale look.

It was an undead but its ability wasn’t almighty.

The special energy attack from the ruby exhausted a huge amount of his energy and inflicted substantial pain.

“Recover yourself and continue,” said Pride.

The first half of what Pride said sounded like the melody of heaven, but the second half?

Bloody Mary looked at Pride bitterly.

“Continue? I’ve died 10 times over!” it said.

Pride did not answer, the meaning self-explanatory.

He didn’t believe the enemy of his big brother would only set a single layer of insurance.

He was right.

After Bloody Mary rested for the tenth time, meaning it had died over a hundred times in a short span of time, the strangeness of the ruby faded away and the layer of defense shattered.

However, Pride did not touch that floating ruby, he turned aside and saw Gluttony drooling as he walked out.

Right after he appeared, Gluttony threw himself to the stagnant kneeling pagans and started to munch on them.

“Careful not to choke,” Pride looked at his youngest brother with a pampering look and said softly.

Bloody Mary looked askance at Pride.

When Pride turned around, he returned to his arrogant looks.

“It’s still problematic, just not to us. It must be a trap specifically targeted at players.”

Pride was rather happy as he watched his youngest brother consume the pagans, finding the mood to explain the situation to Bloody Mary.

“I know,” Bloody Mary was no idiot, it knew what kind of methods Broker would use. It was almost impossible for him to not put several layers of defense on the ruby.

Unfortunately, no matter how precise the ruby was, its boss would never touch it himself.

To its boss, an army of pagans was far less important than delicious food, especially when the food could provide him with energy.

Sparing a moment of silence for Broker in its heart, Bloody Mary asked, “What are we going to do next?”

“Follow the plan,” said Pride.

…

Outside the small council room, Monte stood there nervously with sweat all over his forehead.

He already had the thought of escaping, so he wouldn’t stay for long, but sensing the stern gaze from the guardians, Monte couldn’t help but sob in his heart.

It was not that he didn’t want to run, it was that he couldn’t run at all.

Monte was sure that should he run, the guardians would surely draw their swords and kill him.

‘Damn it! Can’t all of you open your eyes to the situation?’

Monte bellowed in his heart and then looked at Borl and Aschen.

These two, a follower and guard of the Demon Hunter, stood still and vigilant since the Demon Hunter went inside the small council room. From evening until night, the two of them didn’t even change pose.

However, their gazes told Monte that they had prepared for the worst case scenario.

Once they got confirmation, they’d surely cause a riot.

Unfortunately, Monte would be the primary target.

He was the weakest anyway.

Seizing him to threaten the guardians would be the best choice.

Though Monte knew that it was wrong. Should he get seized by the two of them, death would follow.

The royal court guardians would kill him together with the two of them without a second thought.

‘I don’t want to die like this! There must be a way! There must be!’

Monte lowered his head and grinded the gears in his mind.

Right at that moment—

Gak Tsk!

The door opened up.

Everyone’s eyes were captivated instantly.

The members of the royal court guardians gripped their weapons tightly and subtly surrounded Borl and Aschen.

They were waiting for the order from the king to slice the two of them into shreds.

But right away, the guardian members were stunned because it was Kieran, the Demon Hunter, who walked out.

More importantly, their king was beside the Demon Hunter, holding his hand tightly. The aged face was filled with prestige, yet looked utterly guilty. His bloodshot eyes looked puffy and redder than before, it seemed like…the king wept?

The Demon Hunter looked very tired, as if he hadn’t slept for a long time or realized some shocking news and couldn’t accept it, hence the exhaustion.

Glancing over their looks, everyone outside got a similar message and were stunned by it.

What happened?

Everyone looked at each other, wondering what happened inside.

While everyone was lost in their own guesses, they heard the king spoke softly.

“Son, you have suffered… I know… what you have endured… I did it for your own safety. I was forced to send you off to your teacher… He? Nevermind, he was just a fluke… you are the real… you must treat this place as your home now… I know it’s difficult for you to accept in such a short time but… don’t worry, I am here, you can rely on me.”

Edatine VI spoke meekly and softly.

Everyone else could only hear bits and pieces but the merciful look on the king’s face was never before seen.

He wasn’t even this merciful when he was with Prince Svenson.

Right away, everyone was drowned by an astonishing fact.

They looked at the Snake Sect Demon Hunter in shock and with furrowed brows, especially Monte.

The vassal who thought he was going to meet his end soon was overjoyed at the scene.

Not only he could live, he seemed to have found his big ‘drumstick’, which he could chew on forever and live a carefree life!

Without a second thought, Monte knelt down on one knee in front of the Snake Sect Demon Hunter.

“Your Highness.”