The Devil's Cage

Panda Novel

Aibull slowly turned around.

He saw a mouth, an extremely big mouth with unrivalled suction force that was going to eat him!

Aibull wanted to fight back, but the suction force was unfathomable to him.

Like sucking jelly with a piece of straw, the big mouth sucked Aibull inside, together with Sucking Snow.

Sucking Snow got sucked in even quicker because it didn’t even resist.

The disappearance of both pagans did not attract attention from the convoy.

Everything happened too quickly!

That big mouth closed up and puckered its lips as though it enjoyed the taste very much.

Though even after devouring two pagans, the rumbling drum of a starving stomach sounded ceaselessly.

It had just eaten something yet it was still hungry.

…

Kieran sat in the wagon with a piece of pastry in his hand.

It wasn’t from Anan Hotel but baked by the famous pastry shop in Sicar, Lilise Bakery. It was golden on the outside and it tasted like a cookie when bitten.

‘Crunchy and sweet, too bad there isn’t any cream or chocolate,’ Kieran commented.

Likewise Gluttony to the food that he ate.

A pagan almost reaching descension and a weaker pagan tasted very crispy and the taste was okay, but it was not much of a meal.

“Don’t worry, there is much more than what you just ate,” Kieran smiled and assured Gluttony.

Deep inside Kieran’s heart, after getting the assurance from his big brother, Gluttony nodded repeatedly, the drool flinging up and down as his head nodded strongly, making it wave like noodles being stretched into a shape.

Gluttony never doubted his big brother and never cared what his big brother was doing, all he had to do was follow his big brother wherever he went.

Kieran tossed the last piece of pastry into his mouth and then picked up the cup of tea.

The warm tea carried the crunched pastry from his mouth to his stomach.

The refreshing aromatic taste replaced the surfeit of sweetness, also prolonging the sweetness in a sense that it didn’t linger on the tongue. Savouring the sweetness, Kieran unconsciously thought about the pastries that Starbeck baked himself.

It was not that the pastries from Lilise Bakery weren’t good, but compared to Starbeck’s, it was more than a little lackluster, miles apart.

While he was thinking of the pastries, Kieran took out the [Lord of Mist].

Gluttony devoured the pagans on Kieran’s behalf yet it did not affect the evolution of [Lord of Mist].

After all, from a certain aspect, Gluttony was born from a part of his desires, so technically speaking, both of them were the same.

Hence, after consuming two more pagans and absorbing their traits, [Lord of Mist] evolved again.

After going through multiple evolutions, [Lord of Mist] was still the size of a palm but the crystal was glistening and clear, like it was the best looking crystal around and after it absorbed the power of the two pagans, it even gleamed faintly, like the brightest diamond under the light.

More importantly, the overall attributes of [Lord of Mist] went through drastic changes.

[Name: Lord of Mist]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Rarity: III+]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: III+]

[Attribute: 1. Mist Control; 2 Poison Mist Assault; 3. Snow and Rain Assault; 4. Acid Rain Assault; 5. Flora Communication; 6. Fauna Summon]

[Effect: 1.Land of Sicar 2. Edatine Castle Border; 3. Reply; 4. Bless; 5. Deceive Contract]

[Prerequisite: Bound to you who performed all perfect kill]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remarl: A product of an accident during the Black Cataclysm. Unlike how your predecessor crudely used it, its true potential is being brought out in your hands. After a perfect kill, you started to gain total control over it and with the following perfect kill, it is bound to you and you only. You can use it like your own arm and you can perceive the title that it brings you. And now, you have brought it on a new journey, it is growing on you.]

…

[Mist Control: Summon a 500 meter radius mist and shroud everything in sight, 2/day]

[Poison Mist Assault: Induce Poison to the targets caught by the mist, targets will have to go through three times A- rank Constitution authentication. Targets who fail all three times will be inflicted with lethal poison damage; targets who fail twice will be inflicted with Powerful poison damage; targets that fail once will be inflicted with Strong poison attack; targets who pass all three will be immune but still trapped in the mist.]

[Icy Air Assault: Able to create Weak, Average, or Strong freeze attack inside the mist, the icy air cannot go outside the mist’s range]

[Snow and Rain Assault: Able to call upon the normal rain or snow inside the mist, or cast a Weak, Average or Strong acid rain or hailstorm, the cast effect cannot go outside the mist’s range.]

[Flora Communication; Able to communicate and control floral in the mist, the number of controlled targets cannot exceed your Spirit limit (50 for Advanced Rank, +25 for each rank)]

[Fauna Summon, able to communicate and control animals in the mist, the number of controlled targets cannot exceed your Spirit Limit (50 small animal, 25 medium-sized animal, 10 big-sized animal, one large animal for Advanced rank, +25 for small animal, +10 for medium-sized animal, +5 for big-sized animal and +1 for large animal for each rank (animal smaller than a rat is considered as 3 times the number of small animals)]

…

[Land of Sicar: Within the Land of Sicar, the title of Mist has become one-of-a-kind and you, who possess the Lord of Mist, can move natural mist at will and induced them with poison, ice, and rain, control flora and fauna inside the mist is also possible (unable to exceed the range of the poison mist, icy air, acid rain, snow, hailstorm, control of flora and fauna +1 level), but it will consume your stamina accordingly.]

[Reply: You are treated as the God of Mist, you can use the Lord of Mist to reply simply to the prayers of your believers. It will consume your stamina accordingly.]

[Bless: Inside the Land of Sicar, when your believers pray to you, you can consume stamina to bless them with the Blessing of Mist (Blessing of Mist: provide resistance against poison, ice, acid) wherever mist is visible, or provide a blessing to your teammates (communicate with flora and fauna in a short period of time); you can also bless them with Blessing of Bloodthirsty (depends on how devoted the believer is during the short period of time), the blessed will be enhanced with 100% Strength, damaged received decreased 50%, able to absorb the blood of enemy to replenish own life.]

[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)]

……

From an Etcetera item to a Wonder Item.

Increase of rarity, enhancement of attributes and effects, all these signs pointed out to Kieran that [Lord of Mist] had gone through a thorough change.

Especially when the Remark has a sentence like this ‘And now, you have brought it on a new journey, it is growing on you’, it allowed Kieran to branch out his thoughts even more.

It was obvious that [Lord of Mist] was different from other items. It was a special one, an item that could continuously evolve.

As long as Kieran could continue to devour those pagans, evolving [Lord of Mist] to rank V wasn’t impossible!

On top of that, and more importantly, the Power of Faith that [Lord of Mist] gathered from the worshippers and the feedback to Kieran were converted by Gluttony into the pure energy, which allowed the Origin Forces in his body to operate even more livelier. Although it couldn’t reach exponential growth, it grew substantially and Kieran could feel it because he clearly felt the darkness and chaos in his mind dissipating away, only slower than his Origin Force’s growth speed.

Moreover, this was just Sicar and its surroundings.

What if… the name of Mist spread into Edatine Castle, or even to the entire Northern Land?

His Origin Forces would probably grow at an astounding speed, and until then…

Could [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Art] break through its original limits?

Kieran remembered what the old knight said before about an advanced rank of the skill.

Other than that, there was [Knights of Plague Body Tempering Art]!

The faint feeling of connection could not escape Kieran’s attention.

Similar to how he looked forward to when the darkness and chaos in his mind was completely cleared off, what would happen then?

The thought of it excited him!

Kieran was sighing on his own but the sighs did not muddle his sight or make him feel lost.

What he had in his mind was thoughts for the medium and long term plans.

Suddenly, Kieran sensed something and lifted his head up.

He activated [Tracking] at that instant and then he saw the carriage disappear from his sight.

What was left around him was a wicked misty presence.

The mist was thin yet seemingly endless, as it accumulated and dissipated. It felt like the rise and fall of the tides but Kieran didn’t pay attention to the wicked presence, his eyes looking further away.

At the farthest point which his eyes could reach, a rampaging and powerful yet destructive aura was causing loud bangs, like a thunderous clap.

Further away from said presence was another presence, as still as dead water, silently releasing its coldness to the area.

These two presences were quite far away from each other, yet the confrontation between the two was obvious.

God of War!

Lady Calamity!

Kieran almost instantaneously identified their identities, and after that, Kieran corrected the mistake that he made during his first glance.

“No, it wasn’t a confrontation! It should be what’s left after a short engagement.”

Recalling the information that he had collected recently, Kieran was very sure of it.

After the identification, Kieran didn’t continue [Tracking] anymore, returning to normal sight and letting go of [Lord of Mist].

He returned to the carriage immediately and in front of him was Borl, who seized the free time to catch up with some sleep.

Kieran adjusted his posture to feel the soft comfort of the cushion behind his back before he started to analyze and recall what happened in that vision.

It wasn’t the real God of War or Lady Calamity, it was just what was left of them, but even so, the lingering presence was very close to rank V. It was enough to raise alarm in Kieran’s heart.

The lingering presence was at rank V, so what would the true self rank be?

At least rank VI!

Facing off against a possible rank VI unknown enemy, Kieran dared not be careless. And with the uniqueness of the dungeon world, who could guarantee that those two didn’t have any special tricks hidden up their sleeves?

So, leaving before he got noticed would be the best choice.

Though a quick glimpse allowed Kieran to realize a lot more.

Other than how powerful and how evenly matched they were against each other, the conflict and hostility between God of War and Lady Calamity was deeper than he thought.

And the cause of the conflict and hostility seemed to be… him, roaming freely outside the battle.

It seemed like God of War and Lady Calamity hoped for him to join this ongoing war, not as an outsider, but as a reinforcement to either side, so that the side he joined could fight back against the opposite and obtain the final victory.

“So this is the chance you are looking for?” Kieran muttered to himself.

It was obvious that if he did not come into this dungeon world, Broker would take his place and probably face the same situation.

Given Kieran’s understanding of Broker, the cunning merchant would not be satisfied by being a mere ‘reinforcement’ for either one of them.

In short, Broker would surely join either one and then become the final benefactor from all this.

Kieran believed he had the ambition and capabilities to achieve it.

Besides that, Broker’s setups and schemes would be worth it if it was for the two potential rank VI existences.

Kieran unconsciously extended his right and index finger, tapping on the table softly.

As always, every time he tapped his finger, it meant that Kieran had run into some problems.

Although the theory he came up with made sense and sounded reasonable, Kieran always had the feeling that Broker had something more than what meets the eye planned ahead.

Uncontrollably, Kieran started to recall the few times that he encountered Broker, especially Broker’s appearance from his ‘diving’ state in the Unique Title Dungeon [Blade of the Daybreaker].

Everything seemed reasonable, everything seemed to follow a logical train of thought.

However, when Kieran connected the reasonable setups at hand and the logical performances from before together, his brows furrowed together tightly.

Could the gains from two at least rank VI natives really compensate Broker’s loss?

Or in a more accurate way, could Broker ignore everything in the big city after he acquired the gains from these two at least rank VI natives?

The answer tended to lean towards no due to the fact that Broker would never kill the God of War and Lady Calamity openly, and from there, perfectly acquire all the gains from two at least rank VI natives.

If Broker had this kind of power, it wouldn’t be necessary for him to go ‘diving’ for so long and set up to this extent. He could have just walked out of his door and killed all those who opposed him and then conquered the entire game.

If the theory wasn’t plausible, why would Broker still do it?

He was obviously not a person who liked losing on purpose.

“Which means… there is still something I don’t know in this world?”

Kieran’s fingers stopped, following his pause in thinking.

He turned his gaze to outside the window, the first light slowly shining on the horizon.

Under the rising sun, a big area of buildings and houses faintly appeared in the woods further away.

“We have reached the military camp of Sicar!” said Borl after he opened his eyes from his catnap and saw the scene.

…

Splat!

A mouth of blood spewed out uncontrollably from Broker’s mouth.

He took the white linen handkerchief from Registrar Zorl and carefully wiped his mouth.

The white handkerchief being dyed red raised worries on Zorl’s face.

“Sir?” Zorl asked in an attempt to find out about his master’s condition.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. But that woman, does she really think she can control all of this?”

Broker smiled coldly and then stood up, walking outside.

“Sir, where are you going?” Zorl asked after being denied the following.

“To see an old friend.”

After leaving such words behind, Broker strode out of the door and quickly vanished from sight.