The Devil's Cage

Panda Novel

When hungry, the smell of fried chicken was the utmost temptation.

Even Anderson, who had a title for himself in the past, fell into a daze for a moment.

Though at the next moment, the Hunting Knife came back to his senses. He gripped his dagger tight and was ready to take down this approaching figure.

As for killing the figure directly?

He didn’t sense any malicious intents from the figure, therefore he had no intention of killing.

However, Horlaika was quicker.

“Snake Sect.”

Right before Anderson striked, Horlaika spoke softly to him and at the same time displayed a hand gesture only few Demon Hunters understood.

“Snake Sect?” Anderson was shocked.

Horlaika didn’t care about the surprise, he quickly pulled out the fried chicken that he bought from the market.

Although he had no idea why his teacher wanted him to deliver the fried chicken to Anderson, Horlaika did not question anything, as his teacher must have his own planning.

He would just have to listen and do as he was ordered.

When Horlaika put his hands into his coat, Anderson was filled with utmost caution.

It was without a doubt that should Horlaika do anything out of the blue, he would receive a fatal blow.

However… fried chicken?!

Anderson was stunned again. He really did not expect Horlaika to bring fried chicken from his coat.

“For me?” Anderson asked blankly.

“Mm,” Horlaika nodded.

After some hesitation and several loud growls from his stomach, Anderson took the fried chicken, checking it carefully before gobbling it down like a hungry man.

Horlaika was shaken when he saw how Anderson ate.

‘I bought too few?’ Horlaika asked himself in his heart.

In less than 5 seconds, the fried chicken was devoured by the old Demon Hunter, including the skin and bones.

“Do you need more? There’s some biscuits on sale at the market,” Horlaika asked.

“No thanks.” Anderson casually replied, though the oily stains about his mouth were glistening.

A quick glance later, Horlaika shut his eyelids and looked away.

“I’m here to tell you something about Silent Night Secret Society…”

Horlaika then told Anderson the Instigator’s plan.

“That bastard!” In the old Demon Hunter’s squinted eyes, a cold gleam coupled with killer intents appeared.

The old Demon Hunter wasn’t a stranger to the Instigator, plus his identity as a member of Silent Night Secret Society. The old Demon Hunter would surely go after his life.

Though before that, he looked at Horlaika.

“You are a spy?”

Anderson lowered his voice, not moving his lips and his voice coming out directly from his throat.

Although this member of the Snake Sect in front of him had hidden some traits of his, if Anderson couldn’t notice a thing or two on him, he should really retire.

Horlaika nodded.

Before he arrived, he knew he must make his identity clear to Anderson, therefore there was nothing to hide.

The old Demon Hunter stared at Horlaika for a few seconds after the nod. He then bowed slightly.

It was how Demon Hunters showed respect to each other because he knew how dangerous it would be for a spy to infiltrate the enemy’s organization. He also understood what kind of responsibility and burden Horlaika had to bear.

‘Hide yourself in the shadow and… be one with the enemy?’ Anderson sighed in his heart.

He recalled all three of the Snake Sect Demon Hunters that he had met.

One was a very traditional hunter, that sharp presence could never fool him.

The other one had a very obscure presence, which alarmed him a bit.

Then, there was this sleeper agent, who was willing to infiltrate the enemy’s organization.

Up until now, the old Demon Hunter finally had a better understanding of Snake Sect.

They were similar to the Demon Hunters of Wolf Sect but worked in a different way.

‘Hope he can remember the rules of the Demon Hunter.’

After a blessing from his heart, the old Demon Hunter spoke.

“So I need to act as a fuse and detonate this whole thing?”

“That’s right. You need to ‘kill’ me, then quickly break into the dungeon and rescue the others. Carrot Hotel is our temporary lodging spot. After the rescue, you can find us there.”

After Horlaika finished, he hid in the shadows and left in a hurry.

This wasn’t the end of the mission his teacher assigned to him, he still needed to put in more effort.

The old Demon Hunter waited until Horlaika completely went away before he walked out from the shadows. He didn’t make his move right away, instead heading to the market to buy some necessities, like biscuits.

…

Luncar was walking in the Central First Ring of the castle.

The Central First Ring was still a part of the commercial district, but since it was near the Upper Seven Ring, everything here was cleaner and tidier, even the shops here were much more glamorous and high-end. Many rare jewelries and accessories were common products in this ring.

Some higher-end restaurants were also all over the place, but Luncar wasn’t concerned about all of that.

He had to locate a hidden outpost, a hidden outpost from War God Temple.

War God Temple once had many guards and hidden outposts throughout Edatine Castle.

However, after the Black Cataclysm, the guards retreated to the Upper Seven Ring, where War God Temple was located and the hidden outposts greatly decreased, to the point that not a single trace of them was left behind. At least that was what it looked like in the public eye.

As for the truth?

The numbers of the hidden outpost truly decreased but actually, many of them had decided to go into hiding.

It became hard to differentiate them from the deacons from the Inquisition.

Fortunately, as one of the infamous field agents of Silent Night Secret Society, Luncar wasn’t the name, he knew there were only less than 5 hidden outposts of War God Temple left in Edatine Castle.

Though he did not make a scene about it, he needed the hidden outposts to bring him bigger value, such as now.

Why this particular outpost?

It was because this particular outpost had the highest value to him.

Luncar had multiple contacts with this particular outpost and based on his experience, the person in charge of this outpost was at least a priest, a priest armed with a sword.

Therefore, when he stepped into this Etorin Tailor, he was extra careful.

He tried to present himself as a member of the Silent Night Secret Society who did not realize this shop was a hidden outpost and treated it as a normal tailor.

He was doing this in his heart while his habitual smile hung over his face.

COMMENT

Any differences in his actions or countenance might attract unwanted cautions from the tailor.

The priest from War God Temple was not someone he could simply fool.

Ding!

The wind chime rang.

“Etorin, I’m here again.”

Luncar greeted the shop owner cum tailor.

The owner was a white-haired old man, with a pair of glasses and slightly hunched body, but his movements were clean and quick. A strap of measuring tape hung over his neck, and even when he talked, the scissors in his hand did not stop.

“Welcome, Lun. What do you need this time?” The old tailor called Luncar by his alias.

“I need a formal suit. I have a meeting to attend in a few days,” said Luncar with a smile.

He wasn’t lying, the meeting he referred to was the Council Meeting.

“Oh, what kind of meeting would that be?” The old tailor pushed his glasses upwards.

“A meeting with many trivial things to deal with.”

Luncar toned down his smile then shook his head, brazenly expressing that he didn’t want to linger on the topic.

“What else should I prepare other than the formal suit?” Luncar asked.

“I’d suggest you get a silver brooch as the only accessory for a dark color suit. As for a hat, it depends on the situation, but a pair of leather shoes of the same color are inevitable,” said the old tailor professionally.

“What about the shape of the brooch? I think I’ll also make the shoes with you, you know my size anyway,” said Luncar.

“Sure. Try not to go with a fancy one, keep it as simple and clean as possible and try not to wear an intimidating one. How about a four leaf clover? It represents luck,” the old tailor guided Luncar through his dress code.

“Luck, eh? Sure, I guess I’ll be needing a lot of that. How much will it be?” Luncar took his wallet out straight away.

“85 Gold Purton in total: 50 for the suit, 20 for the shoes, and 15 for the silver four-leaf clover brooch. If you are in a hurry, you have to pay an extra 10 Gold Purton for me to rush it for you.”

The old tailor stated a price that matched the location of his shop, which was located in the Upper Seven Ring.

Luncar counted the money in his wallet and took out the precise amount, then put it on the old tailor’s table.

“Please be quick, it’s urgent,” Luncar said before he left.

“Don’t worry. Come for it in two days’ time,” the old tailor assured Luncar.

The two of them interacted and parted ways like a real tailor and his customer.

However, when the tailor shop’s door closed, the old tailor straightened his hunched back right away.

His eyes were sharp all of a sudden, not even the glasses he wore could cover them.

After he closed the door, he walked up the stairs.

Luncar heaved a breath of relief when he got out of the tailor shop.

Everything was smoother than expected.

Next?

It would be waiting for the result but sitting back and waiting was not Luncar’ style.

He chose a high-end restaurant and sat down on the second floor.

“A glass of lime water, butter cake, and cocoa cake please.”

Luncar took 2 Gold Purton and put them into the waiter’s hand.

Butter and cocoa were not cheap ingredients but it didn’t cost 2 Gold Purton.

Half of what he paid was tips. Luncar knew the importance of Gold Purton.

In less than 2 minutes time, what he ordered was served on the table, and when he requested to sit beside the window, the waiter immediately went over to that table and negotiated with the customer.

The customer at that table was a young man. His attire might look plain and simple but was actually very intricate; he looked normal.

When he heard the request from the waiter, the young man stood up without any rejection.

“Thank you,” Luncar smiled and thanked him.

“It’s nothing.” the young man waved his hand. With the waiter’s guidance, the young man sat down at Luncar’s original table.

Everything seemed pretty normal.

Exchanging tables in a restaurant was something very common, it happened almost every single day, so no one was bothered.

Luncar also failed to notice anything eye-catching about the young man.

As for his attire?

Come on, the place was the Upper Seven Ring of Edatine Castle! For a person who lived in an upper class plate, his attire was too common! Had he worn broken clothes, then he would be turning eyes in the place.

Therefore, Luncar soon placed his attention somewhere that was worthy of his attention.

He did not touch the cake on the table, holding the glass of lime water and gazing outside the window.

The position allowed him to see a certain part of the Central Third Ring, the place where Councilman Colipo’s dungeon was located.

Seconds turned into minutes.

Half an hour later, thick smoke suddenly rose from Edatine Castle’s commercial street.

Noise and clamouring were faintly heard, despite it being some distance away.

The people in the restaurant were looking at that direction in shock, including that young man.

Perhaps it was his age, but the young man did not sit down, standing up and walking to the window.

Since he agreed to swap tables with Luncar earlier, Luncar slightly moved his chair to let the young man pass through, an act meant to repay the goodwill.

The young man nodded and Luncar also replied with the same.

“That’s the market of Central Third Ring right? How did the fire break out?” the young man asked all of a sudden.

“Maybe because the furnace wasn’t covered up properly, some fiery sparks flew out and burned something. Or maybe it’s a coal bucket. Things like this always happened in Edatine Castle throughout the year.”

After he heard the question, Luncar couldn’t help but stand up and explain, which was also an act to repay the goodwill.

“Is that so?” The young man looked dubious.

“Of course, accidents happen throughout the year,” Luncar simply replied.

Edatine’s nobles were really failing generation by generation.

Although the young man was well-mannered, his knowledge was too poor.

Given a young man his age, had he been born in Sicar or elsewhere, he would have been in battle already.

Even if he came from a noble family, he should have joined the patrol team, unlike now, being a greenhouse baby and protected by his family.

No wonder His Majesty showed this much dissatisfaction for his knights.

Following the publishing of the new royal decree, everyone knew what the king sought.

It wasn’t just because of his ambition to conquer the south, it was also to voice out his dissatisfaction to those under his command.

However, it wasn’t really an easy task trying to push for a new decree.

Luncar got news about some old nobles having the idea to form a secret alliance.

As for the king? He should know about this too, but he decided to turn a blind eye.

Why? The king wanted to snatch everyone in a single sweep.

Luncar knew it very well, but he would never tell the young noble beside him.

He grabbed his hat on the table and thought of leaving.

“You haven’t finished your cake!” the young man reminded Luncar.

“No thanks, the taste really isn’t that great,” Luncar waved his hand.

“You are wasting food,” said the young man.

“Sometimes wasting isn’t all that shameful, it even represents your strength.”

Looking at the young man with his typical noble bearings, Luncar totally lost the interest to talk.

What was there to talk to a single-minded log?

“Strength? But boss said wasting food is always bad and I think my boss is right!”

The young man smiled. His smile wasn’t exactly kind but not cold either, it just felt weird.

Luncar immediately felt dizzy.

Shit!

His heart clenched tight at that moment. He grabbed a potion from his pouch and went to uncork it but the Superior Demon beat him by arriving in front of his face. It grabbed the potion and then chopped Luncar at the side of his neck with its hand.

Pak!

After the clear thud, Luncar was knocked out.

Bloody Mary conveniently slung him on its shoulder, like a sack of rice.

It packed the two pieces of cake on the table and walked out of the restaurant.

Everyone in the restaurant acted like they did not see Bloody Mary at all.

After Bloody Mary left far enough, it snapped its fingers and the people back at the restaurant woke up, but their attention was swiftly captured by the thick smoke.

No one noticed Luncar had gone missing.

A while later, on the streets of the Upper Seven Ring, a new ‘Luncar’ appeared.