The Devil's Cage

Panda Novel

Ludus was very cooperative, standing there without moving a muscle.

He had no idea how the infiltrator snuck into his place but the technique used was out of his understanding.

Among all those that he knew, there was only one person who could pull this off.

Of course, his temporary stagnant state didn’t mean he would really play along with the infiltrator, he only submitted on the surface. Deep down inside, inhuman powers started to accumulate.

It was very subtle, normal people could never sense it. Not even a Demon Hunter could easily sense it, unless the Demon Hunter had a natural gift in tracking.

However, based on what Ludus knew, the famous Tracker of the Demon Hunter was as good as dead. In short, he had no worries.

Freed from his worries, he could boldly teach this bastard who thought he had control over the situation a lesson, presenting him a graveless death.

He was eager to see it happen, yet it required some cooperation from this infiltrator.

Ludus started to grind his gears, pondering over the questions the infiltrator might ask him.

He prepared many vague answers, both true and false at the same time. He believed his answers would earn the infiltrator’s trust. He even figured out what kind of face he should show, but at the next moment, Ludus felt a scorching sensation coming out from the palm at the back of his neck.

The scorching sensation turned into a blazing flame, engulfing him.

The pain made him widen his mouth, giving him the urge to scream, but before he could, the fire burnt off his vocal cords.

Ha, ha.

A few twitches later, Ludus was burned to cinders.

Until his death, this councilman had no idea why Kieran would kill him off without even asking any questions.

According to normal procedure, shouldn’t there be an interrogation session?

Did Kieran notice the unusual accumulation of energy in his body?

But even if he did notice, shouldn’t Kieran have pressured Ludus even more to get the absolute upper hand, get the right to call the shots and from there get more answers?

“Did you get it?” Kieran asked the shadowy spot beside him.

“Yes, I got everything clearly,” Bloody Mary walked out from the shadow.

Right after Bloody Mary stepped out of the shadow, it already took the form of Ludus.

It was a piece of cake for the Superior Demon. On top of that, its boss was there to buy it some time so that it could scan its target meticulously.

Kieran always believed that the best enemies were dead ones.

He held back just now because he was buying time for Bloody Mary to scan its target.

As for the alleged interrogation, it was also just a way to eliminate his enemies.

Kieran would lean towards a more direct way when he had the option, and even though the former would provide him with more information, he still stood by his beliefs.

He didn’t think the interrogation methods that he mastered could get him any kind of truly secretive news from this councilman.

His interrogation methods might be useful against normal people but to a Silent Night Secret Society councilman? It wasn’t enough.

Of course, what he did was an act of improvisation. Had he come into this dungeon world fully equipped and prepared, he would go with a simpler way, not using Bloody Mary repeatedly.

In Kieran’s mind, Bloody Mary could be more useful in other kinds of situations, much better than this one.

“Colipo and I had agreed to initiate the Council Meeting. Now, all we have to do is settle that one… Kurtzargert,” Bloody Mary entered character quickly and removed the [Illusion] it casted in the room.

“Mm. Contact him as soon as possible,” said Kieran.

Taking the risk to infiltrate the enemy’s turf or luring the enemy into his own before striking, even an idiot knew what the best option was.

However, some things were needed to lure the enemy into his own turf.

Luring and baiting wasn’t a difficult task for Bloody Mary though.

It went through Colipo and Horlaika’s memories before this and it knew very well how it should ‘invite’ this ‘old rival’ to their own turf.

The door of the study room was pushed open, Bloody Mary walking out.

Kieran stayed and sat down on the chair.

He took [Lord of Mist] out.

The crystal on his palm was dazzling brightly.

After killing Ludus, the crystal changed again.

It wasn’t just the simple increase of effective range and change or remark like the last time anymore, it was a whole new level of enhancement.

[Name: Lord of Mist]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Rarity: IV]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: IV]

[Attribute: 1. Mist Control; 2 Poison Mist Assault; 3. Icy Air Assault; 4. Snow and Rain Assault; 5. Flora Communication; 6. Fauna Summon; 7. Conceal ]

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

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

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: 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, after expanding the territory, it can never leave you.]

…

[Mist Control: Summon a 600 meter radius mist and shroud everything in sight, 3/day]

[Poison Mist Assault: Induce Poison to the targets caught by the mist, targets would have to go through 3 times A rank Constitution authentication. Targets who failed all three times will be inflicted with lethal poison damage; targets who failed twice will be inflicted with Powerful poison damage; targets that failed once will be inflicted with Strong poison attack; targets who passed all three will be immune but still trapped in the mist.]

[Icy Air Assault: Able to create a Weak, Average, Strong, Powerful 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, Strong, or Powerful 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 (75 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 (100 small animal, 50 medium-sized animal, 15 big-sized animal, 2 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 increased) (animal smaller than a rat is considered as 3 times the number of small animals)]

[Conceal: Inside the mist, your traces could not be detected; Effect: Undercover +2, Undercover Advanced Skill +1]

…

[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.]

[Edatine Castle: Within Edatine Castle, the title of Mist has slowly gained recognition 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 prayers of your believers. It will consume your stamina accordingly.]

[Bless: Within Land of Sicar and Edatine Castle, when your believers prayed 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. Able to grant Blessing of Conceal (depends on how devoted the believer is, Undercover level will be increased by 1 to 2 levels.]

[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)]

……

The increase of rarity granted [Lord of Mist] a new attribute and many other effect improvements.

What caught Kieran’s attention the most was the newly added attribute [Conceal].

It must have appeared after Kieran killed Councilman Ludus.

Recalling the burning sensation from his hand and how Gluttony consumed the man, Ludus tasted very similar to a pagan!

Factoring in the pagan uprising earlier at the slum area, Kieran slightly squinted his eyes.

“Remnant… not only is Dark Hall of War God Temple experimenting with it, even Silent Night Secret Society? No! Silent Night Secret Society must be a lot more thorough! This isn’t just a simple takeover, it must be a fusion of some kind, a true fusion that fused man and pagan into a single entity. Which means… Colipo is also one?”

With the thought in mind, Kieran felt a little heartache.

Judging from the feedback from [Lord of Mist], these fusion monsters seemed to provide much bigger gains and benefits to the crystal than normal pagan monsters.

The taste changed from a normal cookie biscuit to an Oreo, the 3+2 kind. The taste of satisfaction was doubled instantly.

“There are 17 councilmen in Silent Night. Excluding Colipo and Ludus, there are 15 more of them.”

Kieran shifted his focus to the councilmen after he realized the accidental loss.

The thought of the 15 other councilmen hurried his breathing.

[Lord of Mist] was already at rank IV, it was almost certain that rank V was bound to happen soon!

In his original thought, he was thinking of spending more effort to reach rank V with the item, even forming a plan to hunt down the pagans.

It was absolutely reasonable for a Demon Hunter to hunt pagans.

But now though, Kieran felt like he was sitting at the dining table, waiting for his food to be served.

The 15 councilmen were on the menu tonight and they were just within his reach.

There was no need to search, no need to try his luck. This was nothing but great news to Kieran.

The only thing that he had to worry about was how he would ‘hunt’ these councilmen safely.

Kieran thought quietly.

A while later, his lips curled up. He had a rather immature thought and without a doubt, his identity of Demon Hunter would be the key factor in all this.

Hunting pagans was his job and duty as a Demon Hunter and hunting these councilmen down for revenge was also viable, no one would say anything about it.

It was an absolutely reasonable and viable way to approach this.

“It’s really convenient having an extra identity!” Kieran thought.

…

“Having an extra identity is really tiring!”

Walking down the stairs, Bloody Mary grumbled.

“My lord.”

The on-duty member of the Silent Night Secret Society saw the returning councilman, bowing and greeting him at the same time.

Although not knowing why the councilman returned, being respectful and showing manners was the right thing to do.

Throughout the entire encounter, the member did not notice anything unusual.

Whether it was the illusion cast earlier or Bloody Mary’s performance, everything was flawlessly displayed.

Bloody Mary was a natural spy.

In order to make itself feel better, Bloody Mary praised itself deep down in its heart before it spoke in Ludus’ tone.

“I need you to deliver a message to Clairehore, tell him to deliver the message to Kurtzargert.”

When the Undying and another councilman were mentioned by the one in front of him, the member of the Silent Night Secret Society tended to respond seriously, his face solemn as he received his orders.

“Do you want to know Colipo’s secret? If you do, come here for me. I’ll wait for you before sunrise,” said Bloody Mary softly.

“Understood, my lord. I will deliver the message right away.”

The member repeated the words before Bloody Mary to make sure he did not miss out anything before going out immediately.

After the member left, Bloody Mary called upon another member and gave him a new set of orders.

“Prepare some tea and pastries. I’m waiting for an old friend’s visit.”

…

Lower Fourth Ring.

This was still part of the civilian district of Edatine Castle, though compared to the Lower Seventh Ring, it was a lot better.

The streets were a lot cleaner, the houses weren’t simply built but planned out carefully according to the streets and avenues. Those who lived in the Lower Fourth Ring were those who had accumulated a certain amount of wealth and were better than normal civilians.

These people were either a most trusted worker in a shop who had 3 to 5 apprentices under him but was still not yet a master himself or a corporal in the military camp.

However, there were only a few who could read and write among them.

Knowledge was precious, it’s applicable everywhere.

Edatine Castle was also a place that rewarded knowledge.

As long as one could read and calculate, seeking a respectable job in the Central Third Ring wasn’t a difficult task. The pay would be considered scrumptious as well, it would be enough to support an entire family living in the Lower Third and Second Ring.

COMMENT

Therefore, old Kurtzargert was quite well-known in the Lower Fourth Ring, respected as well.

He could not only read but calculate also and he had two shops under his name here.

They were incomparable to the big retail shops in the Central Third Ring but they were still something people admire and adore.

Spitting a piece of nail and wiping away the blood at the corner of his mouth, old Kurtzargert walked to his bedroom slowly after having an extra supper meal.

Having supper at night was not healthy, but he was forced to do so every month to suppress the urge in his body.

However, this consumption wasn’t just to suppress the restless urge, it was because of something else.

“There goes another ration. I have to find two more to replace the missing one before winter ends. Thankfully, this is the Lower Ring,” old Kurtzargert smiled.

As one of the councilmen of Silent Night Secret Society, he could have lived in a better place yet he decided to settle down in the Lower Ring.

He did it because it was convenient for him to search for food.

Missing people in the Lower Ring was a common happening, no one would get to the bottom of every missing case because a lot more would flood the place soon enough.

Of course, he was also the least suspected one because he was old Kurtzargert, the man with two shops under his name.

Lying down on his bed, old Kurtzargert shut his eyes slowly.

After his sight turned dark, the ring on his finger vibrated a bit.

Kurtzargert widened his eyes right away and showed a smile full of anticipation.

“You’ve finally come, eh?”