The Devil's Cage

Panda Novel

The energetic willpower of God of War looked down at the arrow in his knee.

Since when did he take an arrow to the knee?

He had no idea when he was shot, or more importantly, how did the Mist know his weakness?

Doubts and disbelief appeared on the energetic willpower’s face and quickly froze up.

When the Plague Arrow representing Calamity exploded, the frozen willpower of God of War shattered!

Pang!

As though glass had fallen on the ground, a clear clank scattered the pieces everywhere.

Gluttony, who had been waiting, opened his mouth and swept all the shattered pieces into his mouth then swallowed them into his stomach.

Sloth looked at his little brother gobbling down the pieces with a pampering gaze. He intuitively yawned, then rubbed his swollen temples.

Although he told Pride to create the dragon mellow and tiger roar to cover the arrow’s whistle, the most difficult part was to locate the weakness on the energetic willpower.

Fortunately, his big brother was right.

In the fight between God of War and Lady Calamity, the God of War had an obvious weakness against sickness and plague, it was fair to consider them his bane!

Otherwise, the Black Cataclysm wouldn’t have broken out, neither would it have given birth to the so-called Lady Calamity.

Sloth had no idea who discovered the weakness of the God of War in the first place but he knew the weakness was greatly exploited during the confrontation between both sides.

Still, even with his big brother’s guess, Sloth was utterly exhausted.

“I’ll leave the rest to you,” said Sloth to Pride before he fell asleep, snores echoing in the area.

Curling the edge of his mouth into a shallow grin, Pride grabbed sloth by his hand and Gluttony by the back of his neck and disappeared in a flash.

The knight and the sea also followed them away.

…

Sensing the last changes in his body, Kieran slowly opened his eyes.

He took the handkerchief on the table and wiped the saliva on the edge of his mouth and palms. Those spots were covered in meat juice and oil stains before, but after licking them clean, only his saliva was left behind.

Was it an act of proper table manners?

Kieran’s table manners was not wasting anything.

As for the rest, keep it simple.

Kieran stood up from the chair and stretched his body.

“A decent breakfast,” commented Kieran.

The dark cloud with rumbling lightning outside the city gates of Edatine Castle had gone away.

The God of War withdrew from battle, or more precisely, he was frightened away.

He was frightened, not scared.

The God of War must be suspicious about why a so-called demi-god had powers similar to Lady Calamity. Then, would he suspect that the demi-god and his arch nemesis were related?

Kieran was sure suspicions had started to plague the God of War’s heart due to the continuous fights with Lady Calamity. This was exactly what Kieran wanted.

“Thank you, Kurtzargert,” said Kieran as he expressed heartfelt gratitude to Kurtzargert while his mind was still pondering on the memories of that councilman.

The Silent Night Secret Society councilman hadn’t just brought him actual spoils, his memories and schemes played a vital part in Kieran’s plan.

Through the councilman’s memories, Kieran verified more than just a single guess, which was that the God of War was helpless against the power of sickness and plague during the Black Cataclysm. He even uncovered a lot more than he expected, such as the councilmen restrained in the south and the origin of Lady Calamity.

“This is much more complicated than I thought. What role do you play in all this, Broker?” Kieran thought quietly.

He knew the cunning merchant must be a key factor in all of this, but… he still couldn’t pinpoint who exactly.

Nevertheless, Kieran had rounded up the list of candidates.

More so, ‘Mr. Key Factor’ was obvious, right?

…

The big city.

The sun was bright and the wind blew over Reederlay Bridge, fluttering Broker’s hair.

Standing at the start of the bridge in a set of newbie attire, he squinted his eyes and enjoyed the comfortable wind and pleasant sunlight. His blurry face had a sense of tranquility that was indescribable by words.

He liked the atmosphere a lot, or else he wouldn’t have chosen this place to meet up.

Minutes later, Broker opened his eyes.

He looked down at the flowing river, everything had returned to their old self.

A smile hung over his face while his heart continued to plot schemes; his eyes were energetic.

After resting for sometime, he had returned.

Under the bridge, the rapid current fluttered loudly.

Broker turned around to the person who came as promised.

“I know there’s the system blurring out your face, but please don’t smile, you remind me of a skunk.”

The person who came to the meeting dressed very similarly to Broker, but the presence he bore was as keen as an unsheathed sword. It didn’t just glare coldly, it’s sharpness was on full display, his nonchalant tone holding a sense of hostility.

“Don’t worry, I don’t have ill intentions. Otherwise, I wouldn’t come to you directly.”

Broker did not take in the suggestion, continuing to smile, which infected his tone, making him sound delighted.

“Ho? You failed?” the person replied with a cold grunt.

“Mm,” Broker frankly admitted his mistakes.

“I told you before, she is one-of-a-kind. No one had ever surpassed her in the past, and it tends to stay the same until now. As for the future, it’s impossible,” said the person in a firm tone. The nonchalance in his tone gradually faded away, his voice growing louder and more frantic.

“Yeah, yeah yeah. You are correct. Then what are you going to do?” Broker asked.

The person did not answer, he didn’t even speak a word and left with a cold chuckle.

Broker did not pursue his question, nor did he stop the person from leaving. He stood there and saw the person off.

Watching the person disappear from his sight, Broker turned back to the flowing river beneath the bridge.

“Still so arrogant and proud. Too bad, I wonder, can you keep up the attitude until our next meeting? Let’s hope the water isn’t too cold…”

Muttering, Broker jumped off the bridge.

Splash!

The rapid current rumbled and carried Broker away.

A moment later—

Wung!

A buzz similar to a fly appeared in the air and disintegrated the whole Reederlay Bridge into powder.

The wind blew and carried the powder away, as though the whole bridge never existed before.

A while later, angry bellows from the late cyber enforcers could be heard around the place.

…

The dark cloud was gloomy, making everyone who looked at it uneasy, but it wasn’t as intimidating without the rumbling lightning.

Guesses and doubts appeared in the people’s heart as they looked up at that piece of dark cloud.

Then—

PUK!

The captain of the elite temple warriors spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground.

Not only the captain, the temple warriors who prayed together fell limp on the ground too.

Similar to their captain, blood spewed out from either their mouths or seven apertures, their presence growing weaker.

With the body of a mortal taking on the will of God, even though they had trained for a long time, they couldn’t get away unscathed.

It was a qualitative change and no mortal could sustain the burden.

Not all were similar to the undying Bloody Mary.

The old marquis signalled with a wave of hand.

The royal court guardians went up immediately and checked on the wounded elite temple warriors. Wagon after wagon also came out from the passageway to carry the injured back inside the city.

After all his men boarded the wagons, the captain thanked the old marquis.

“Thank you Marquis Horton,” said the captain sincerely.

The old man before him might not be a true devoted believer of God of War but his decision to save the last stand of War God Temple and retain their faces was enough to be thanked.

“This is what I should be doing,” the old marquis replied with a smile.

No matter which side fell in the end, the old marquis would lend a helping hand to the fallen.

It had been decided earlier on and also the king’s order. He knew what he must do, but… the Mist was surprisingly powerful.

The old marquis with his vast experience could tell the God of War was serious just now after the two initial tests. Yet under such circumstances, the Mist displayed tenacity and was able to resist the fearsome attack!

“The plans against the Mist must be altered to cope with the unexpected. The believers of the Mist in the Lower Seventh Ring should be treated better, and…”

Pondering over his thoughts, the old marquis unconsciously looked at the area where the mist shrouded.

In fact, not only the old marquis, everyone at the scene also shifted their gaze at the thick mist, including the elite temple warrior’s captain, who could only stand up with help from others.

They were looking forward to seeing the current state of the believers of Mist, so that they could get more information to further deduce things.

Under the anticipation filled gazes, the mist slowly dissipated.

When the bunch of believers of Mist appeared from the dissipating mist, everyone who had their eyes on them were stunned, especially the captain. The captain couldn’t help but shout, “Impossible! This is impossible!”

‘Yeah, it was impossible!’

The thought spread in everyone’s mind when they saw the current state of the Mist believers.

No injuries were spotted at all, even their attire was as clean as new.

The warm smile on Bishop Simon’s face didn’t even diminish a bit, it was as warm as the sun.

The people shifted their gazes back to the ground of elite temple warriors, who were either covered in blood or limp down on the ground, a new thought appearing immediately: could the Mist be stronger than the God of War?

The thought uncontrollably spread in every viewer’s mind quickly. Even the old marquis thought as such but his logic regained the upper hand.

“The God of War has spent too much energy restraining Calamity, he couldn’t spare his whole self to deal with a foreign enemy! But… the Mist would be much more worth it to rope into our side.”

The old marquis quickly covered up the surprise in his heart and then walked to Bloody Mary.

“Bishop Simon, please come with me. His Majesty has arranged a lodging spot for you and the new lord of Sicar,” said the old marquis as he bowed.

Behind him, his hand quickly performed a sign.

The royal court guardians immediately and quietly escort the injured elite temple warriors back to War God Temple.

The dust had been settled. He had gotten the most wanted information.

The rest wouldn’t be necessary anymore.

Should it press forward, it would be too late.

God of War and Mist going after each other’s neck was the most ideal outcome that he and his king would like to see.

Bloody Mary looked at the old marquis, who was as cunning as an old fox. If it wasn’t for its boss’ plan, it would have killed the man.

People like the marquis might not be powerful but their influence during a certain critical moment shouldn’t be underestimated.

When the marquis came out to receive them, he moved his guardian riders subtly to make them look neat. A bit after that, the bunch of warriors from War God Temple coincidentally appeared at the city gates. If it was purely coincidence, Bloody Mary would kill itself a hundred times.

“My lord informed me our brothers and sisters are inside. I should be with them,” Bloody Mary pointed at the direction of the slum area in the Lower Seventh Ring and said kindly.

The lingering pain still tormented its body though. It was obvious that the willpower of the God of War was much more powerful than it expected.

‘After this, I will go to the boss and apply for a holiday! At least three… ONE HOUR!

I want to bathe in the sunlight without worrying and then have a meal of steak or lamb shank with cumin and black pepper, half of either dish! At least when I am suffering from pain, I can recall the taste and not make up some stupid imagination!’

“As you please,” the old marquis had no intentions of denying the request. He nodded before he continued, “The slum area was ambushed last night, so everything is still in the process of rebuilding. I’ll try my best to move the supply around, so I ask for your forgiveness before this. Those damn pagans!”

The old marquis cursed at the end.

The cursing did not fit the old marquis’ identity, it made him look rude but it was also enough to prove how furious the old marquis was at the pagans.

At the very next moment, the old marquis noticed his rudeness.

“I’m so sorry. I really couldn’t hold back once I thought about what happened last night. Those pagans are locusts! They bring nothing but calamity to the people of Edatine! Thankfully the Demon Hunters reappeared and stopped them, otherwise things would be worse. I’m grateful for those Demon Hunters’ help!”

The old marquis nodded apologetically at Bloody Mary before he praised the Demon Hunters.

“They deserved to be praised, whether in the past, present, or future. They always carried out their own ideals and followed it tensely.”

Bloody Mary agreed with the old marquis’ words as it knew what was the meaning behind them.

It wouldn’t be so stupid to reveal any information regarding the Demon Hunters to the old marquis, neither woud it cut ties all ties with the Demon Hunters.

Up until this very moment, the Demon Hunters were nothing but an empty vessel, a seemingly powerful yet fragile empty vessel.

It needed to make the Demon Hunter look more powerful, therefore obscurity became the main tactic to perform the trick.

Of course, it wouldn’t take long, after tonight, everything would change.

The old marquis glanced over Bloody Mary yet failed to get related information. It wasn’t surprising to him but once again, he was able to confirm that the Demon Hunters had unspeakable ties with the Mist religious sect.

Having that point alone would be enough.

As for finding out whether the Mist religious sect was close to the Wolf Sect or Snake Sect Demon Hunters?

Was it important? Not anymore!

Be it Wolf Sect or Snake Sect, all of them were Demon Hunters! All of them were potential allies that he could rope into his and the king’s side!

With that thought in mind, the old marquis spoke again, “Tonight, His Majesty will host a banquet to welcome the new lord of Sicar, I hope you can join us too. Of course, Duke Colin is also invited.” The old marquis looked at Bloody Mary with anticipation after speaking of Kieran.

“I will be punctual,” Bloody Mary gave its assurance.

The old marquis smiled at the satisfying answer. He pulled his horse around and entered the passageway of the city gate side by side with Bloody Mary; the convoy from Sicar followed them slowly.

The civilians and merchants in the surroundings also closely watched the group.

Their eyes showed either excitement or admiration, even those nobles on the top of the city walls couldn’t hold back the gleam in their eyes.

Compared to civilians and merchants, the nobles had more thoughts in their mind and they would not mind making the first move.

After a noisy night in Edatine, the city ought to be noisier than before.

Unlike last night, there would be no killing or shedding of blood, yet schemes brewed in the dark.

Further away at the horizon, strange figures from the south appeared, one after another.

They exchanged a quick look before they snuck into Edatine Castle.

The stage, bigger than last night, had been built