The Devil's Cage

Panda Novel

At four in the afternoon, the whole of Edatine Castle was warm.

It was only during this time that the northerners would remove their thick scarf from their neck, enjoying the wind while it lasted.

Of course, it was only applicable for the people in the city. If it was out there in the wilderness, the wind would still be too harsh and uncomfortable.

Borl opened the window for a change of air.

He had donned a body of formal wear—he prepared the formal wear for himself before arriving here. It matched his physique, was decently styled to not embarrass himself yet not conspicuous. In order to complete his main mission, no amount of preparation would be considered too much.

Beside him was his bodyguard Aschenkano, who had also changed into some new attire: a knight suit of the traditional northern style.

The knight suit focused on minimalism, the buckle on his waist allowed him to carry a sword and a dagger; the other buckle at the back of his waist was reserved for some heavier weapons.

Though Aschen’s halbert was a little too heavy, the buckle couldn’t be of use at all, he had to hold it with his hand.

On top of that, the knight suit made it hard for him to breathe, causing him to unconsciously try to pull the collar to ease his discomfort.

“Aschen!” Borl bellowed at his bodyguard before his hand was even lifted.

Aschen showed a face of grievance, so Borl had to explain the situation to him again.

“We are going to the banquet of the king! Manners are very important! This is very important to me, I will not allow any mistakes during the banquet, do you understand?”

Borl was exceptionally strict when he emphasized the last part.

“Okay,” Aschen scratched his head at his strict employer, ultimately compromising.

Borl heaved a breath of relief and tapped his bodyguard’s shoulder. He didn’t want to be strict on his bodyguard either, but just like what he explained, this banquet was indeed very important to him.

It wasn’t just directly related to the success or failure of his main mission, it was also related to his future development.

He never wanted to be helpless against things that happened before his eyes anymore.

This time, with the help of 2567 and Lawless, he was considered lucky, utmost lucky to be exact. He was utterly grateful about the help but what about next time? Would he be able to secure luck for his next dungeon?

The answer was obvious, therefore he had to recover his strength. In order to do that, he had to clear the main mission of this dungeon world with flying colors.

Hu!

Borl sucked in a deep breath to adjust his emotions. He knew he was stressed out and he was behaving unlike himself.

But…

When life and death were in the light, who could really be calm and stagnant?

Sitting down, Borl intuitively looked at the quiet Kieran, whose eyes were closed, as though he was asleep.

“I think he is the only one who could be calm in front of death,” Borl sighed in his heart.

The more time he spent with the Flaming Emperor, the more he felt it.

At first he thought Kieran distanced himself from him because of the Witch, but not anymore. He understood that even though he and Kieran started on the same line, the gap between them was too far apart.

Strength and power aside, he couldn’t even think calmly at all times in any situation, especially in those continuous, difficult dungeon worlds!

“How many continuous dungeons has he been through now? Is this the third? Or the fourth?” Borl wondered.

As once a veteran player, in order to get a better life for himself, he did not venture into a dungeon world at the very last minute but he compromised in the between. He would get sufficient rest and strengthen himself before starting one—there was an urban myth in the big city saying that if a player procrastinated until the last moment to enter the dungeon world, said player might be affected by some unknown factor.

Although no one was able to verify said myth, a lot of people believed it, hence the choice of the majority players.

There were only a few who would actively venture into dungeon worlds, especially these kinds of continuous ones. Continuous dungeons wouldn’t just test a player’s strength, they also tested the player’s mental state and stamina.

An intertwined, complicated dungeon world plus the occasional main mission without any clues, all those were extremely exhausting, especially to the mind.

One time, it was still manageable but a continuous one…’I think I might die very early on.’

Once again, Borl felt the gap, sighing. Kieran too opened his eyes after he sensed Borl’s gaze at him, returning the gaze.

His eyes weren’t questioning Borl, only the usual nonchalance.

Yet the nonchalance pressured Borl a lot.

He pleaded by raising his hands into the air and whimpered, “I’m just curious about whether or not you are tired! Not physically, but mentally!”

“Think about the good things, it can relieve stress and ease your strains,” Kieran replied after a quick thought.

“Good things, eh? I guess you are right, they really can ease the exhaustion and strain.”

Borl nodded, intuitively wanting to recall the good things in life but all he got in his mind was the insult and rage when the Witch robbed him of everything. Borl’s breathing hurried.

‘That wretched Witch!’ He cursed in his heart.

He then looked up at Kieran with a shrug.

“It seems like your methods are not applicable to me. All I can feel is the gloominess of life,” Borl mocked himself with a chuckle.

“Think about Lawless then. He is still waiting for you to go back and buy him a drink.”

As an ally in the current situation, Kieran reminded Borl that he had something to go back to.

He wouldn’t want his ally suffering from any kind of mental problem, especially in this pagan-filled dungeon world. The slightest misstep could get him affected and it might affect the entire plan.

“Lawless?”

The thought of the man being exploited by the owner of Harvest Inn made Borl curled up his lips into a smile.

It wasn’t a ridiculing smile anymore, it came from the bottom of his heart.

He had no idea how a person could have the personality of Lawless, but he liked to befriend someone like him.

Or in other words… having a friend like Lawless was great.

“I have to go back and buy him a drink! 10 Point limit, I’ll let him choose whatever he wants.”

When Borl mentioned ’10 Points’, his voice turned muddled.

It was the habit of a player when it came to points.

“I guess you can only buy him malt beer or normal Ardifell. You know, Rachel isn’t your typical black-hearted woman, albeit her wine brewing technique is great.”

Kieran stood up as he spoke, stretching his body and grabbing his coat off the hanger from the stand behind the door.

Borl turned to the window and looked outside.

A wagon under the escort of some soldiers slowly approached the hotel. On the door of the wagon was an eagle emblem, representing the royal court. It shone in its glorious golden color under the bright sun.

“My lord.”

When Kieran came out of Carrot Hotel, the vassal who once brought Edatine VI’s decree to Kieran appeared before his eyes again.

The vassal was still wearing his red loose dress with golden lining, his face still had a thick layer of powder and his smile at Kieran was as flattering as ever, including the black and yellow teeth in his mouth.

“Mm. I want to bring two more followers with me to the banquet,” Kieran pointed at Borl and Aschen.

The two of them came up to Kieran right away.

They had an agreement before this, both of them would accompany Kieran as his followers. It was probably the most suitable identity for the two of them.

“Of course. It’s only appropriate. As a duke yourself, it’s natural for you to bring your own followers.”

The vassal smiled and finished his words before bowing at Borl and Aschen, not caring a bit about their identities as followers.

Perhaps the vassal might not be perfect in many aspects but as the diplomat vassal of the royal court, his manners in welcoming people was absolutely impeccable, there was no intimidating presence, neither would he commit some cheap mistakes.

For example, during his trip to Carrot Hotel this time, albeit only to receive Kieran alone, he brought two wagons with him, meaning he had anticipated the situation before him.

He walked to the wagon and opened the door for Kieran with a bow.

“My lord, please.”

Kieran stepped up into the wagon and then saw Borl and Aschen boarded the other one before allowing the vassal to sit in the wagoner’s seat.

Following the command of the vassal, the wagons of the royal court slowly drove into the Upper Seventh Ring.

It was not the first time Kieran went to the Upper Seventh Ring, but it was the first time he strolled around this casually.

Continuous rows of houses were built on one side of the avenue, with each house having it’s own little garden and balcony.

Some buildings with signage even had a parterre set up in the garden.

They were colorful when viewed from outside and extra captivating.

These were all the shops in the Upper Seventh Ring.

Kieran paid attention to a few shops as he travelled along, it wasn’t because of their attractive decoration but because of the nice smell of food that he picked up with his nose.

Passing through the Upper Seventh Ring, the wagons were about to enter the Upper Sixth Ring.

The roads in the Upper Sixth Ring were wider than the previous one, the residence in the area was much more reserved as well. Even if the building was a shop, it wasn’t as pronounced as the one before, one could hardly tell judging by the looks alone. Many vines curled up around the buildings and covered the windows.

It was hard to get a clear view inside the building from outside.

Privacy was sought after by the people here, especially those with identities and position.

After entering the Upper Fifth Ring, it was officially the noble district.

People with different countships, dukeships etc. all lived here.

The size of the houses they lived in was determined by the height of their position and status.

In the center of the district was a big theatre hall where opera performances would be held during festivals.

Of course, the theatre hall had other activities during other days too—though the tickets for the other activities were much more expensive than the opera performance, not even the common nobles could afford it.

The Upper Fourth and Third Ring had noble residences also but the majority who lived in these two rings were mostly related to the military.

The wagon turned into a big avenue and continued to climb up the rings.

A building instantly appeared in Kieran’s sight after the wagon turned in.

It wasn’t the palace of the king, it was War God Temple!

No extra confirmation was needed, neither did he rely on the architectural style to determine the place. Under Kieran’s [Tracking], the holy light of God of War overflowed uncontrollably from the temple.

The light was filled with a sense of rage, mixed with the very faint smell of blood.

It seemed like the ‘unusual attack’ last night and the ‘frightening encounter’ earlier made the God who once reigned supreme in the Northern Lands furious.

“Even his clones are affected?” Kieran had his attention on the other side: he was thinking whether he could expand his gains tonight.

As for the real God of War?

Kieran looked up and scanned over everything with [Tracking].

Above the city, two terrifying energy aura confronted each other, just like what he saw when he first arrived in the city. Though this time around, there was a tad difference: the two terrifying energy aura became more volatile.

It was without a doubt that the series of changes that happened in Edatine Castle gave these two Gods other ulterior thoughts.

It was good news for Kieran though.

If the water wasn’t muddled enough, how could he fish and get away?

Still, he still had to get a clear grasp of how deep it was.

Slightly altering his sitting posture, Kieran tapped the table with his fingers and started to ponder on the questions.

The wagons continued to climb higher.

After going through a passageway beside War God Temple, they finally reached the palace.

The palace wasn’t outrageously huge, neither was it glamorous and shiny enough. Other than the two groups of welcoming guards standing in front of the day, one could hardly tell that the place was a palace.

In fact, viewing it from the passageway earlier, everyone would see the War God Temple on first glance, not the palace.

Right at this moment, the two groups of guards blew the bugles loudly, so loud that it was deafening.

Kieran couldn’t hold back his chuckle. “Royal authority? Divine authority?” he muttered in his heart.

If the king was a worthless puppet, he wouldn’t care about the arrangements from War God Temple but the king was ambitious and wise, he wouldn’t have endured it.

Even if he could endure it for some time, he wouldn’t have endured it for his whole life.

Edatine VI was exactly the latter.

All the tactics he pulled seemed to go against the orthodox party nobles but in Kieran’s view, the king was going after War God Temple.

After all, the majority of the orthodox party nobles worshipped God of War, including the late viscount of Sicar.

That’s right, the late viscount of Sicar!

Kieran was directly involved in the viscount’s death, but he deemed it as part of the king’s setup, similar to the ‘unusual attack’ last night.

The soft blabbers in people’s ears, the overflowing amount of pagans, and the Black Cataclysm!

Do not forget that after the Black Cataclysm, the numbers of pagans multiplied!

There were pagans lurking around before the Black Cataclysm but the numbers were scattered.

More importantly, before the Black Cataclysm, the God of war reigned supreme!

Lady Calamity had no place in this as the whole Northern Lands only worshipped a single God.

But after the Black Cataclysm?

Her appearance did not just split the beliefs of the northerners in half, sharing it with the God of War, the ridiculous amount of pagans further exhausted War God Temple.

Connecting the dots to the king’s attitude and the work he did, some details started to come afloat.

Therefore, Kieran decided to bring Borl.

He wanted to find out what kind of role Borl played in the Black Cataclysm.

A rising lord who accidentally inherited his late father’s wealth or an ambitious yet despicable character who only cared about his own benefits?

If it was the former, Kieran had nothing to say.

But if it was the latter?

He wouldn’t do anything about it either. He was just doing things like the Demon Hunters.

After all, the Wolf Sect Demon Hunters almost got wiped out during the Black Cataclysm.

As a Snake Sect Demon Hunter, he assumed he had the responsibility to seek justice for his counterpart and if he could discover some secrets in the process, it would be the best outcome.

“Using all the people as chess pieces, who else would be more suitable for the role than the king? Am I right, Broker?”

As Kieran spoke to himself in his heart, the door was opened up by the vassal.

“We are here, my lord.”

When Kieran stepped down of the carriage—

WUNG!

WUNG WUNG!

Two rows of guards blew the bugles in their hands powerfully, the sound was even louder than before.

Kieran stood in front, with Borl and Aschen behind him. The trio walked along the red and gold carpet in the middle of the soldiers.

On one of the balconies of the palace stood several figures.

The youngest one glued his eyes to Kieran, mumbling, “Is that him?”

“It is him,” said the vassal beside the young figure.

The young figure curled up his hands into fists with gnashing teeth, his eyes furious enough to spew fire.