The Devil's Cage

“Hurry up! Hurry up! Get me a stretcher! GET ME A STRETCHER!”

Bloody Mary’s sudden passing out sent the Mist camp into chaos.

Sivalka shouted loudly, the old Demon Hunter Anderson even dashed up to Bloody Mary in a flash.

Anderson saw the pale look on Bloody Mary’s face but his breathing was still fairly stable and after he checked there wasn’t a fever, Anderson heaved a sigh of relief.

He was really worried that this kind and merciful bishop would resolve things using the wrong way. Thankfully, things did not end in the worst possible way.

Bloody Mary was carefully moved onto a stretcher and carried away quickly. The old Demon Hunter then looked at the young knight who was in a daze,unable to hold back his sigh and said, “The plague is not something that is easily cured.”

Not that easily cured? The young Gino was shocked by the revelation

Looking at Bloody Mary being carried away by the Mist believers with an empty gaze, he couldn’t help but ask, “Sir Anderson, what do you mean by that?”

“The plague doesn’t come from nothing, neither would it disappear into nothing without a reason. It is just moved, moved from one body to another. He is taking the suffering away from all of you, just like what he said earlier. He is willing to bear your burden and everything else, including death!”

The old Demon Hunter couldn’t help but inhale deeply. His voice even sounded heavy.

“What a foolish person. I thought I’d never see one again for the rest of my life.”

The old Demon Hunter then walked to the watchtower.

With a powerhouse down, the camp’s defenses had suddenly been weakened, and before the bishop woke up, Anderson decided to protect the camp on his behalf.

It was a one-sided decision and it wasn’t related to anything else, it was just because fools like the bishop were appearing less and less in this world.

The young Gino stood there blankly.

The old Demon Hunter’s words were crystal clear, the sense of guilt appearing in his heart again.

When the sense of guilt spread, the young Gino quickly walked to Bloody Mary’s tent but he didn’t go in, just standing guard outside.

Those who pledged loyalty to the young knight followed too, all guarding outside silently.

The believers of Mist who got news about what happened were worried as well.

The young Rogart was walking in circles outside the tent with his battleaxe over his shoulder.

He’d glare at the young Gino occasionally and then looked at the tent with a worried gaze.

Erin Sicar, with a white fur coat, put her hands together and prayed to the Mist.

In fact, most of the Mist believers prayed.

They believed their God would protect their bishop.

Meanwhile, inside the tent….

A soft bed, a comfortable pillow, a warm blanket. Bloody Mary couldn’t help but smile due to the comfort.

It was so comfortable, it wanted to be sealed in the bed and never leave.

‘Let me see, how much time do I have left? I need an average time, not too long, not too short but enough to make people worry. A moment before dawn? No, no, no. It’s a little short, it’s not good enough for the boss’ performance. But after dawn would be too eye-catching…Hmmm

Why not a quarter after sunrise!? It allows me to sleep for another 10 minutes! Oh yeah! 10 more minutes of rest!’

Bloody Mary’s heart was in utter delight as it planned out the timing.

Then, a second later—

Light snoring sounded.

Bloody Mary was almost immortal and from a certain perspective, it would never be tired, but it was really exhausted recently.

Playing multiple roles at once and having to perfect every single one of them; it was always worried about getting exposed and worried about over-exhausting its power. Even though it was a hetero-form demon, it was quite difficult for it to endure all of it at once.

It needed some rest.

Kieran had nothing to say about it, he felt Bloody Mary’s condition.

He then stood up from the soft mat.

He looked at the pagan remnants sent over by the southern councilmen of the Silent Night Secret Society.

A total of 60 pieces of pagan remnants, in all kinds of shapes and sizes, some looking like claws, some in the shape of a hoof, ear, and eye, most of them were a part of the pagan’s body after they were killed.

Different parts of the bodies also represented different powers.

Some weak, some strong.

The strongest ones were comparable to rank II or rank III in terms of power, but the requirement was also outrageous.

According to the remarks and requirements, unleashing a single attack of such caliber would require the offering of a hundred living souls at least.

The weakest ones were like a magic trick, the requirement also relatively low, only requiring a chicken or something similar that had meat.

In short, all sorts of weird powers came with all sorts of weird conditions.

However, merely satisfying the requirements wasn’t enough.

The uprising of the pagans from War God Temple and the gemstone from Edatine VI, all the signs pointed out to Kieran that the power of the pagans were best left alone, they shouldn’t be simply used without a strong heart.

Fortunately, Kieran didn’t need to use the remnant powers either, all he needed was… for them to taste good!

With a thought from his mind, Gluttony appeared in the tent.

Right after it appeared, Gluttony looked at its big brother with a pitiful and begging look.

He was starving, especially in front of a bunch of food that he wasn’t able to eat. It was torture for Gluttony.

He’d even settle for a quick lick but without permission from his big brother, he dared not even look.

“Go on, but only these. You can’t have those yet.”

Kieran nodded at the teary Gluttony, pointing at the boxes with the pagan remnants.

Gluttony cheered happily right away. He dashed towards the boxes, opened the lids up and went to grab the pagan remnants with his bare hands, but right before his hands touched the ‘food’, Gluttony suddenly thought of something.

He stopped. He raised his hand and the chopstick [Seven-inch Six-part. Jiaolong Chopsticks] appeared.

His brother once said eating using his brother’s form must show table manners.

Gluttony bore the lesson in mind as he moved the chopsticks into the boxes. The pagan remnants instantly felt a sense of danger, wriggling like worms, but before they could do anything, they were pierced by the chopstick.

Several pagan remnants were skewered by the chopstick and with [Jialong Saliva] in effect, the pagan remnant’s taste elevated to the next level.

The already alluring taste made Gluttony go wild.

Without a second thought, he opened his mouth, put the skewer into his mouth, and then pulled out the chopstick. All the pagan remnants skewered by the chopstick, regardless of size, were put into Gluttony’s mouth and chewed on.

Crunch, crunch!

Amid the crunches, juices spilled out his mouth but did not touch the ground as Gluttony slurped them quickly back into his mouth.

Not wasting food was his big brother’s ideology and he carried it out wholeheartedly.

Likewise, Kieran also carried out his own ideology thoroughly.

The energy Gluttony converted was infused into all five of his Origin Forces.

The deep and dark Cardinal Sins Force.

The chaotic and ruthless Devil Force.

The sharp and reserved Saint Thorn Force.

The Dawn Force and Plague Force that existed like a pair of chopsticks were surrounded by Cardinal Sins Force, Devil Force and Saint Thorn Force, forming a steady triangle.

Then, all five of the Origin Forces amassed and imbued the ’ember’.

From a single spark to the current ember, this ember in the deepest part of Kieran’s mind was growing vigorous.

On the other hand, the darkness and chaos were decreasing, leaving only nine dark threads behind.

However, these nine threads of darkness were far more sturdier than Kieran’s expectation.

It wasn’t burned away by the ember, instead continuing to create more and more chaos and darkness.

Kieran was sure that if he temporarily killed the ember, the deepest part of his mind would be filled with chaos and darkness again.

So, as long as he hadn’t lost his mind, he would never do it.

Although he still didn’t know what would happen after the chaos and darkness were completely expelled, the discomfort from the chaos and darkness told Kieran what he should do.

Huu!

The Origin Forces received a staggering 60 pagan remnants worth of fuel in a single go and the fuel was all poured into the ember, causing it to surge high all of a sudden.

Right away, one thread of chaotic darkness was burned to cinders, followed by a second thread.

The second one burned slower than the first one and when the ember reached the third, it started to feel lackluster.

All the ember managed to burn off was half of the third thread before it entered a stagnant state.

“It’s stronger than I thought!”

Looking at the six and a half threads of chaotic darkness, Kieran unconsciously looked towards the 280 magical items and equipment and 40 Rare rank magical equipment and items.

Ultimately, he shook his head.

‘It’s not time yet,’ Kieran told himself in his heart.

He then looked at Gluttony.

Holding the chopsticks, Gluttony was full of unwillingness as he parted ways with the remaining food, ultimately vanishing back into Kieran’s heart.

He couldn’t defy his big brother’s order.

The instinct was branded in the deepest part of Gluttony long ago.

Right after Gluttony vanished, Kieran took [Lord of Mist] out.

Consuming a total of 60 pagan remnants at one go also benefited [Lord of Mist] greatly. Although the rank did not go higher, the related attributes surged, with several new addition of attributes and effects.

The most straightforward one was that by holding [Lord of Mist], the range of Kieran’s powers had expanded from Sicar and Edatine to the south, including the once prosperous, now erased from the map, Qitar Bay. There was also Schwenko Highlands and Hills, Aishanko Valley etc.

At the same time, there were also two new attributes added to the crystal, [Eye of Mist] and [Sense of Tide].

[Eye of Mist: Within the area under your control, wherever the mist appears, you will be granted clear vision over everything that the mist envelopes. The farther you are from the location that you are seeing, the more stamina the Eye of Mist will consume.]

[Sense of Tide: The sea isn’t your enemy, but you still couldn’t truly control it. You can only faintly sense when the next high and low tides are and whenever a storm arrives.]

…

It was obvious that the new attributes and effects were closely related to where the pagans were originally born.

“The sea?” Kieran muttered and then slowly shook his head.

His power still wasn’t there yet, the south was his current limit.

Technically speaking, he didn’t even have a single person to use in the south.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t require Bloody Mary to play so many roles at once.

But… Bloody Mary was really a useful follower!

With the thought in mind, Kieran walked out of the tent.

His appearance attracted the people’s attention.

People showed respect and reverence towards the heir of Snake Sect and Edatine’s throne, and in this particular timing, an extra sense of anticipation was added in their gazes.

‘Can he save Bishop Simon?’

Everyone had the same thought, but no one dared to voice it.

Compared to Bishop Simon, who was approachable, Kieran was always cold, his presence revered.

Kieran was already used to their gazes, nodding at Anderson and the others whom he was familiar with before he walked into Bloody Mary’s tent.

Right after Kieran entered the tent, Bloody Mary woke up.

In order to maintain the disguise, it had to lie down for a little longer, but now it had to wake up.

Bloody Mary sat up after it woke.

‘Nicely done!’ Kieran praised Bloody Mary through the power of the contract.

‘Thank you for the compliment,’ Bloody Mary answered.

Then? What then? Actual reward? Stop kidding.

Its boss would never give it some actual reward, the mini rest was the greatest blessing already.

Bloody Mary estimated that it would be a year…no, at least three years until its next rest.

Bloody Mary was fully prepared with utmost resolution.

Both of them stayed quiet in the tent for around five minutes before Kieran walked out first according to plan.

“He has awakened,” said Kieran after he came out.

“Great! Lord bishop has awakened!”

Cheers sounded off right away.

When the pale-looking Bloody Mary walked out the tent, the cheers from the people got louder.

Amid the delightful cheers, Kieran returned to his own tent like how he had arrived.

“You should learn to enjoy the cheerful atmosphere.”

Anderson quietly caught up with Kieran and reminded him as a senior.

“I’m not used to it,” Kieran said honestly.

“That’s why you choose to offer in silence? Before this, I was still a little bit doubtful about your identity as a Demon Hunter, but now I am sure that you are a Demon Hunter to the core. The very traditional kind,” said the old Demon Hunter with laughter. “Let’s go, I’ll buy you a drink.”

“I don’t drink,” Kieran said simply, rejecting the invitation.

“Let me correct myself. You are not just the most traditional kind, you are the weirdest as well,” said the old Demon Hunter as his gaze shifted to a shadowy spot.

Kieran was already looking at the spot.

“Hu, hu! Help me!”

Falling out from the shadow, Cabio was in an ugly state as he called for help loudly.

He was only loud to himself, his volume was nothing compared to the cheers from the crowd.

Cabio realized this too and when he mustered up enough strength to call out louder, a series of snake hisses stopped him.

Hiss!

The snake hisses vibrated through the air as Kieran walked past Cabio.

Swirling air streams immediately enveloped Cabio whole, slicing and shredding him into smithereens.