The Devil's Cage

Before the shocking cry subsided, the young assassin clenched his mouth all of sudden.

He was trying to kill himself by biting his tongue!

Death was fearful but some things out there were far worse than being dead.

Being robbed of one's free will was one of those things.

Having a conscious mind but being ordered to do things against one's own will, acting as a puppet with strings could drive a man crazy.

The young assassin had no intention of being one.

So when he saw [Mesly Ring], he tried to take his own life.

However, trying to take his own life in front of Kieran was much harder than he imagined.

Kieran reached out his hand and immediately dislocated the assassin's lower jaw.

Even though Kieran specialized in [Kick Combat] from [Hand-to-Hand Combat], some of the techniques involving his hands were also present in his mind, it just didn't have the specialty buffs like his kicks.

"You recognize this ring? That's even better! I think we can have a pleasant talk." Kieran said with a smile.

His intention was to dominate the assassin with [Mesly Ring] but since the assassin recognized the ring and addressed it as "the witch's ring", it delayed Kieran's initial thoughts all of a sudden.

Judging from how Jeanne operated, the [Mesly Ring] was certainly her biggest secret and an average assassin with an unknown origin knew the biggest secret of Jeanne James, regardless of how one looked at it, it wasn't a coincidence.

It must be his organization! The organization behind the assassin should be the one who once investigated Jeanne. Factoring in the Viper Sect techniques from the assassin, Kieran came up with a question.

"The Viper Sect wasn't eliminated completely? Did some of them escape?" he asked.

The assassin didn't answer but his reaction told Kieran his guess was right.

"I suppose you can write down what you know… If you don't mind, I can use other methods as well."

Kieran waved [Mesly Ring] in the air. The young assassin shivered instantly.

Kieran then nodded in satisfaction and opened the tent.

Mary was outside with a medical officer.

"Bandage him up but don't fix his lower jaw and also get me some ink and paper!" Kieran ordered the medical officer.

There were pen and papers inside the tent but it wasn't good manners for Kieran to go over Mary's belongings privately. Mary then quickly handed the pen and papers to him.

"Thanks."

Kieran took the pen and papers and placed them in front of the assassin.

The assassin endured his pain and started to write with Kieran staring at him.

After around twenty minutes when the medical officer stated the treatment was over, a full written paper was handed to Kieran.

Kieran took a glance and handed it to Mary.

The girl went over the contents carefully.

"A sect hidden in Riverdale? Folly exterminated them but they have since expanded to hundreds of members… The headquarters is within Riverdale?" Mary frowned.

She heard the mention of sects before from her mother.

There were once the two biggest sword sects within Warren lands, one was the Viper Sect and the other was the Raven sect.

However, one was eliminated long ago and the other had a mysterious way of conducting business. They totally deviated from their own authorities but still held a substantial affection towards some of the shady characters and mercenaries.

The commoners heard of the sects as well but Mary wasn't fond of it by any means because the one who killed her mother, Galeart was indeed from the Viper Sect, [Viper Kick] was the best proof.

When Mary laid her eyes on the assassin again, her eyes were filled with killing intent.

Never underestimate the rage of one when their dearest was robbed from them, it was enough for them to pick up the slaughter knife.

Though, Mary was still calm. The young girl had a maturity that surpassed her common peers even before coming of age.

After calming down, Mary walked out of the tent with Kieran behind her.

"You felt troubled because Folly and the Viper Sect appeared under Jeanne's command?" Kieran asked.

"Um! Folly was the one who eliminated Viper Sect and the remaining sect members would not be able to ignore a grudge with him. They couldn't have served Jeanne willingly unless she used [Mesly Ring] on them, but facts show that she didn't. So why did they kill my mother then… Is it because of [Thorn Blade]?"

Mary seemed to have related into more.

"[Thorn Blade] might be alluring but I am quite sure that it is what Galeart was after because of his greed. His superior wouldn't even know about this, otherwise, Galeart wouldn't be the one that appeared." Kieran hinted.

That Legendary blade had made quite an impression on Kieran's heart.

A Powerful attack and strong attributes, if the Viper Sect knew about its existence, they wouldn't only send Galeart alone but other higher ranking members.

The captured young assassin's writing proved as much. He and Galeart were just some borderline members of the organization and not really the core leaders of the group.

"So why are they continuously chipping away at me with such persistence? After Galear's failure, another one was sent here even after Jeanne's death?" The girl was baffled by the questions.

"This is a question that we need to ask them."

Kieran pointed at the addresses that were written in the paper.

...

A night has passed since the battle.

As dawn arrived, the scene at the fortress was busy because of its rebuilding process.

After the battle last night, the soldiers had recovered a lot of morale. It boosted their efficiency in strengthening the defensive line and soldiers on duty went up to the outpost to keep an eye on the enemy's movements.

Bosco was moving towards the campsite on a sprinting horse wagon but before he could step into the site, he was halted.

Four soldiers on duty were scanning the wagon before them cautiously and two more guards from afar even pulled out their bow at the carriage.

Something was giving a hostile presence in the wagon.

In fact, Bosco was tied up inside the wagon and a long sword was held to his neck. The owner of the sword was a handsome young man with a pair of cold eyes. His nose was tall but at the end of the tip, it was crooked slightly, thus granting a sinister look.

The sinister look plus the cold eyes presented him as a merciless man.

"Bring Torstar to me!" He said coldly.

The soldiers remained silent but their cautious gaze was glued to the man holding Bosco hostage.

"NOW!" He yelled.

The soldiers held their stance.

It angered the young man as killing intent flashed over his face. The sword that was on Bosco's neck started to move towards other parts of his body.

Before the said Torstar was brought before him, the man wouldn't kill Bosco but he could do something else on his body, like cutting his fingers or open a hole at his thigh.

"Wait!"

Bosco shouted loudly when he caught the intentions of the abductor.

The man froze for a slight second and looked at Bosco with his cold eyes.

"I have two beautiful daughters and I want to stand by them as a father when they get married! Please don't cripple me in unnecessary ways!..."

The abductor frowned when he heard Bosco's words.

He felt like he was being played.

He raised his sword and thrust it down without a second thought but a voice stopped him again.

"Wait!"

It wasn't Bosco this time but it came from a further spot. The soldiers made way for the person behind them to pass and when the black dressed figure was set in his sight, the abductor was a relief.

He did it.