The Devil's Cage

Blazing waves rumbled as scorching flames flew across the sky.

The extreme temperature of the Devil Flame engulfed the area after it exploded.

A few of the nobles didn’t even have the chance to resist before they were turned into ashes. As the First Seat of Ghastly Woods Sect, Jarles was stronger than a common man.

A formless barrier appeared around him, but it barely blocked the Devil Flame for a single second before shattering.

“White Wolf! Ghastly Woods will not spare—”

Huu!

The rumbling flame engulfed him completely before he could even finish his words.

After an orange glow, a palm-sized flute appeared atop the ashes.

[Name: Insect Flute]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attribute: Summon Insects (2/2)]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Prerequisite: Mystical Knowledge (Ghastly Woods, Basic)]

[Remark: This is an item owned only by Ghastly Woods core members. Most of them were self-made, but some came from their teacher as well.]

…

[Summon Insect: Use the flute to gather insects within a 100-meter range to serve you. (Doesn’t include reptiles; includes but is not limited to spiders and scorpions.) 10 minutes duration.]

[Note: When summoning, user needs to maintain the playing of the flute. When the flute stops, the insects will disperse.]

…

Kieran picked up [Insect Flute].

If there weren’t a limited prerequisite and tag, it would have been a good item, but with all sorts of limitations, the practical use of the item plummeted.

Of course, it didn’t stop Kieran from putting it into his bag.

Then, Kieran sized up the surroundings.

Although everything was almost burnt to ashes by Devil Flame, there were still traces around the area and it was enough for Kieran to make more guesses.

“The ashes in the fireplace suggests that these guys had been camping out here for almost three days, maybe even more. There is still more supplies in the tent, which attests that they had plans to stay here for longer. So this is it, huh?” Kieran took in a deep breath.

When he had realized that the nobles of Riverdale left without leaving anything behind, even taking a lot of those heavy and precious items with them, Kieran had reason to believe that these nobles had been preparing their escape beforehand. Those many heavy golden decorations weren’t something a few wagons could carry away.

These nobles didn’t only just start preparing to leave when the Prairies invaders came, they had been preparing long before when the Prairies invaders left their land.

In other words, they had been retreating because they had anticipated the arrival of the Prairies invaders.

Kieran was certain that even if he hadn’t broken through Lightning Fortress in the first place, it would have eventually fallen into someone else’s hands!

The Prairies invaders would have ridden straight to Riverdale!

These nobles had been prepared for that exact moment, and even until now, they didn’t intend to give up on the plan.

What were they planning to do though?

Overthrow the Warren royal family?

Find Dragon Sect’s secret?

Or something else entirely?

Kieran didn’t know. All he knew was that he couldn’t afford to let their plan succeed.

Similar to the slaughter right now, the slaughter by the walls was a show on the surface. Kieran’s real goal was to lure out the one hiding in Riverdale. He had already had guesses about who it was when he first returned to the dungeon world.

First, he had seen Ghastly Woods Sect in the southern reinforcement camp, then, another one appeared in the palace last night. Kieran was almost certain of it.

Since the beginning, Kieran had never forgotten that Jeanne James had come from Ghastly Woods Sect herself.

Correct, Jeanne James was dead but not all of Ghastly Woods.

They lurked around or were within Riverdale throughout all the incidents.

No one liked having a bunch of people who rallied with insects and played with curses around them, especially when these disgusting people harboured malicious intent.

So Kieran had set up a plan to erase them.

No doubt the whole process was as smooth as Kieran expected.

But the outcome?

A First Seat wasn’t what Kieran wanted, but of course, he was prepared for it.

Like always, Kieran had prepared a backup plan for himself, as he never underestimated his enemies, especially these kinds of organizations that had hundreds of years of legacy and inheritance. He had to deal with them with the utmost carefulness.

Kieran believed an organization like Ghastly Woods Sect must have their own information network.

In simpler words, his enemies must know who he really was!

If given the circumstances, the enemies wouldn’t be this careless.

So, there was only one explanation left: the First Seat before him had been the bait to lure him out.

And there were only three ways to lure him out, right?

The first was to take him out by setting him up.

The second was to lure the tiger away from the mountains.

The third, a mix of both.

Kieran’s squinted eyes shone. He looked at Riverdale and his lips curled up into a grin.

“Hope you people are having fun,” he muttered to himself.

Then, he sized up his surroundings again.

In the sky, Fire Raven captured everything under its sharp eyes, providing Kieran with extra vision. So when a person with a worn-out dress and puss all over his face appeared, Kieran noticed him at the very first moment.

Likewise, the person didn’t seem to be trying to hide his presence as he walked towards Kieran righteously, stopping a dozen meters away.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord White Wolf. When I got the news of your appearance, I was really horrified. After all, we had thought that the Prairies King was the White Wolf, a White Wolf that broke tradition. Fortunately, he wasn’t. But it’s also depressing that he wasn’t. My complicated feelings now… Can you understand them?” the Ghastly Woods Sect member whose face was full of puss asked in a buzzing voice.

It wasn’t his natural voice though, as it sounded more like an insect vibrating its wings, thus the buzzing. It seemed as if there wasn’t a voice cord in the man’s throat, an insect flapping its wings there instead.

“Okay, I guess,” Kieran replied calmly.

“Thank you for your understanding. That is why I’ve purposely come to give you compensation. My disciple, Latti Po, who you killed in the southern reinforcement camp, and Samara, who worked under that despicable woman, Jeanne James. All of them are my compensation to you. Of course, that’s not all. If you are willing to leave Riverdale, I will give you the compensation that truly befits your identity.”

The man appeared very sincere, but his sincerity was exchanged for a cold laugh from Kieran.

“If there weren’t so many bugs approaching this place, I might have really believed in your words.”

“Ah! You’ve noticed! I really underestimated the olfactory senses of the Wolf Sect. But a dead wolf shouldn’t be able to smell anything, right?”

The person pretended to be shaken and waved his hand.

Fuuu!

Bugs, insects and vermins that could shroud the heavens and cover the lands flew up from the ground.

Within an instant, they clouded the sun as if darkness had covered the land.

However, at the very next moment, light reappeared in a very harsh, rampant and arrogant manner!