The Devil's Cage

Despite being further away, the voices still entered Kieran’s ears but he never took it to heart at all, nor would he explain himself to those rookies.

Kieran knew people would only believe what they wanted to believe.

As for the others?

It was all nothing but lies, some might even choose to turn a blind eye.

One couldn’t wake a person who was pretending to be asleep, likewise, one couldn’t tell the truth to a prejudiced mind.

Kieran knew exactly what he should do since he had a deep understanding about it: discard them from his mind and concentrate on what he should be doing, never simply waste time and energy on something worthless.

“You are saying that eagle is the Witch’s servant?”

Shaken, Kieran questioned Karles beside him.

The eagle that threw that crumb of paper in front of Kieran’s door back then was obviously well-trained; Kieran didn’t doubt that fact.

However, Kieran never thought that the owner of the eagle was the Witch who had left the game.

“Yup. The Guardians were founded around that eagle. Even the Guardians that were chosen to enter were “handpicked” by that eagle.” Karles nodded.

“Based on what criteria?” Kieran continued to question the things that he had interest in.

“I don’t know,” Karles shook his head.

Kieran slightly frowned and wasn’t satisfied with the answer.

The Witch left, an eagle was left behind and the eagle started to choose players?

The ever suspicious Kieran believed there must be something behind this.

“To be honest, I accidentally get a hold of this secret. Until now, most of the Guardians thought the eagle was the leader’s servant instead. I can use a contract to prove the secret that I shared with you is very real.”

Karles also seemed to understand the answer was not satisfying enough for Kieran, thus he added.

Kieran didn’t stop him. He watched Karles signed another contract before he continued his question about the Guardians; Karles answered one by one.

The whole question and answer session lasted for around 20 minutes.

When the session was coming to an end, Kieran suddenly raised his right hand and pointed at the freaky smiley face behind his glove, “What do you know about this?”

Karles was stunned before he laughed bitterly.

“That is the Witch’s Gift! After killing Hilton, you must have experienced an increase in your attributes, skills leveling up, right? It’s tempting isn’t it?”

“So now you know why the other Guardians were on to me.”

Karles couldn’t help but shake his head amidst his bitter laughter as if he still couldn’t accept the fact that he was being hunted.

Not Origin Force but attributes and skill levels?

Guesses flooded Kieran’s heart but his face remained calm and he continued listening to what Karles had to say.

“The Guardians are really something else. They didn’t just allow members to form groups or create factions of their own, they also allowed internal disputes as well, the kinds that led to deathmatches. However, unlike being hunted down, the witnessed deathmatches provided the winner with far fewer benefits than the former. This is where I realized the eagle’s secret.”

“I’ve told you everything I know. I can prove the validity with a contract.”

After a deep breath, Karles looked at Kieran.

“Let’s go then. Choose the closest place you want to return to,” Kieran said.

It was correct that Karles had three rooms but given that he was being hunted, all three of the exposed rooms would be heavily guarded.

In simple, it was the same regardless of the choice.

…

Williamson Path, it was located at the east side of the big city and was the exchange point of the inner city and the once outer city.

A month ago, the place was still a barren land but following the surge of new players recently, the place swiftly prospered.

Both sides of the path were filled with shops operated by players and many more players were shuttling across.

However, all the players had the same mark on their chest.

It was a vertical “I” symbol with a pair of white wings on both sides and green olive branches surrounding the outside.

“They are the people from the Holy Mercy Association. Their motives are helping each other and their leader is an old high-ranker, quite a nice man,” Karles explained it to Kieran but his eyes were vigilantly checking his surroundings.

Obviously, the closer he got to 122th Williamson Path, the more nervous he got.

He was like a rubber band stretched to its limit, any more pressure would snap him easily.

Kieran quietly shook his head at Karles.

He couldn’t imagine how Karles spent the last few days but he knew had he return to his place alone, even with slim chances of succeeding, he would fail because of his nervousness.

Kieran also started to suspect Karles who acted as a “spy” for the Guardians in the first place.

“Vigilant, good at maintaining covers, fitting criteria for a spy but his “will” is less than satisfactory. Given his nervousness in critical situations, he would have ruined both sides. Maybe, this is the reason why Karles was chosen as a “spy”… no, not a spy, an “abandoned piece”!”

“A safe chance to raise his strength rigorously unlike going through dungeon worlds and spending Points and Skill Points.”

A sudden thought rose up in Kieran’s mind.

Then, a question that had been troubling Kieran for a long time solved itself.

How did the first guardian appear?

Or, why did he appear?

If one could acquire another extremely safe chance to raise his strength, who would give it up?

The first, or the one who founded the Guardians in the first place must have started his endeavors when he noticed the Witch had some special traits to choose her “Guardians”.

The first guardian must have made some changes as well.

Thinking about the differences between Hilton and the “rival”, the difference between the deathmatch and the hunting of others, Kieran quietly added another thought.

“If he really had the chance to safely raise his strength, why would he be willing to give the chance to others? Unless…”

Kieran squinted his eyes again.

He couldn’t believe a person that utilized the “chances” would sacrifice himself for others.

Then, there must be only one explanation behind all these: the first guardian must be the last one that reaps the benefits after all was said and done.

Similar to rearing a pig. First, the pigs were fed with chosen “fodder”, allowing the “pigs” to grow fat and big. Then, the “pigs” would be killed by the butcher.

It seemed like the first guardian might even use these “fodder” to control the “pigs”, making them obedient and tame.

“Who is this first guardian then?”

Kieran was deep in thought.