The Devil’s Cage

Before the illusory image’s giant head fell on the ground, it faded away into the wind together with its headless body.

The illusory image vanished but the wind that blew it away didn’t!

Quite the opposite, the wind was blowing faster as if it was venting its emotions wholeheartedly and delightfully.

When it took form before the eyes of the kneeling guests in the main hall, it became gray!

A gray colored wind that was tumbling around vigorously.

A moment ago, it was a slight breeze but now it was as sharp as a blade and it further transformed into a rampaging wind.

It was ever changing! Its form was changing ceaselessly despite it ultimately settling in the form of a human, the gray wind energy around the figure was still rumbling.

The gray wind energy covered the figure’s face and body, making it look like the accumulation of gray wind in the form of a man.

Everyone in the main hall was shaken from the bottom of their hearts when they saw the “man”.

A tremendous aura far more powerful than the dragon-snake like image assaulted the guests in an even fiercer, more violent way.

Each of their souls was trembling before the powerful existence.

When the “man” walked past them, no one dared to look up as they crawled on the ground with their heads down.

It wasn’t submission but absolute obedience!

A simple example was how a beast at the top of the food chain walked past the little animals at the bottom of the food chain, the latter would show complete submission by giving up everything.

Dak, Dak, Dak.

Step after step.

Each step the gray “man” took, the guests’ hearts would skip a beat.

Each time their hearts skipped a beat, it weakened their remaining will.

When the gray “man” reached the destroyed stage, everyone else in the main hall had lost their consciousness, their eyes were out of focus as they crawled there blankly like statues.

Their breathing slowed down and eventually vanished.

Among all the affected ones, anyone would be eye-catching enough if they could act normally under such circumstances, hence Beck stood out from the rest.

Although he wasn’t fine by any means, he still hadn’t died.

His face was pale, his mouth was spitting blood as he fell out from the shadow that he was hiding in. His body was twitching non-stop as if he would die at any second and yet he straightened his back and glared at the gray “man”.

“Perforation Sting! You are starting a war here!” Beck yelled with his best effort and clenched teeth.

Despite him standing out among the others and shouting with all his might at the gray “man”, the moment his shout went silent, he collapsed without any further signs of life.

The gray “man” didn’t even care about Beck’s shouting.

When a dog was tough on the outside yet weak in the inside barked, most wouldn’t care about it, let alone the said dog was already dead.

The gray “man” only had the thin, long whisker in his eyes.

The whisker was thin when it was compared to its own length but actually, it was as thick as a grown man’s arm, the very robust kind.

Hmph!

The gray “man” heaved a cold grunt when he glanced over the whisker.

Following his grunt, the whisker shook.

The lingering life force that survived through the corrosion of time vanished just like that, all that was left was a plain whisker and its original power.

The power of the whisker was exactly what the gray “man” wanted, so he raised his hand.

However, his hand suddenly froze in mid-air.

“I wouldn’t touch other people’s thing if I were you!”

Amidst the youthful voice, a youthful face appeared out of thin air before the gray “man”.

“Great Swamp!”

The gray “man” spoke for the first time when he saw the familiar face and the outstandingly mature temperament.

His voice sounded like a roaring wind and it really did cause a violent wind throughout the hall.

However, Great Swamp waved his hand and the wind that came faded away quickly.

Not only did the wind fade from the hall, but even the guests who lost all signs of life also returned to normal, Beck included.

“Your Majesty!”

Beck knelt down with one knee when he saw Great Swamp the moment he regained his consciousness.

“Your Majesty!”

The others followed in kneeling after they jolted.

Unlike the forceful one from before, this time around, the guests knelt out of respect.

As their wealth increased and positions changed, these guests had gotten in touch with the unknowns in Flame City.

Such as fiends, Flame City in its early days, and the real commander of Flame City.

If they knew nothing, why would they chase after the precious treasures related to Artitelgar so crazily?

Artitelgar was Great Swamp, it wasn’t really a secret among the city though.

“Hmph! Compassion from a hypocrite. All these years and you still haven’t changed.”

The gray “man” grunted coldly again and commented in a disdainful manner.

“So are you right? From the first day I met you, you were always this ruthless, and ambitious.”

Great Swamp shook his head.

“Are you saying we are the same? I’ve been growing stronger all these years! And you? You/re still relying on your natural advantage and resting on your laurels, benefiting from past achievements! I was a mortal whom you could easily squash back in the day but now I’ve transcended to a God that is on par with you! What do you think now?”

The gray “man” was questioned Great Swamp with his delighted and boastful tone.

Great Swamp shook his head.

“You talk too much.”

He then vanished from the spot together with the gray “man”.

However, unlike Great Swamp who vanished on his own will, the gray “man” was sent flying by a powerful blow.

Bang!

The air froze for a second before the ceiling was broken by a huge bang.

The gray “man” was sent flying into the air, the gray energy that rumbled around him even faced a short delay and yet he didn’t panic; despite taking a blow, the gray “man” laughed wholeheartedly.

“You left the ground and came up to the sky? Do you know… this will be your end!?”

Amidst his delighted killer words, the gray “man” laughed even louder and happier.

“I said you talk too much.”

When Great Swamp’s voice was heard, his finger softly landed on the gray “man”‘s body.

Bak!

The gray energy was broken with a crack.

As if it was an eggshell being peeled off, the gray energy fell off the man’s body, thus finally revealing his true identity.

However, when Great Swamp caught a glimpse of the true identity of the man, he couldn’t help but be jolted.

The one under the gray energy shell wasn’t the one he was expecting which was Perforation Sting’s leader, Jin, instead, he was… the God of Forest City!

…

“It has begun!”

Zackary said after a deep breath.

“Yes, it is,” Kieran nodded and saw Zackary stand up from his chair.

Beneath their feet, a lotus-like plant was slowly withering and when it died completely, their shielded presence would be exposed under Great Swamp and God of Forest City’s perception.

So, Zackary knew he had to hurry.

“Sir Ethan Hunt, it has been a pleasure working with you. So… You can die now!”

The blade that he was hiding in his hand was thrust towards Kieran’s chest.