The Devil’s Cage

Divine Power!

Rumor had it that after one slew a God, one would acquire the power of a God!

The rumor was even verified by Perforation Sting’s leader, Jin, and 2567, the Bird of Death!

However, Fergus didn’t acquire the divine power of the Bird of Death.

Instinctively, he turned around to the Bird of Death.

He saw Kieran pull out the arrow of “The crossbow forsaken by the Gods” from his chest and size it up in detail.

“Impossible!”

“You were shot! How can you be fine?”

“This is impossible!” Fergus shouted.

Kieran showed a disdainful smile before appearing in front of Fergus in a flash. Before he even reacted, Kieran landed his finger on Fergus’ forehead.

Fergus was instantly dragged into the illusion realm and he started to spill out secrets hidden deep in his heart which he himself weren’t even aware of.

‘Kieran’ maintained his smile when he heard the secrets but Hayden Ow was different.

The branch manager’s face changed multiple times for the worse, he even cried out in shock at the end of the revelation.

“How is this happening…”

“Your Majesty, we need to seize the moment and make our move! Otherwise, the whole of Forest City will be doomed!” Hayden Ow said quickly.

“Doomed? How? Some other people have already made their move.”

‘Kieran’ shook his head before he muttered to himself softly, “That guy sleeps with one eye open and you people are trying to play scheming tricks on him? You people don’t seem to be afraid of death!”

‘Kieran’ then sighed out of regret.

…

At the end of the road along Rosser Park, there was a smaller wriggly cobblestone street and a variety of shops were located on both sides of the street that led further down.

Starting from the entrance was a bakery, a dairy shop, and a sausage seller followed by a clothing store and a shoemaker.

All of the shops were related to the daily lives of the citizens. The reason for their existence was to serve the citizens of the south block of Forest City plus several others.

Other than on specific holidays, the people hardly had a chance to leave their living area for the more prosperous, merrier streets.

They didn’t have the time nor sufficient money, hence a small street filled with shops like this became the favorite of the locals.

It was also natural that there would be a popular shop and a popular owner amongst the small street.

Other street blocks might not know but within the small street itself, Scotdery was the most popular owner. His humor and reasonable pricing of his goods plus his old age were enough for him to be the most respected one as well.

The wooden sign in front of his shop was repainted after the frozen ice of the winter melted, “Scotdery Shoemaker” was clearly written on an image of a boot on the sign.

The glass door entrance that allowed only one to pass at a time was divided into small squares by green wood, adding up the squares from the top and bottom, there were a total of 12.

The shop had no display window but in front of the door was a doormat and a rack to house umbrellas.

After entering the glass door, another soft doormat greeted the visitor and the price list was written on the hanging blackboard beside the wall.

…

Repair shoe—

Leather shoe: $2

Canvas shoe: $1

(PS: Same for high and low boots)

Shoes for sale—

First row: $25

Second row: $35

Third row: $45

(PS: Just the shoe rack, doesn’t include the cupboard.)

Special made—

Men shoe: $100

Lady shoe: $200

(PS: Price may change per special request)

…

Simple and easy to understand, the price list was clean to the eyes, just like Scotdery himself.

A clean apron was tied around his waist, his hair was white and he was wearing a pair of plastic spectacles, his face had layers of wrinkles but his hands were still steady as the needle was meticulously stitching through the leather. Each stitch appeared as if it was machine sewn as the distance in between was the same.

“What do you need?”

“Please wait for a moment.”

His old and kind voice was welcoming the customer but he didn’t lift his head as he was concentrating on stitching his shoe to completion.

“I need a pair of shoes!”

The deep voice belonged to the customer with a big body and the shadow it cast was like a small mountain falling over Scotdery.

His stitching hands was forced to a stop.

“My my, excuse me, dear customer, you’ve blocked the light.”

Although Scotdery said as such, his hand continued stitching and quicker than before. After a quick completion of his shoe, the shoemaker heaved a long sigh and looked up at the customer, sizing him up carefully.

“My my, dear customer, you sure are big and muscular. Your feet quite thick and very strong, it seems like you need a special thickness sole to fit your walking motion and the strength that follows. If a small heel is added, it will be great!”

“Fortunately for you, I have a pair of shoes here that fits your criteria perfectly.”

The shoemaker walked over to the shoe rack as he promoted his shoe, the big and strong customer, however, grew impatient and reached his hand out to grab Scotdery.

His hand was fast and powerful but lacked accuracy. The shoemaker slightly repositioned his steps and moved him should hence dodging the hand easily, he even went along with his body motion and took out a pair of shoes from the rack.

“Come come, let me help to put them on.”

The shoemaker said with a smile as he walked back to the big and strong customer.

“Aaaaaargh!”

The customer was like a frenzied grizzly bear, he didn’t just growl loudly, his body even inflated and he threw himself at the old shoemaker.

The wind pressure from the motion was enough to stun a common man but the old shoemaker was still smiling. He easily dodged the customer as though he was playing catch with a child.

The shoemaker’s shoulder then lightly leaned towards the big customer and the customer was pushed down right away.

Fortunately, the big fella fell on the chair which the old shoemaker was sitting.

Then…

The old shoemaker moved his hands to the customer’s feet and placed the shoes on him.

“What a perfect fit. As I said, this is the perfect shoe for your feet.”

“Stand up, go take a walk,” said the shoemaker.

The customer who was angry and frenzied suddenly stood up honestly just as the shoemaker told him to, he even walked around the little shop.

But…

His face was still enraged and now had an added sense of terror.

Moments later, the terror was increased further.

“What did you do to me?”

“Why I can’t control my body?” The customer shouted.

“A good shoe can change a man’s life, my dear customer, you are no exception.

“Of course, that includes the few of you as well.”

The old shoemaker moved his body aside as he spoke, then a lock of hair grazed his shoulder.

He simply took a roller and stabbed it into the lock of hair.

“Aaargh!”

The cry of pain came from the corner of the room, at the same time the blazing flame outside the room was extinguished as well.

“Bearman, Hair Fiend and the Fire Brothers…”

“Seems like I’ve discovered all of you.

“However, His Majesty can’t be everywhere at once, thus sending you bunch of useless garbage here. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”

“If you fiends die, it will surely startle His Majesty. Thank my greedy collaborator then, he did attract sufficient attention away from me.”

“Now, I think, I should leave.”

The shoemaker then started to tidy up his shoes, tools and loaded them into a big sack.

He then turned around and looked at Hair Fiend, Bearman, and the Fire Brothers.

“Since we are parting ways, how about a farewell dance?”

Dense malicious intent overflowed on the shoemaker’s face, together with his smiling face, it would cause one to shiver.

Then, footsteps were heard outside the street.

Almost a thousand men were outside.

Each and every one of them was horrified as they looked at their uncontrollable bodies and the weapons in their hands. Eventually, they looked at the… shoes on their feet.