The Devil’s Cage

Borl?

All this really had something to do with that bastard!

Kieran’s squinted eyes glimmered brightly.

Kieran had always reserved his opinion towards this Borl, who proclaimed himself a victim of the Witch’s wrath.

In fact, Kieran held a doubtful side towards any stranger that he came across, especially with Brother opposite him, so had to be even more vigilant than ever.

“So this is what you’ve been planning?”

Kieran sized up the palace again and ultimately locked his gaze on the oval dazzling door in front of him.

“Please help me,” Borl’s voice came through again.

Kieran could literally feel the urge and weakness.

Accident? Injuries?

Kieran wondered.

Though it wasn’t the reason for him to step into the oval door.

Kieran would never make a reckless move without assessing the danger.

As for how?

Snap!

Kieran snapped his fingers and Bloody Mary appeared beside him.

“Your most loyal, humble servant at your service 24/7,” Bloody Mary appeared with a bow.

Following Kieran’s recovery to his prime, Bloody Mary had returned to its best as well. The recovery further solidified its thoughts of staying beside Kieran. It would never leave him now because not only did it feel the power of the contract had seeped into its roots, the power of the contract was changing its body from inside out.

It wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad for now, but it had a hunch that it would be good given that its boss was happy to continue using it.

The contract and the working relationship was built around its boss. What its boss said was final.

Blood Mary?

It had no ground to resist at all, it didn’t even dare to think about it.

No one understood better than itself what kind of man its boss was.

It would never want to end up opposite its boss.

Therefore, after it straightened its body, Bloody Mary walked into the dazzling in blue oval door.

Of course, before it stepped in, Bloody Mary had reported to Kieran everything about Starbeck.

After knowing Starbeck was all good, Kieran was relieved, his eyes following Bloody Mary into the world beyond the oval door.

…

A wagon arrived at a hillside, the thick woods and the magical light that shrouded the wagon’s tracks providing a temporary safe spot for Borl. He panted heavily, not just because of exhaustion but also because of the severe injuries that he had sustained.

The injury was at his abdomen and it was caused by a stab by his enemy during a fight. If it wasn’t for the specific item that he carried with him at all times, he would have died during the fight with the sword through his body.

Despite the fact that he barely escaped death, he wasn’t in a good shape by any means.

The person who stabbed him wasn’t any better either, Borl managed to cut the man’s head off. The dead man was the leader of the group of attacks on Borl’s tail, messing the group up. Thankfully due to that, Borl managed to buy himself some breathing window. He used some other items he had and temporarily escaped to the hills and hid in the thick woods.

“Mr. Borl.”

A muffled yet surprisingly loud enough voice sounded.

A man two meters tall walked over to Borl.

The man wasn’t just tall, he was also very buff. He wore a linen singlet coupled with a pair of rough jeans and leather boots. His hand was holding a halbert, which was bloody and had a strand of intestine hanging over its tip.

The hunk walked forward for a few steps before he noticed the intestine on the tip of his halbert. He shook it off before he walked to Borl to check on his injuries. After he noticed the injuries did not harm Borl’s organs, he heaved a breath of relief and passed him a water bottle.

“Drink some, it’s good for your injuries.”

The water bottle was uncorked and it reeked of bad liquor, Borl couldn’t help but choking on it.

The rough reaction affected his injuries. He couldn’t help but moan in pain after coughing a little. The hunk wanted to help patch him up but Borl said, “No thanks, Aschenkano, I’ll fix it myself.”

Borl had seen Aschenkano’s patching skills before and as long as he still wanted to live, he would not let the hunk touch his wounds.

The hunk scratched his head and squatted down beside Borl. He watched Borl take some gauze and alcohol out before, his eyes glued to the bottle of alcohol.

“Smells good,” Aschenkano commented.

“Don’t you dare drink it!” Borl emphasized.

“Why? It reminds me of the Water of Life,” Aschenkano asked.

His reaction caused a headache in Borl. Borl finally understood why Father Novan was so happy when he offered to hire Aschenkano with two Gold Purton.

It wasn’t the delight in seeing two Gold Purton. It was because Father Novan had his trouble taken away from him!

“It reminds you of the Water of Life but it is not the Water of Life! And shouldn’t we focus on the situation at hand?”

Borl tried to talk some sense into Aschenkano to understand the situation, but his attempt was replied by despair.

“They are just hundreds of potatoes, I can kill them all in a second! Come, stand, we shall fight together!” Aschenkano said in determination.

“Aschenkano, you and I are different. My injuries are enough to rob me of my mobility and render me useless for a while,” Borl pointed at his injuries and said.

“You can’t fight anymore?” Aschenkano got stunned, scratching his head again and waved before he said, “Don’t worry! You wait here, I’ll go cut all those bad potatoes in half!”

Aschenkano then stood up with his halbert.

“W-Wait! Come back!”

Borl screamed at his bodyguard, who rushed down the hill. Aschenkano heard his employer but he waved as a reply and shouted back, “I’ll be back in no time!”

Aschenkano then vanished into the pinewood forest after that.

Borl lowered his hands helplessly. He wasn’t worried about his bodyguard’s safety and never worried about his bodyguard lying, he knew his bodyguard’s strength and personality quite well.

Once said, it would be done.

But…

Their enemies were not just limited to the bunch of robbers downhill!

The robbers were just some pawns sent by the mastermind to test the water, the true killer move had yet to arrive!

Borl chuckled bitterly.

He couldn’t even deal with the pawns the mastermind sent to wear him down, what use would there be for him to figure out the killer move? It would be useless, he would probably die during the next wave of attacks.

Borl was shaken when he thought about his death.

He feared death. He struggled many times against death, but in the end, he was unable to escape death’s grasp.

Borl’s bitterness grew as he recalled the hard work he did back in the big city.

He did not complain about getting the cold shoulder from the other players, nor did he hold a grudge against the injustice.

The world wasn’t fair to begin with.

The word ‘fair’ was just a term people used to lie to themselves.

In fact, if it was him, he would be cautious—probably even show hostility—against these kind of unknown people who asked for help.

“Those bastards, I guess I’ll be seeing them soon. I can’t escape in the end, just like you all. I would probably end up worse than any of you.”

He recalled his friends who entered the game with him in the early days and did not make it to the end. Shaking his head and taking a potion from his pocket, he drained it to the last drop. He still hadn’t given up.

Borl knew his enemy’s personality and attitude. He who had foiled his enemy’s plan multiple times would not just ‘die’ in his enemy’s hand, he would end up a lot worse, and torture was inevitable.

After that?

It would be worse than death for quite a while.

The best way out for him now was to take his own life, yet he was afraid to do it.

Before the worse than death experience fell upon him, he still feared death.

“I am really a coward!”

Borl sighed, holding his sword tightly to help himself up.

The injury around his abdomen still hurt him, and even if he had finished the healing potion, a simple motion like standing up still caused his gauze to turn red and exhaust his stamina.

He leaned on the wagon and panted heavily again.

He should rest for a while after suffering a bad injury, yet he had to do this because his enemy was at his door!

It wasn’t the visible enemies this time but the invisible enemies!

With the special item that he bought from Lawless, Borl clearly spotted those invisible beings coming closer, the temperature in the area starting to plummet.

Borl knew how he should deal with these bastards: fire was the only and most effective way.

Unfortunately, he dare not use any kind of fire related moves or items at the moment because it would expose him to his other enemies.

The invisible enemies were trouble and the visible enemies were trouble.

If both of them would gang up on him, it would be the most troublesome outcome for him.

Thankfully, Borl was prepared for this.

When he left Mozaar, he didn’t just spend 2 Gold Purton to hire Aschenkano as his bodyguard from the War God Temple, he also spent 20 Gold Purton to supply his wagon with some other things—those things were finally useful.

Borl’s placed his hands over the blood-stained gauze on his abdomen.

With his bloody hand, he pressed it against the carriage.

The magic formation that was etched in the carriage was activated instantly.

Roar!

A roar, as loud as a clap of thunder, sounded in Borl’s heart and those invisible beings’ hearts.

Unlike Borl, who got courage from the thunderous roar, the invisible beings felt a catastrophic fear.

Pak Pak Pak Pak Pak!

Like breaking glass, each and everyone of the invisible beings were destroyed, but Borl didn’t have the time to care about that.

He turned around and headed to his horse.

He got the horse from outside Mozaar, the best kind that he could get his hands on. The horse could gallop at explosive speeds and had a durable stamina. It required some meticulous care but it would definitely be a great aid in the battlefield, either passing through or retreating.

Borl spent a fortune to buy these two horses exactly for this moment.

He loosened the reins but before he could get up, the two strong horses neighed hard.

Neigh!

Amid the noise, the two tamed horses went rampant, kicking their hooves and shaking their heads anxiously. Ultimately, they fell on the ground without further reaction, and if they weren’t panting heavily, they looked like they were dead.

Borl’s body shook too, requiring him to rely on the wagon to stop himself from falling to the ground.

An area of darkness appeared in his sight.

Coldness then followed and spread rapidly.

The blessing from War God Temple allowed Borl to counter the iciness but the situation was not looking too bright. The coldness gushed into Borl’s body endlessly, beating away the blessing from War God Temple little by little.

Since he wasn’t truly a believer, Father Novan wouldn’t have blessed him if it wasn’t for his Gold Purton.

However, even after being blessed, the effect was limited. Even a true believer could barely get blessed from the God of War. Aside from the God of War, after the Black Cataclysm, the Gods had barely turned their eyes on humans.

A lot of the ‘Gods’ now were nothing but wicked existences, especially Lady Calamity, who allegedly caused the Black Cataclysm. She received more worship than ever after that disaster.

Despite people searching the entire Northern Land, they still couldn’t locate Lady Calamity, but her influence was spread far and deep.

Like in this very moment, Borl felt the Punishment of Calamity affecting him, knowing what he was going up against.

“The priest of Lady Calamity? NO! If it really is the priest, there wouldn’t be this many little tricks, a single move and I’d be dead! It should be someone who bought some blessed transcendent item from Lady Calamity’s priest off some secret spot!”

Borl quickly made his situation clear yet he felt even more despair.

He was prepared for this but so was the enemy! Probably even more competent than he was!

What now?

Death? Was there no other way else?

In the belly of despair, Borl lost his energy. The remaining blessing from the War God Temple wore off too, all that was left in his body was the cold.

Borl was ready to accept his sorrowful fate.

Right before he fell over the cliff of death, a voice appeared in his head.

“You seem to be in need of help.”

The voice was kind yet unfamiliar, but in Borl’s ears, it was a life-saving rope.

“Yes! I need help! What do I need to pay?” Borl asked.

“Payment huh? I don’t need much, it’s practically free!” The voice replied.

There was no free lunch in the world.

Borl knew that saying and knew that free things were usually the most expensive.

Even more so when the free things appeared in such a strange way from an unknown. A thought struck Borl: he was afraid that he might have stumbled upon those wicked existences.

But he had no choice!

The hesitation lasted for less than a second before Borl shouted, “I will pay whatever you demand! Please help me!”

After his voice subsided, nothing happened.

The cold still spread and he was being pushed closer to the cliff of death.

Borl couldn’t stand it anymore, falling down beside the wagon. His face came in contact with the cold hard ground, reminding him of his repeated failures back in the big city.

“This is really the worst possible outcome,” Borl’s lips moved.

He thought of the promise he had with Lawless…and Kieran.

It seemed like he would be breaking them.

The young man had chosen to treat him, a loser, with the utmost justice and fairness.

Borl thought of it more than once, thinking that if he could recover his strength, he would team up with Kieran to clear a dungeon run, giving his best effort to help Kieran achieve the highest rating possible and secure the best loot.

It was nothing special, it was just because Kieran treated him fairly. Borl ought to repay the action.

The fairness was the thing that made Borl feel that this world wasn’t as dark as he thought after he woke up from his slumber.

But…it was over now.

Face on the ground, the helpless Borl waited silently for his judgement.

Suddenly, a calm voice sounded.

“Is the icy cold ground that aromatic?”

Borl was shocked by the words,

He knew whose voice it was, so he looked up in disbelief.

Right away, he saw a very familiar person, the cold attitude was just like how he remembered. The person casually stood on the icy cold ground in the woods, and with the pure white moon above the sky, the person’s figure looked extra dark.

“2567!”