The Devil’s Cage

He saw the unusual changes in the wickedness in Sicar through his Transcendence [Tracking].

So, could War God Temple not see it?

The God of War could have fallen, but through Transcendence [Tracking], the temple was dazzling and radiated brightly. The God of War must have suffered some damage during the Black Cataclysm, but it shouldn’t be lethal, so he must be alive and kicking.

Then…

Why did he turn a blind eye?

“Going for the long shot? Or… Is there a working relationship between them?” Kieran wondered.

He quickly pushed away his thought and deactivated [Tracking], sensing a malicious gaze on himself.

It was very subtle and cautious, appearing only in a flash.

Kieran did not catch the owner of the gaze but a while later, Kieran curled up his lips into a grin.

…

The wagon stopped.

The wagoner cum bodyguard, Aschenkano shouted loudly, “Mr. Borl, Sir Colin, we are here! Anan Hotel! I hope the owner has some honey-roasted meat and sausages prepared, it tastes the best with some extra honey,” Aschenkano said eagerly.

“Aschen, I think you should add some mint, it’s better for your teeth. We should settle our spoils first, don’t forget that you have a part in this.”

Borl reminded his bodyguard when he came down from the carriage. He then stepped aside and respectfully welcomed Kieran down.

“This is Anan Hotel, it’s at the corner of Sicar. It’s quiet, clean, and the owner is very welcoming,” Borl said as he pointed at the hotel ahead.

A two-story building made completely out of stone, there was a main gate at the first floor and three big windows, which allowed a clear view of the hustling people inside. The second floor had a smaller window, which was obviously from the guest room. However, Kieran and company headed to the independent suite beside it—it was still a part of Anan Hotel as there was a sign similar to the main building at the front gate, just smaller.

The sign was a big beer mug with overflowing beer and it had obviously seen better days. The color was almost bleached and was heavily mottled, but just like Borl said, the owner was very welcoming.

“Welcome, Borl! And Aschenkano!”

A bloated man walked out from the door. He wore a padded jacket and had only a few strands of hair left on his head but the smile on his face was very kind. He gave a big hug to Borl and both of them tapped each other on the back, the same scene happening with Aschenkano. As if a competition was going on, Aschenkano and the owner tapped each other strongly, loud thumps could be heard out lord.

When the bloated owner came over to Kieran, enduring the pain on his back with clenched teeth, but he managed to say, “I had a little too much beer yesterday, otherwise don’t expect me to react to that weak tap! Good day, I’m Holuff.”

The bloated owner did not give Kieran a hug like the others, instead extending his hand for a friendly shake.

“Hi, Colin,” Kieran gave his alias.

“Colin, meaning power—I can see you are a guy who lives up to your name, because there are no useless people around this fella,” Holuff laughed at Borl and Borl looked at Kieran with a worried gaze.

When he noticed there wasn’t anything unusual with Kieran, he wasn’t upset or anything, he heaved a breath of relief.

Then, for everyone’s safety sake, Borl cut in to stop Holuff from talking, “Holuff, I need your help. I have spoils and a captive.”

“Leave them to me, I’ll provide you with a satisfying price.”

The bloated Holuff easily grabbed the stack of spoils and the captive at once. He did not return to the main lobby of the hotel though, instead heading towards the other side of the courtyard.

There was also a sign stating ‘Anan’ there, meaning it was also Holuff’s property.

It was almost certain that Holuff was more than just a simple hotel owner.

Similarly, the reason why Borl chose Anan Hotel wasn’t because of Holuff’s welcoming attitude.

“Holuff is a reliable guy. He was a bounty hunter, but as age caught up to him and his physique started failing him, hustling around was not for him anymore, so he chose to settle down in Sicar. Of course, his first choice was Edatine Castle, but you know, the property price there scared him, so he compromised with himself in the middle,” the more Borl revealed, the softer he got.

“Colin, if you have any needs, just go to him. He has many VALUABLE collections. Unfortunately my power is unworthy of his valuables, so he doesn’t want to sell me, but you, Colin, should be fine.”

“Really?” The word collection instantly piqued Kieran’s interest.

Borl purposely emphasized ‘valuable’, Kieran also caught the obvious hints. He knew what Borl meant by ‘valuable’.

However, Kieran did not go after Holuff. He asked Borl, “What should I pay attention to?”

“Holuff is a very open-minded guy. He doesn’t believe in gods and is somewhat resentful. So it would be best for you to skip the divine and god stuff, and as for the rest, Gold Purton,” Borl said seriously.

Kieran nodded and headed to the little courtyard, Borl then brought Aschenkano to the other side.

Before Holuff returned with the payment, Borl thought it would be better for him to take care of the two horses and inspect the wagon, just to be safe. Aschenkano would never say no to giving a helping hand.

“Aschen, if you don’t want to eat lunch during dinner, you better hurry up,” Borl said.

“Okay!” Aschenkano nodded strongly and moved faster.

Kieran was already in the courtyard when the other two started moving.

The courtyard had a similar architectural style with the main building of Anan Hotel, both rigid and strong. Several braziers in the courtyard expelled the coldness of winter.

Holuff had removed his padded outfit and was checking the stack of spoils with only a layer of clothes when he saw Kieran behind him, raised his hand to his young and strong worker and a chair was immediately brought over.

Kieran sharply noticed the worker had thick calluses in the area between the thumb and index finger and his steps were light but firm. The worker must have trained in swordsmanship.

“Thank you,” Kieran said politely.

The worker smiled shyly and then stepped down.

“That Borl introduced you to my collections?” Holuff asked.

Kieran nodded brazenly.

“That bastard is really a natural merchant. Too bad, at first I thought he could become my student, that’s why I showed him those things, but… oh well, come, let me bring you inside for a quick look.”

Holuff clapped his hands, then stood up and walked into the room beside him.

The worker then took Holuff’s place in inspecting the spoils.

Kieran took another interested glance at the young man.

Holuff explained, “He knew what he should be doing here, I was just curing the itch on my hands just now.”

Kieran nodded again but said nothing.

Holuff opened the door in front of him then stepped aside and invited Kieran inside, but Kieran did not budge, standing there showing a weird expression, something between a smile and a frown.

“That cautious? Don’t worry, son. I, Holuff, may not be a good man by any means, but I will never touch my customer. More so, that Borl introduced you to me,” Holuff said.

The bloated Holuff didn’t show a bit of ferocity when he said that he was kind. Especially with his smile, it was easy to win fondness and his body shape would easily earn trust.

Even in Kieran’s eyes, Holuff was looking very sincere.

So Kieran nodded and replied by landing a kick on the fat man.

BANG!

Holuff was sent flying inside the room and the opened door shut immediately.

Bang!

“Aaaaargh!”

Noises of bones and flesh being grinded to pieces plus screams of agony came from inside. Even with the solid door in between, the screams echoed throughout the whole courtyard but the shy worker behind Kieran did not react, like he didn’t hear it at all. He was still busy counting the spoils and inspecting the condition, he didn’t show any signs of stopping, even when Kieran walked up and stood beside him.

Kieran watched the worker brazenly.

Seconds turned into minutes.

Kieran didn’t mind wasting time, he stood there like he had all the time in the world, his face calm and somewhat dull, as still water.

The shy worker then somehow gradually became nervous, starting from the meticulous concentration in his work to the trembles of his body.

Blood then started to ooze out from the worker’s face, drops of blood forming over his pores. A moment later, his intact face became as red as a cherry.

He didn’t just simply bleed out furiously, the blood that came out from his face also corroded his body.

A while later, together with his clothes, the worker had melted into a puddle of blood. Kieran did not even spare a glance at the puddle and walked out of the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard, Kieran ran into Aschenkano.

The tall and buff Aschenkano was running around at the entrance looking nervous, and when he saw Kieran, the nervousness was replaced by joy.

“Sir Colin, great! My head is missing, can you help me find it?”

As Aschenkano explained, he swung his halbert over his neck and chopped his head off.

Pak!

His big head flew up then it fell down on the ground and then rolled up beside Kieran’s feet.

The mouth was still speaking non-stop.

“Head! My head! Help me…”

Pak!

The voice from Aschenkano’s head was clear but it was stopped, or more precisely, stomped right away. Kieran’s foot crushed the head like a watermelon.

The headless body with the halbert was frozen on the spot, it did not expect this outcome. What surprised it further was Kieran, who crushed the head, landed another kick on the body, kicking its body down. Kieran then grabbed the halbert and minced the body, like he was making minced meat filling for some dumplings.

“Sir Colin, what are you doing?” Borl ran out from the courtyard after he heard the commotion, he was in horror when he saw the scene.

Then, Borl was cut in half by the halbert.

Borl was confused until the very last moment of his life, he had no idea why Kieran killed him.

The main gate of the hotel opened up, the customers inside looking at Kieran with all sorts of fear.

Some back away and ran, others screamed in horror.

The patrolling soldiers of Sicar arrived at the scene and a fight broke out.

Kieran fought the incoming soldiers and he owned every one of them, the whole patrolling squad slaughtered.

The elite soldiers of Sicar joined the site shortly after, but it made no difference to Kieran.

The battle, or massacre, continued.

The whole of Sicar was dyed red with blood.

The sun set from the sky and a blood moon rose from the horizon, right above Anan Hotel.

The living were decreasing by the second and the dead increased relatively. When the body piled up to a certain number, the bodies started to come back alive.

They climbed up from their own blood.

Some maintained the look from their past life, while others transformed into monsters.

Kieran was the strongest ‘monster’ among the bunch without a doubt.

Standing in the sea of monsters, he howled at the sky, ripped his bloody clothes away, and his body started to expand rapidly, his face bulging and fangs growing, sharp claws extending out of his fingers and fur growing all over his body.

A second later, a giant black werewolf stood under the red moon and howled strongly.

…

“I did it The ‘kin’ of my lord has appeared!”

A frantic voice sounded from Sicar underground.

A man without legs shrieked in excitement, the excitement even making his voice tremble.

Opposite him was another man without arms who shared the same unusual excitement.

“The best ‘kin’! The best truth! Everything in the illusion will become real when the ‘kin’ awakes—it is to praise the great lord!”

As the man without arms spoke like a zealot, he crawled on the ground in a weird way, as though he was a worm.

He wanted to listen to his God, he wanted to listen to the next step of the grand plan.

Just like what he did before: search for a powerful outsider with a legal identity and position and make him a ‘kin’.

He found Kieran, or more accurately, he recognized Aschenkano and knew he served Borl; Borl was a merchant who kept hustling around to fight for his promotion to noble status.

The person who Borl respected the most must bear quite the position and identity.

As for the strength?

The man felt it, he truly felt the strength from Kieran!

Before he even got close to Kieran, his body was already trembling out of fear.

Powerful! Undoubtedly powerful!

It perfectly matched the criteria his lord requested from him, so he eagerly made a move.

When the wagon stopped in Scair, he started praying, so that his lord would notice the ‘kin’.

He believed with the gaze of his lord, it would force the powerful ‘kin’, which trembled him, to submit wholeheartedly.

Kieran would become the ‘kin’ they had been waiting for!

Then…

They would use the ‘kin’ to offer the entire Sicar as sacrifice, to welcome their lord and savior!

And now?

The man had to listen! Listen to his lord!

Before that, he had to pray with utmost devotion first.

“Oh, the great unrivaled lord! Please hear my prayers, we carry out your will, bow to your greatness and bear your name, you will descend upon the world and all will be given to you…”

The two men without arms and without legs started to pray, as devoted as always.

However, the difference this time was that they were not the only who prayed.

Their lord and savior also prayed, because they clearly heard their lord’s voice in their head and it sounded a little bit shaken, as it screamed, “SAVE ME!