The Devil’s Cage

Death was something no living being could accept, even the Superior Demon.

Although from a certain aspect it was undead, the pain that came with death was real and it was something Bloody Mary could not escape from or reject. It was like facing its own boss, something it had to endure.

Though the difference was, it could never disobey its boss, but those who killed it…

It ought to let those bastards know it wasn’t some lousy demon that every John Doe could kill!

Bloody Mary clenched its teeth and grabbed the vine on its chest with its right hand. It turned around suddenly and wrapped the vine around its shoulder, its left hand grabbing the remaining vine and pulling hard!

Bang!

The vine was uprooted, together with the soil attached.

Everyone who saw the root of the vine cried out in shock.

The root… was actually a head! A human head! And it was still alive!

The head widened its eyes in shock and stared at Bloody Mary.

“Ignorant interrupter, who are you?”

The voice from the head was cold and arrogant, like someone from a commanding position spoke the moment it opened its mouth.

If it was during another time, Bloody Mary would not mind kicking the head in the face and then chopping it into pieces, but now it was representing its boss and the God of Mist, so it must react and behave accordingly.

Under the gazes of the believers, Bloody Mary showed a sense of compassion on its face.

“Oh lost sheep, are you trapped in the mist? Fret not, don’t fear it, say the name of my lord and you will receive salvation!”

Bloody Mary released its vine and turned around, breaking free from the constriction.

Other than that, it picked up the head and used its sleeve to wipe away the dirt on the face.

“I understand the taste of the icy land. It’s cold, right? Don’t worry, you won’t feel cold from now on.’

Bloody Mary spoke softly as it raised the head up to its eye level, the words spoken directly to the head.

Even though the vines kept stabbing and whipping at its body, its merciful voice did not change.

It was warm and comforting, like the sun!

The underground hideout, which felt a little cold was suddenly filled with warmth, like the winter sun shedng its warm light through the ground.

Watching the scene, the believers of God of Mist teared up.

No words or reactions were necessary at that moment, the believers knelt down one after another, praising their lord and savior, the God of Mist, in utmost devotion.

This is the God we believed in!

Merciful and kind.

Maybe he works in extreme ways at times but… he must have been forced to do it, right?

The God had lost his eyes and ears. As believers, offering a limb or two was nothing, right?

Moreover, weren’t they alive now?

Staying alive was enough.

Standing in front of the group was the emissary who kept a kind and warm smile on his face despite being hurt by the vines.

Around him were the frantic believers, showing utmost devotion to their God.

The head in Bloody Mary’s hand was stunned by the scene.

Wasn’t the God of Mist some small fry God who rose to prominence during a messy time?

God of War and Lady Calamity’s comparison aside, the small fry God wasn’t even comparable to them.

Because of that, it chose to strike first when it received news about the God of Mist disappearing after being heavily wounded.

It hoped to devour the God of Mist to acquire the authority to expand on its own. It also wanted to snatch the believers away so that it could expand the numbers of its own religion.

Should it happen, it would surely be one of the best among its peers.

It might not be on par with the God of War or Lady Calamity, but it would acquire more power and have more potential. At least it could be prepared should any chances swing by its side. It might end up as the second Lady Calamity.

However, all delusional thoughts aside, the scene told it the God of Mist that it once knew wasn’t the real one, at least the old God of Mist did not have an emissary.

It was also sure its peers around itself had no emissary or whatnot. It was certain that this ’emissary’ wasn’t the others in disguise because it sensed this ’emissary’ had utmost devotion and the conviction to discard everything towards a certain existence.

This kind of devotion and conviction would never appear in the likes of the head, it would only be found in the most frantic believers.

Such believers would surely become their emissary.

Unfortunately, it had no emissary like this.

Not only the head, the others around itself didn’t have one either.

There might be one in the War God Temple, or even under Lady Calamity, but…

Those emissaries would never possess abilities like this one.

The majority power of an emissary was granted by the one he serves, only a little comes from himself.

In short, the power level of the emissary varied depending on how strong the belief or the bond he had with the God he served.

This particular ’emissary’ had reflected the fact that the God of Mist, who they had always neglected, was very strong!

Of course, the God of Mist could never surpass the God of War or Lady Calamity, because this ’emissary’ should be those one in a myriad zealots who matched the power of the God of Mist very much.

No! He was not just an emissary anymore!

He’s a… ‘kin’ to God!

‘Damn it!

What a lucky bastard!

Why can’t I have this kind of believer?

Why can’t I have a suitable ‘kin’?’

The head was filled with jealousy, but it stopped.

After knowing this ‘clone’ could never get what it sought after, why waste the energy to even try?

Offending a powerful pagan God was not a smart move.

What itself and its allies needed were more allies, not enemies.

A heavily wounded and weak God of Mist certainly did not qualify, but a powerful one could!

After all, all of them had a common enemy.

“As the ‘kin’ of God of Mist, I think you must know something about the current state of Sicar, right?”

The head adjusted its tone and asked once more.

‘Of course I don’t!

If I knew what the hell was going on, do you think you still have the chance to speak? Stupid head!’

Bloody Mary grumbled in its heart but the smile on its face grew warmer.

“I know a little. The believers of my lord require protection, that’s why I am here.”

As Bloody Mary answered the question, it looked at the believers who knelt on the ground, all who exchanged gazes with Bloody Mary, tearing up again.

Naturally, the conviction in the believer’s hearts grew stronger.

“Oh the supreme lord! Please hear our prayers, we will carry out your will, bow to your greatness and bear your name, you will shed your light on the world and everything we have is a gift from you…”

The prayers sounded again. This time, however, wasn’t just any prayers with request. It was the gratitude the believers had from the bottom of their hearts for their lord and saviour.

The slightest changes could cause a qualitative change.

The head grew more and more jealous at the pure Power of Faith that it felt.

Uncontrollably, it grunted coldly.

“Running away cannot ensure your survival! I’ll admit we underestimated your god, we treated his low profile as weakness, but now he has revealed his true power. Do you think those two Gods will continue to sit back and watch your God continue this?”

The head laughed coldly at the end.

How could the God of War and Lady Calamity sit back and watch the already exposed God of Mist?

They must have noticed some clues before this, that was the reason for the following tests.

The God of Mist didn’t want to sit back and wait for its end either, that’s why it sent its ‘kin’ here to wait for its arrival, and the God of Mist had prepared sufficient ‘manpower’!

Look at those pitiful commoners, they wished the God of Mist could just die, right?

Little bastards who were bought by the least amount of gains, pitiful!

The head thought it had seen through all, looking at Bloody Mary with shimmering eyes.

“My lord is powerful, but he has a lot to worry about! We are lost sheep in the mist, and my lord worries about us the most. My lord gave away his eyes, closed his ears just for us, and now he has to fight for us…”

Bloody Mary started to choke on its words.

Its body started to tremble, trying its best to close its eyes, hoping to hold its tears back but everyone saw the glimmering trail on Bloody Mary’s cheeks.

They looked at him blankly.

Their aroused hearts exploded when the first teardrop fell off Bloody Mary’s chin.

Each and everyone of them cried loudly.

They knew their lord gave up his eyes and ears for his believers but had never been in such pain, like now.

‘It was all to protect us!

It was all to protect us!

Now…

He has to fight for us again so that he can protect us.

What are we doing?

Other than praying here, are we just going to stay back and do nothing?

No! No, it cannot be like this!’

A believer equipped with leather armor and sword, who resembled a guard of some sort, looked up, his eyes showing never before seen sternness, his gaze blessed with indomitable determination.

“Lord Emissary, I am willing to follow my lord’s foodstep! I am willing to fight for my lord! I am willing to die for my lord!”

The guard then drew his sword, grabbed the blade with his left, and pulled with the hilt with his right. Blood gushed out and dyed the blade red.

An oath! The oath of God of Mist!

The guard started a chain reaction and everyone stood up, like a set of falling dominoes. The other guards pulled out their swords and pledged their oath to the God of Mist, the other believers taking out daggers and doing the same, those without sharp objects biting their fingers instead.

Again and again, the oath sounded and echoed in the underground hideout.

“I am willing to follow my lord’s footsteps! I am willing to fight for my lord! I am willing to die for my lord!”

…

A steady and unified voice with an indomitable determination.

The determination was viewed as the most straightforward Power of Faith by the head.

It was much purer than before, it was surging!

Damn it!

Jealousy filling the head again, it didn’t want to wait it out anymore.

“Is the God of Mist willing to join our rebellion?” asked the head.

Bloody Mary slightly nodded.

After the affirmative answer from Bloody Mary, the head twirled and fell off Bloody Mary’s hand. It landed on the ground, wriggling around for a moment before vanishing into the ground.

“Go to the viscount of Sicar’s mansion tomorrow during nightfall. The mansion will be the place we gather this time!”

The voice entered Bloody Mary’s ears right before the head vanished.

Bloody Mary subtly watched as the head went away.

After the head finally went off, the believers turned their eyes on Bloody Mary.

“My lord, what should we do now?”

The young man who stood in front asked boldly.

“Heal your injuries of course. Our lord protects us from outside harm but he can’t save everyone from injuries,” said Bloody Mary without changing expression.

If it was possible, it wouldn’t mind performing a ‘divine miracle’ on behalf of its boss but unfortunately, although it was nearly undead, it was not good at healing, especially for humans.

It was a demon after all, loving the sun already made it a deviant, and if it could heal…

It might have to start to question its fragmented memories of an assassin from the past.

In order to save some face for its boss, he had delivered the words more skillfully.

‘Boss protects you but your injuries are not something the boss can protect you against.’

Its excuse easily bought people’s hearts.

It was like raising vigilance could prevent accidents, but if one sought out trouble on his own, no amount of vigilance would be enough.

Its reason won the unified trust of the crowd.

Everyone simply patched up their injuries while Bloody Mary walked to the young guard that caught its attention.

“Shegal,” Bloody Mary called the young guard.

After everyone came into the underground hideout, Bloody Mary had almost remembered everyone’s name, a natural gift that came together with its creation.

It was partly because of the memories of an assassin and partly the talent of a demon.

“My lord.”

The young man came over and replied respectfully after simply patching himself up.

The identity of ‘kin’ to a god made every believer maintain a level of respect for Bloody Mary.

“Gather all the believers here as soon as possible, a war is inevitable. We have to be prepared for everything and this will become the sanctuary from our lord!” Bloody Mary said slowly.

“Sanctuary? Aren’t we going to war?” The young guard was stunned.

“Going to war is my responsibility, your mission is to protect this place, protect those defenseless believers of our lord,” Bloody Mary showed the pitiful and compassionate look again.

The young man trembled, looking at the ‘kin’ in front of him, his gaze showing even more admiration.

If he respected Bloody Mary before this because of its power and identity of ‘kin’, now he respected Bloody Mary because of the sacrifice that it was going to make.

Yes, a sacrifice!

Sacrificing himself in exchange for the survival of the masses.

The war of Gods was not something mere mortals could participate in.

Therefore, the young Shegal had a strong resolution to die, the same went for the others.

And now?

Everyone looked at Bloody Mary blankly.

Everyone heard what Bloody Mary said due to it having no intention to cover up.

“My lord!”

“My lord!”

Bloody Mary waved its hand amid the hurried cries.

“When I received blessings from our lord, I’d already prepared myself for this, just like all of you. The only difference is I’ve become a burning torch, so I should go fight the calamity and darkness. All of you are the seed of fire! You must stay and spread the lord’s light over Edatine, over the entire Northern Land! Let everyone know our lord’s true power!”

The moment its voice subsided, Bloody Mary raised its arms and hugged the air, a faint image appearing above its head.

Wings that tore the sky apart, burning continuously.

Horns that pierced the heavens, going up in spirals.

The powerful body stood on the land with an indomitable will.

A dark cloth covered the body’s eyes and ears, but did not cover his mouth and the kindness that hung over the corner, his hand eholding a little white flower.

That flower was like everything to him!

His everything, his whole world!