The Devil’s Cage

Borl passed a letter and some Gold Purton to the young man in front of him.

The young man wore a beige colored poncho and a grayish green cap which had a feather of a hyacinth attached to it, the obvious traits pointing out the young man’s identity as a messenger.

“I assure you I will head towards the outskirts of Mozaar in the shortest time and the fastest speed possible. It will take no longer than two days,” said the messenger.

His assurance was effective though, not just because his promise was related to the honor of his career, but because every messenger had a working relationship with the lord of the land.

In short, should the messenger fail to deliver the letter, the employer wouldn’t have to deal with it but the lord of the delivery location would step up and take out the messenger that failed his task.

“All the best!” Borl said before he parted ways with the messenger.

He had to rush back to Anan Hotel and then leave Sicar.

A while ago, the curfew in Sicar had been lifted, the gates reopened, and even though it was already evening, the merchants who were trapped in the city for days quickly made a move.

If it wasn’t for Sicar’s cold weather, the merchants would lose a great deal.

Though even with the weather preserving goods, the delay in delivery time would cost the merchant a lot, so none of them wanted to wait anymore.

Even though going out of the city at night wasn’t a good idea, they had made up their minds, as did Borl.

He wasn’t a merchant but he was on the clock.

Borl returned to Anan Hotel and called for Aschenkano straightaway.

“Are you ready?”

After that, before the bodyguard even replied, he went to check on the wagon himself.

“We are all set. Water, food, everything is prepared and Holuff even replenished some fire powder and pellets for us,” replied Aschenkano.

“Good, we leave at once,” Borl then looked at Kieran beside the wagon with a questioning gaze.

“Let’s go,” Kieran went into the wagon, followed by Borl. Aschenkano jumped onto the wagoner’s seat and shook the reins.

Hyak!

A clear clap later, the wagon slowly left Anan Hotel.

Holuff’s big fat body appeared at the main entrance of the hotel. He did not bid them farewell though, it wasn’t a habit of the Demon Hunter because no one knew when the true farewell would be.

Still, it didn’t stop him from seeing them off.

He waited until the wagon went out of sight, then turned around and headed back to the lobby of his hotel.

“I’ll leave Anan in your hands temporarily. I have to go on a trip for sometime,” Holuff said to his workers.

“Okay, boss, leave it to us.”

The workers who had a hunch at their boss’ identity nodded, and after a little hesitation, added, “Please be careful along the way, all the best.”

Holuff smiled as he picked up his wooden luggage.

The Demon Hunter didn’t say anything, tapping his worker on the shoulder and then leaving.

Although he had contacted his old friends through the mystical ways, there were still a few that he had to visit himself, especially those who lived in Mozaar.

‘ I hope they didn’t die in their own wine barrel.

With that thought in mind, Holuff joined the crowd in leaving the city and soon went out of sight.

Similarly, Horlaika, in a body hugging black linen robe, also joined the leaving crowd.

He had to return to Edatine Castle to complete his mission.

Snake Sect… immortal!

Muttering his beliefs softly, when he stepped out of the city gate, Horlaika turned around and took in a final look at the city. On top of the walls, he saw a familiar figure: his teacher.

After a slight bow, Horlaika stepped back and went into the shadow of the street and then vanished on the spot.

On top of the wall, Bloody Mary saw Horlaika’s action.

Beside it, Shegal and Forv saw it too.

Both young men showed envy in their gaze.

They knew the special technique originated from the Snake Sect, it was a technique the lord emissary altered and perfected before teaching the man.

It opted out the most obvious traits of Snake Sect and was still very useful.

“Lord emissary, will we be able to learn this kind of technique?” asked Shegal.

“Of course. Our lord comes from Snake Sect, we are one after all. If you want to learn, I’ll teach you with all my heart,” Bloody Mary spilled the answer that it had prepared.

“Our lord comes from Snake Sect?” Curiosity appeared on the two young men’s faces.

“Yes. Snake Sect was once the place of origin of our lord and coincidentally, after the Black Cataclysm, our lord truly descended to this world. But our lord remembers his own origin and even now, he is still the same—the members of Snake Sect are like us, they are also our brothers and sisters.”

Bloody Mary was perfecting the setting planned for the Mist and Snake Sect.

With a diligent and thrifty boss, it knew how to maximize it’s benefits and gains.

“I see.”

The two devoted young men, who trusted Bloody Mary with all their heart, did not suspect a thing.

“Let’s go. After the merchants leave, we should be moving also. The king has just released a royal decree. It is an invitation to every lord in the Northern Land and Eline Nord Sicar is already one step behind We should get going,” said Bloody Mary.

“Yes, my lord, as you wish.”

The two young men bowed together.

…

The moving wagons and people from Sicar finally slowed down after the sky turned dark.

With the lord’s order, the gates of Sicar did not close even at night, torch after torch and brazier after brazier lighting up the walls from top to bottom. An increasing number of guards reinforced the security and everyone who left the city was checked. At the same time, the guards warned those who wanted to enter the city.

The merciful new lord of Sicar allowed the merchants who were trapped for days to leave but she did not allow people to enter the city at night.

It was the rule within Sicar and it was somewhat of a tradition here.

As a matter of fact, not only Sicar upheld such arule, but all the lands in the Northern Lands shared the same one, starting since Edatine I.

Shegal and Forv had leather armor and a linen mantle over it. Their hands and legs were wrapped with thick rabbit pelt and a scarf made out of the same material was wound around their necks, helping them to block the cold wind at night.

Both of them stared into the darkness outside the city.

As the core and pillar of the Mist Sect, they had already gotten some news from the lord emissary, such as the tradition that forbade anyone’s entry into the city at night.

After sunset, some people might look human but it was just on the outside.

Gak Tszz~

A figure wobbled out of the darkness and walked towards the city gate.

“Hold it right there!”

The soldiers in front of the gate stopped the figure, swords and bows all lifted up, yet the warning call did not do anything.

The figure was still wobbling closer.

The soldiers with bows wanted to fire out of instinct but at the next moment, their faces turned pale.

A sense of numbness appeared all over their bodies, they couldn’t move like normal.

Shegal and Forv were affected too but the two of them reacted quickly.

Right after they sensed something went wrong, they prayed quickly.

“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…”

Amid their prayers, a faint glow appeared over their bodies.

The numbness went away, the two of them drawing their swords right away and lunging towards the wobbling figure.

Pak!

The wobbling figure raised its arm and tried to grab Shegal but right after it lifted its arm, Forv cut it down with a single chop.

Shegal’s sword then seized the moment and went across the figure’s neck.

Splat!

The moment the head fell to the ground, the body followed and all signs of life died off.

The soldiers around the gate were in shock as they recovered from the numbness because they saw the black liquid and maggot spill out from the figure’s chest. Shegal and Forv looked normal though.

“Get some kerosene here and burn the body,” Shegal told the soldiers after a quick check.

“Yes sir!” A few soldiers who regained their senses replied right away.

When the soldiers approached the body themselves, their mouths were muttering prayers towards the Mist.

They saw what happened earlier with their own eyes.

The Mist was able to bless their captain, so the Mist must be able to bless them as well.

All it required was their devoted belief, and whenever they faced fear, their beliefs would automatically be pious.

At first, the prayers were soft but as time went on, the prayers started to come from every single soldier at or around the city gate due to the fact that further away, many more wobbling figures had appeared.

“Hmph, as per the lord emissary’s expectations. These bastards are anxious,” Forv smiled coldly at the wobbling figures.

Shegal looked behind him.

There were three wagons protected by a group of riders slowly coming towards them.

The wagon at the front was pulled by four horses of the same color, the carriage made out of sturdy wood and strong iron and on top of the carriage door was the Sicar family emblem, but unlike its previous iteration, the emblem of the God of War was gone.

The emblem of the Mist did not replace the previous emblem though, it wasn’t time yet!

The two wagons behind the first one looked a lot more simple.

The two wagons weren’t nice looking yet they had quite impressive protective measures, only two jade horses pulling each wagon.

But Shegal was more concerned about the two wagons with his straight gaze. It was the ‘seed’!

The ‘seed’ of the Mist!

One of them would go to Mozaar and the other one would follow the first, which was the wagon of the baroness, to Edatine Castle.

The lord’s glory would shine on the whole Northern Land!

The thought popped up in Shegal’s mind before he turned around and looked at the enemy.

“Kill!”

A loud command later, the young man charged forward and reaped the lives of the enemy with the sword in his hand.

This was his mission, similar to the mission of his brothers and sisters, who would travel far away.

Staggering bodies fell to the ground, one after another.

Kerosene was poured onto them and the fire burned them to a crisp.

The burning fire was so bright that it made the front of the city gate look like the day.

The light from the fire attracted more of them from the dark.

They started to stay still and watch over the burning fire.

The presence of the soldiers made them halt their steps.

The Mist was not what it used to be, it was no longer the same rank as them.

Of course, simply giving up was impossible.

A few of them, who thought themselves smart, started to plot against it.

Prayers and shouts entered the baroness’ ears through the carriage window.

With a book in her arms, the baroness looked rather pale. She couldn’t help but pray.

She only calmed down a little when she saw Bloody Mary sitting opposite her.

In fact, if she had a choice, she would never want to rush to Edatine at night. She didn’t even want to go there, but as the new lord of Sicar City, she had to.

It was the lord’s responsibility.

Enjoy honor and glory and the burden and responsibility of the job would follow.

Moreover…

She looked up and had a peek at Bloody Mary, opposite her, like a young lass.

A calm face, a matured presence, and somewhat familiar, the baroness somehow felt a little bit of anticipation.

The journey from Sicar to Edatine would take two days one night and spending that amount of time together with Bloody Mary was rather great.

“Simon,” the baroness called Bloody Mary’s alias.

“What’s wrong, Eline?” Bloody Mary asked as it turned around.

“W-Will… you leave after we reach Edatine?”

When the words reached her tongue, she changed what she intended to say but when the question escaped her mouth, she started to worry again.

“I won’t. I have to assure your safety. The battle with War God Temple earlier will make you a target for many,” Bloody Mary shook its head.

“That Majesty is much weaker than I thought, otherwise it wouldn’t be just a projection.”

The baroness heaved a breath of relief before she continued.

As a noble who was fond of reading, the baroness knew a lot more than others.

“But we still cannot underestimate our opponents. You can never underestimate a God. Besides, I am much more worried about that Lady.”

Bloody Mary didn’t mention the word Calamity but the baroness knew who it was referring to.

The baroness feared the Lady from the bottom of her heart.

She could not imagine what would happen if the Lady who caused the Black Cataclysm made a move.

It might be… another catastrophic disaster?

Looking at the pale face of the baroness, Bloody Mary said softly, “Don’t worry, you must have faith in our lord—our lord is much more powerful than you can imagine. What we need to do is deal with those mortal pests. Leave the Gods to our lord.”

The comforting words seemed to ease the baroness’ worries.

Though her worries surged again at the next moment.

“Since you left with me, will Sicar be fine?” she asked.

“Don’t worry, Carl is also much more powerful and smarter than you think. Besides, Shegal and Forv are there, they are really something. If there is really someone who dares to cause trouble in Sicar while we are gone, I can only pray for them and hope they will not regret their decision,” Bloody Mary smiled.

The baroness was completely relieved now, looking at the book in her hands.

Although she wanted to talk with Bloody Mary some more, when she saw Bloody Mary closed its eyes to rest, the baroness chose to read the book instead.

The convoy quickly left the city’s gate and rode towards Edatine Castle.

A while later, the whole convoy went into the night.

After the convoy left, the gates of Sicar slowly closed.

The city, which was still a little noisy earlier, swiftly quieted down, but…

On the way to Edatine Castle, the first merchant group to leave Sicar, which Kieran was in, fell into a sticky and noisy situation.