The Devil’s Cage

The gallops of horses rumbled. There were only a dozen horses that came from the horizon but to Horlaika and the others, it felt like a march of tens of thousands of soldiers.

The closer the gallops came, the more pressuring they were.

Stone, Bill, and the others felt intense goosebumps on the backs of their necks.

‘This… is the remains of Wolf Sect?’

They sized up the Demon Hunters coming closer to them.

Most of the Demon Hunters they saw were either missing a limb or an eye, there were only a few who were intact, but each and every single one of them was intimidating.

As if any single one of them could simply step up and squeeze them to death.

Sweat covered their foreheads.

Gulp!

Bill’s Adam’s apple moved up and down nervously as he looked around. He realized that other than Horlaika, Stone and the others were terrified.

“This is Wolf Sect?” Bill asked in a dry voice.

“This is Wolf Sect. The Wolf Sect that’s similar to the Snake Sect during its prime,” Horlaika said calmly.

Was Wolf Sect powerful?

Undoubtedly powerful!

Horlaika would never deny this fact but Snake Sect was stronger. It was what Horlaika’s ‘memories’ told him. Aside from what his teacher told him or the heir of Snake Sect, the power of Snake Sect hidden in the shadow alone was a hundred times more than the Wolf Sect!

With such memories in his mind, Horlaika would never be deterred by the numbers.

Still, he couldn’t be stingy on the manners, he was a Demon Hunter after all.

When the Wolf Sect Demon Hunters reined their horses to a stop in front of them, Horlaika bowed according to the Demon Hunter salutation. Stone, Bill, and the others followed. Since they were also Demon Hunters already, they were Snake Sect Demon Hunters!

With that thought in mind, Stone, Bill and the others quickly put away the shock on their faces and replaced it with utmost calmness and a sense of indescribable pride.

Unlike Silent Night Secret Society, which hid in the dark, Snake Sect, which was also in the dark, was able to provide them with such a proud feeling.

They were not surprised about this though because the former, the secret society, was a coward, a deserter.

The latter? They were real warriors! Even though they might end up broke like the current Wolf Sect, they would never take a single step backward!

Conviction in this moment rose in Stone, Bill, and the others’ hearts.

Bloody Mary, who was busy in other places, smiled at this and didn’t say anything.

After the seed was planted, although it had to go through some storms before it could sprout healthily, it was just a matter of time.

The changes in Stone, Bill, and the others were obvious in the eyes of the Demon Hunter who led the Wolf Sect to Edatine Castle. He jumped down the horse and gave Anderson a hug before pointing at the five of them.

“They are the young blood you’ve found? Quite decent.”

Presence never lies, especially after going through a certain transformation. Their presence was so obvious that everyone present noticed it, including Anderson.

However, because of that, all the old Demon Hunter could do at his friend’s question was bitterly smile.

“They are our comrades from Snake Sect, they just joined today.”

Snake Sect!

As an image of Kieran flashed over Holuff’s mind, he couldn’t help but grin.

“That unlikeable little bastard? How is he?” Holuff asked.

Although Kieran’s character was unlikeable, Holuff was still concerned about Kieran’s recent well-being—A Demon Hunter will always remember the comrades that they once fought side by side with.

“Him? Well, no one is doing better than him,” said the old Demon Hunter after some serious thoughts.

“Hmm, seems like something that we aren’t aware of happened,” Holuff smiled as he nodded. He then put away his smile and tapped on the pocket at his horse saddle. In a serious tone, he said, “Likewise us, something you might not be aware of happened at our side too. Is there a safe place? It’s not that good to take it out into the public eye.”

“Follow me,” said the old Demon Hunter after a quick glance at the pocket of the saddle.

He knew there must be something that ‘delayed’ his friend’s arrival.

As for what it was? He would find out soon!

…

Lower Seventh Ring, the camp of Mist religious sect.

The appearance of a group of Demon Hunters attracted curious gazes from the people.

But with Anderson in the lead, no guards came up and asked questions. Soon, the adults put away their curious gazes and returned to their work, only several curious children lingering around.

Of course, their curiosity was for a reason.

The old Demon Hunter smiled and grabbed a pack of candy from his pack, giving them to a boy.

“Go, go share it with the others,” said the old Demon Hunter.

Cheering, the boy led the children away.

The cheerful scene put a faint smile on the serious-looking Demon Hunter’s face.

“What a nostalgic scene. There was also a group of kids in the camp of the Demon Hunters back then,” said Holuff.

“It’s the same here. Although it’s not Wolf Sect, it’s still Demon Hunters. The Mist will not reject Demon Hunters, they are the kindest and friendliest clergies that I’ve met,” said Anderson.

“You are saying like you’ve met believers other than that war maniac and crazy hag before this,” ridiculed Holuff.

Holuff was prepared to receive a punch from his old friend.

The Demon Hunters were always like this. They ridiculed each other with sarcasm and sometimes competed in drinking in their own tavern.

It was a habit, much more of an inheritance, but Holuff sharply realized after his friend heard what he said, the look on his face changed. The heaviness in him was heart-wrenching.

“What’s wrong?” Holuff asked.

“I guess you are right, I’ve really seen them before. You and the others have also seen them before. Come, let’s talk inside.”

The old Demon Hunter pointed at the tent which was used to discuss matters.

A group of people swarmed inside.

Horlaika, Stone, Bill, and the others stood guard outside.

They knew what the old Demon Hunter wanted to reveal, and they were already clear about that. So might as well stand guard outside the tent.

The old Demon Hunter stood in the middle of the tent, glancing over all his friends and a while later, he said, “I hereby assure you what I am going to say is the truth, there is not a bit of lying. You might think it sounds ridiculous, but it is a fact and reality is always so.”

Then, the old Demon Hunter told his friends about what happened in Edatine Castle recently.

When the group of Demon Hunters found out Kieran wasn’t just the heir to Snake Sect but also the heir to Edatine’s throne, shock was smeared all over their faces.

On top of that, when they heard there was another God who maintained trickery, schemes, and destruction while hiding behind the scenes, the Demon Hunters brazenly gasped out of horror.

The tense atmosphere in the tent lasted for more than a dozen seconds.

“I finally know why those Snake Sect guys decided to keep hiding after we are almost annihilated. So this is what happened,” Holuff sighed a breath of relief.

The last knot in his heart was finally loosened, the same went for the other Demon Hunters.

Demon Hunters helped out each other, this idea never changed.

Therefore, when Snake Sect finally popped up under the limelight, the first reaction of Wolf Sect was why didn’t Snake Sect help them back then, during their most desperate times?

Despite the fact that the Snake Sect were proven as Demon Hunters in the following time, from a certain perspective, their doubts in Snake Sect grew heavier.

But now? The doubts in their hearts were met with answers.

A more terrifying enemy was hiding in the dark.

If Snake Sect revealed themselves back then, they wouldn’t even be any help to Wolf Sect and would probably have been sacrificed without a purpose.

The reason seemed to be enough to convince the Wolf Sect Demon Hunters.

Without any hesitation, Holuff pushed the leather bag that he took off his saddle to Anderson.

“Maybe you should tell Colin to have a look at this thing. It might be very well related to…’him’.”

The leather bag had something heavy inside, to the point that the bag’s shape was slightly molded after the content inside.

However, after the old Demon Hunter received the item, he realized it was heavier than he thought and when he opened it up for a look, he raised a curious brow.

An arm? Not of a man, but an arm forged out of metal!

It was safe to say that other than the fact that it was obviously forged out of metal, it looked no different from a human arm!

The craftsmanship on the metallic arm was far beyond what he knew, even the best smither Anderson knew could never produce such a lively metallic arm.

Dang!

He lightly knocked on the metallic arm and a clunk sounded.

The sensation that he got at the tip of his finger told Anderson that this metallic arm was much stronger than he thought.

After a quick check, the old Demon Hunter immediately headed to Kieran’s tent.

…

Although Kieran had the identity of the heir to Edatine’s throne, he did not move into the palace.

It wasn’t just because he needed to provide support to his follower, Bloody Mary, it was also because the Mist camp was much more comfortable for him.

Secret agents were everywhere in the palace, every crevice and crack might be watched, and that disgusted him.

But of course, the disgust was before.

Now, looking at 280 true magical equipment and items which was the compensation from the southern councilmen and the 40 Rare rank magical items and equipment plus 60 pagan remnants as the payment for the information, Kieran’s smile was brazen. It was going out of control.

There would be no reason for him to leave the Mist camp anymore.

He has to stay back and protect his wealth.

A dragon will sleep on top of its treasure, so he will too!

He could even roll around on top of the treasure mountain for a change of position.

Of course, he had expectations that these equipment and items were unable to be brought out of the dungeon. His previous experience was enough to tell him what he should do with the spoils.

Gulp!

Amid the rumbling hunger, Gluttony restlessly voiced his request to his big brother.

“Eat, eat.” A simple and direct request.

“Wait. Wait for a little longer. It’s not time yet,” said Kieran with a thought in his mind.

Although it was difficult to bear, Gluttony still obeyed his big brother’s command.

“O-Okay.” Out of respect to his big brother, enduring his own hunger was the simplest thing that Gluttony could do.

If he didn’t have such a level of endurance, he wouldn’t have appeared here either, so Gluttony knew what he should do.

After a firm answer from Gluttony, Kieran stood up and walked outside. He picked up the footsteps of the old Demon Hunter.

He also knew when Holuff and his comrades had arrived.

The ‘eye’ that he set up on the walls informed him of everything.

Likewise Anderson, he wasn’t surprised that Kieran came by on his own.

“There’s something that I think you should have a look at, Colin. Holuff found this,” said the old Demon Hunter.

“Mm,” Kieran nodded and headed to the big tent for discussion.

However, before he left, Kieran activated [Sight of Light, Silent Guard].

Unlike the hidden eye of [Conceal Watch] from the same [Sight of Light], [Silent Guard was able to fuse into the shadows.

The appearance of two [Silent Guards] attracted the attention of the old Demon Hunter but soon, he was captivated by another group of giant hounds.

Before he came, he did not realize how the group of hounds appeared, but because of that, it has also proven that these seemingly lazy hounds that lay down around Kieran’s tent were something outstanding, let alone the faint scent of mystical spell from the hounds.

“Are those war hounds?” asked the old Demon Hunter with slight envy.

War hounds were once raised in the north of Edatine, but the process was complicated and the requirement for the bloodline and methods were too high. Other than a true noble, a common man could never afford the expenses, and the same thing went for the Demon Hunters.

There was a time when Demon Hunters suggested a war hound for a constant battle companion but unfortunately, they were deterred by the extremely high cost. They did rear one or two normal hounds as a comfort though.

“Mm,” Kieran gave an affirmative answer.

Calling them war hounds were better than explaining to Anderson that they were demon hounds.

He then glanced over his own setups, calculating the distance between both tents. He made sure that he was able to get back to his own tent if anything happened before he headed to the discussion tent.

“Colin, it’s been a while,” Holuff opened his arms and walked over to Kieran.

“It’s been a while, really,” Kieran didn’t dodge Holuff, he too gave a hug to the man.

He tapped at Holuff’s back strongly like how the man did to himself too.

Holuff then released Kieran as he clenched his teeth in pain.

“Don’t you know anything about respecting the old and love the young?” Holuff was certain that his back was red from all that tapping.

“If you know that yourself, you won’t do that to me.” Kieran said.

He didn’t feel anything though.

His body was powerful enough, and with the protection from [Ghost Skin], the tap was nothing, even though the inner mail that he wore was just a replacement.

Laughter sounded off in the tent.

From the moment Kieran appeared, the Demon Hunters who had been watching him laughed and smiled.

They did not feel the sense of pride similar to a noble on Kieran. Instead, they felt Kieran was very similar to them.

He stayed in a tent, didn’t have the so-called persistence, and was very powerful.

The heir of Snake Sect, eh? Quite decent.

The Demon Hunters exchanged a quick gaze and opened up the path, revealing the metallic arm on the table to Kieran’s eyes.

Kieran was utterly sure when he saw the metallic arm, it must be from Broker!

Because he once saw the exact same arm on the robots of Broker back in the secret bazaar, but Kieran didn’t say anything right away.

He walked to the metallic arm, picked it up, and checked it for a bit before he sighed, “It’s from ‘him’. He doesn’t want to stay in the dark anymore?”

Right after his words faded, a panicked voice sounded from outside the tent.

“Prince Colin! Prince Colin! An urgent matter has just risen! A plague broke out at War God Temple!”