The Devil’s Cage

“Talk?”

Kieran laughed. It was the reaction that came from the bottom of his heart, the laugh of a stingy Scrooge who saw an unoccupied gold mine.

“What do you have, to talk with me?” Kieran asked slowly.

“I will give you unexpected benefits! My knowledge, my collections, everything can be yours!” The voice said anxiously but Kieran still shook his head.

“Don’t fill me with these empty words and don’t tempt me with things that I can’t even see. What I want is real, authentic, in-front-of-my-eyes benefits! You hear me? Think about it first, I hope the next time I appear in front you, you have something “real” enough to move me.”

As he spoke, Kieran ripped a piece of cloth off a dead body, wrapped the two boxes together before he turned around and left.

Kieran didn’t even care about the calls and shouts that echoed in his ears because he knew the longer he dragged this out, the more advantages he had.

What was the most painful thing for a prisoner who was imprisoned for a long time?

It wasn’t the endless life imprisonment without day and light but knowing that when he had the chance to leave yet still had to stay in that cell that light couldn’t shine through.

That kind of feeling was undoubtedly more torturing than anything.

Kieran was confident that all he needed was a few more days and Ancilanco would show his genuine sincerity.

Likewise, he also needed a few days to arrange the plans to deal with Ancilanco.

Kieran wasn’t that naive to think that after that much conflict with a God, they could still get a peaceful ending, even for a God after revival.

The fact that Ancilanco was a God wouldn’t change and once he was freed, an inevitable battle would start.

So Kieran would have to prepare somethings, he at least needed to create enough advantages for himself.

Other than these two factors, it was also because those who were infected by the plague couldn’t hold out any longer.

For the innocent people who were involved in this dispute, Kieran was sorry from the bottom of his heart and if it was within what he was capable of, Kieran didn’t mind helping them.

…

“Doctor! Doctor!”

A little girl’s call was filled with anxiety, panic, and fear.

Beside her was her mother who has fallen unconscious. Greenish black spots even started to appear on the mother’s hands and face and the little girl’s father had just fallen as well, leaving her alone on the spot.

Orph who was shuttling across the crowd saw the little girl’s terrible situation.

Even among the sea of infected patients, the little girl’s situation was quite rare.

Orph quickly ran over.

“Child, don’t worry, I’ll take care of them.”

Orph, the lead doctor who practiced art of healing under the elderly sister before tried to comfort the girl with a soft voice and a kind face, sharing the traits of the elderly sister.

“Are they going to be fine?” The little girl asked.

“They will. I promise!” Orph nodded energetically, trying to make himself looked more reliable but in his eyes, all it shown was substantial worries.

The worries for the future, the worries for the loss of life.

He didn’t know whether someone’s plan would work or not but he knew in a while more, death on a big scale would happen in the area.

The spreading speed of the plague was much faster than he imagined and the lethality had exceeded his thoughts as well.

Even though he had grinded all his ideas from his mind, all he did was slightly slow down the speed of the plague.

It was impossible to heal the patients at this stage!

“Child, come, come with me! You need enough sleep and I promise, when you wake up, your daddy and mommy will be the first thing you see,” Orph comforted the girl

Though as his voice subsided…

Puk!

The greenish black spots on the mother’s hand burst out just like that, the stinking liquid inside burst out in all directions.

Orph immediately hugged the little girl and blocked the plague’s liquid with his back.

Tssss!

The corrosion started upon touching Orph’s back, the crow’s outfit was absolutely useless against the stenchful liquid.

The liquid seeped through the cloth and touched the skin on his back within an instant.

Orph immediately pushed the girl away.

“Child, leave me! Stay away from me! Someone, take care of this little girl here!”

Orph shouted loudly, notifying his colleagues in the area.

Another doctor in the crow outfit came over and hugged the crying little girl.

“Orph, what did you…”

“Stay away! I’ve been infected!”

Orph shook away the doctor’s hand trying to help him up and he directly took off his plague doctor outfit.

The outfit was useless now, as the mask was taken off, a windy breeze caressed his face.

Orph took a deep breath.

“We need to use that now.” He said and pointed at the oil barrels that were prepared.

“Orph! Things aren’t that…” A female voice came out from the plague mask.

“Things are much worse that we expected! Our methods now can not even hold the plague anymore, we are left with this option… Gather the patients here, I as the executioner will have to make a move with them first. At least it will allow you all to hold up a little longer and hope that teacher will be awaken by then, only she can cure the plague now.”

Orph interrupted the female doctor’s words and walked towards the oil barrels. The patients were then gathered at the spot soon after that.

He uncorked the oil barrels, pouring it around the area and showered himself from head to toe with the oil inside. Orph took up the unignited torch, preparing himself for the last moment of his life.

The little girl in the female doctor’s arms cried when she saw what Orph was going to do.

“Goddess of Dawn, did You witness all these? Please have pity on Orph, he shouldn’t have bear all this sufferring!” The female doctor said while sobbing.

The little girl in her arms suddenly broke free from her arms, charging through the oil drenched ground and went up beside her father and mother.

As a child, what was more important than her parents?

Life and death were less important to the little girl, far lesser than her precious parents.

Orph’s motion of igniting the torch froze suddenly when he saw the little girl crawl up to her unconscious parents, crying her heart out.

“Oh God, how cruel can you be?”

The doctors and the families of the infected around were crying in shock non-stop either.

“Oh dear God! Please return everything back to normal!”

“We don’t wish to see hell descend on earth!”

“Save the innocent soul with Your glory!”

Prayers sounded one after another, they sounded messy yet so together.

They prayers gathered together and transformed into the very first thought that came in everyone’s mind, kindness.

Kindness was the first thought that gathered mercy and compassion, gathering the virtues of the earth; It also made the scene before everyone’s eyes more and more cruel and unbearable.

The frozen Orph ultimately chose to ignite the torch because as a doctor, he knew it was the right choice to make.

“I am sorry! If we meet again in the afterlife, I am willing to atone my sins before you!”

Orph looked at the little girl and sad with a heavy heart.

Then, he took the last glance of the world that he knew off, imprinting the final image in his mind and… the torch was thrown down.

However, the anticipated fire didn’t come but a calm voice instead.

“Hell shouldn’t be on earth in the first place. The flames belonged to hell, whereas light comes from people’s heart.”

As the voice subsided, a beam of blinding light pierced the night sky, shining across the entire St. Paolo School.

Kieran then stepped out of the beam of light.