The Devil’s Cage

Deep in a forest to the south, a small Hunter Temple was hidden within.

No one knew when the temple was built, or rather, no one knew there was a temple outside in the forest.

The convoy behind Hunter Temple’s archpriest, Krecko, was stunned for a moment before they cheered when they saw the temple.

A temple!

To the Naveyans, a temple had an irreplaceable meaning in their hearts.

It wasn’t just comforting to their heart, it also meant the divine light of God had shielded them.

The people of Naveya would be protected from disaster with the shielding of God.

“The temple is too small to fit everyone. So, other than the priests and priestess from each temple, everyone, please set up camp around the temple and follow the knight’s orders.”

“Report to the temple directly if there is anything unusual.”

“Everything else will be the same as Naveya’s temple.”

Krecko was speaking loudly to the crowd on top of the stone stairs.

No one would reject his suggestion, though, because everyone thought it was reasonable.

After all, it was exactly how they operated back in Naveya.

Under the knights’ guidance, the civilians and soldiers started to get busy setting up camp.

A group of Hunter Temple deacons walked towards the wagons and carried cans, boxes, and baskets out.

All of the supplies were then delivered into the temple by another group of deacons after the temple was cleaned up.

Candles were ignited around the statue of the Hunter.

A large goat pelt was laid open, and empty silver plates were placed on top.

The deacons went over and unloaded the supplies on the empty plates. The wine and honey from the cans, the varieties of spices in the boxes, and the bread and meat from the baskets were all placed on the silver plates.

The meal prepared wasn’t exactly delicious to the priests of Hunter Temples, though, but that was back in Naveya.

Now? It wasn’t just delicious, it could genuinely be considered a feast during desperate times.

The night and day traveling didn’t just exhaust everyone and baffle them with hunger, it strained their mental states to the limit, and when they were mentally tired, the nervousness and fear were exceptionally harder to bear, to the point that it could easily crush a man.

Therefore, when a somewhat safe environment was found and had sufficient food, these deacons who claimed to be servants of God during average days almost shed tears of gratitude.

Then, every other priest and priestess from the other temples expressed their gratitude to Hunter Temple’s archpriest after his prayers.

“We will have a new start here. Although the start may be difficult, we will eventually get better as we progress.”

“Please, everyone eat well.”

“My old friends have been waiting for me for some time, so please excuse me as we have more things to discuss.”

Krecko then stood up and walked to the meeting chambers in the back of the temple.

All the respective priests and priestesses saw Krecko away with gazes of gratitude before they ‘attacked’ the foods in front of their eyes.

They didn’t care about politeness or being a gentleman anymore.

Hunger had tortured them for quite a while now.

Krecko heard the rustling behind him, he couldn’t help but show a smile like he had grasped everything.

The scene was exactly what he sought after, and this was just a beginning, a new beginning.

The archpriest of Hunter Temple couldn’t hold back his laughter when he thought about the final outcome.

However, he suppressed his urge to laugh since he knew the real condition of the temple; he then continued onto the meeting chambers.

There were still some matters that required his attention.

…

Inside the meeting chamber.

There was a long oval table with many candlesticks arranged in the middle.

Around the candlesticks were dishes after dishes, served in an astonishing quantity and scale.

Compared to the dishes served to the priests and priestesses outside, the dishes served in the meeting chambers were much more delicate and alluring.

The only difference was these dishes were ‘lethally’ delicious!

Many archpriests of various temples lay on top of the oval table. Their mouths and noses were bleeding; their faces were purplish green, and other than the archpriest of Etiquette Temple, the others were not breathing.

“W-Why!?”

The archpriest who was recognized as a role model of etiquette throughoutNaveya was looking ferocious and twisted as he shouted at Krecko.

“Why? What do you think?” Krecko asked.

The archpriest of Etiquette Temple obviously didn’t know, and it was natural that his gaze showed confusion and doubts.

“Sigh. Every one of you is useless trash.”

As his words subsided, Krecko placed his hand over the archpriest’s neck and squeezed softly.

Kak!

A clear snap later, the archpriest of Etiquette Temple lost all signs of life.

The archpriest of Etiquette Temple widened his eyes even after death, and it made Krecko shake his head.

The man was too stubborn. No, everyone was too stubborn!

Otherwise, Krecko wouldn’t have committed this atrocity, but the ideal situation at hand was tough to come by. If he missed it, Krecko would regret it for life; thus, he made a choice.

“Herasu,” Krecko called loudly.

“Lord Archpriest.”

Having a thick hair and hairy body, Herasu, with a bow on his back and a short knife at his waist, walked out as he was summoned. This hunter, who was once Pudd’s teacher and someone who Kieran paid extra attention to, saw the dead archpriests of various temples all over the oval table. He wasn’t surprised at all, or rather, as one of the accomplices, he would only show delight at the scene.

After all, the death of all the archpriests meant they were closer to success.

“We have been progressing smoothly up until now, and I hope it doesn’t end here.”

“Therefore, I am going to erase every lurking danger,” said Krecko.

“Understood. I assure you, ‘they’ will show more loyalty to you than anyone else.”

Herasu knew what Krecko was referring to, he bowed and clapped his hand.

Pak Pak.

Two clear claps later, a group of men entered the meeting chambers.

All of them were in various shapes and sizes, their age and looks were also vastly different.

The only thing they had in common was their physique, which resembled all the dead archpriests in terms of height and age. Even the resemblance of their facial features was uncanny.

The group of men all knelt down before Krecko.

“Lord Archpriest,” they greeted en masse.

“En.” Krecko looked and the kneeling men in satisfaction, he then threw a signal to Herasu.

Herasu caught the meaning and quickly went to work.

He took out a box filled with all sorts of small items like glue, hair extensions, and makeup.

Herasu was actually putting on makeup for the men.

The group of men already highly resembled the dead archpriests, and after Herasu’s skillful work, they looked exactly the same.

Krecko couldn’t help but smile when he saw another familiar face standing up. The smile came from the bottom of his heart because everything was unfolding according to his expectations.

In addition to that, he had gained a more than perfect opening.

He would be the final victor of his war.