The Devil’s Cage

Amidst the groans in pain, Kieran looked very compassionate, walking by everyone who was tortured by the plague. White brilliance scattered along the path as he moved into the sea of people.

The scene was holistic and merciful.

That’s right, it was merciful. There wasn’t a better word, other than mercy, to describe Kieran throughout the week.

For an entire week, Kieran never once paused, walking from one end of Gordor to another, spreading his white brilliance. Whenever there were new patients in the town, the warm white brilliance welcomed them.

Amid the holy light, the damage caused by the Plague of Decay quickly decreased. Although unable to uproot the plague, it was enough to pour hope into people.

Everything would turn out better with hope.

Those who longed for survival flew over to Gordor without stopping.

In less than a week’s time, the only town in Gorbor was filled with people infected by the Plague of Decay.

The most severe patients were settled down in the middle of the town, in the manor with the mini tower; the less severe patients were settled down outside the manor.

Those who were barely infected were standing along the streets of the town.

No matter how severe the infection was, the merciful Majesty would treat all equally.

He would smile at you, encourage you, ease your pain.

Light shone again. Soft prayers sounded endlessly.

Luphus and his student carried the medical boxes and followed behind Kieran as he healed people. The ‘wise man’ had bloodshot eyes, not having an outstanding physique like Kieran and only having rested for a few hours everyday for the past week. His body was exhausted beyond his limits, but he didn’t slow down.

Potion after potion was given to the infected patients by him, while Eden told the patients what they should notice.

Everyone who saw the duo would reply with the kindest of smiles, filled with the sincerest of gratitude.

Due to the gratitude he received, Eden felt genergetic. He felt like he had found his purpose in life, but Luphus, on the other hand, frowned.

More and more infected people arrived at Gordor Land, and since the land wasn’t that big to begin with, every corner of the town was overcrowded.

More importantly, his Majesty hadn’t rested for a week.

He didn’t know how much stamina divine healing consumed, but he knew that should his Majesty fall out of exhaustion, it would be the beginning of true disaster.

The ‘wise man’ had already picked up a fishy scent, sensing that something wasn’t right.

“Go get Sir Roffu,” Luphus told his student.

“But Sir Roffu is inspecting the potion crafting process…”

“It doesn’t matter, we have much more important things to discuss here,” Luphus waved his hands.

Eden quickly ran towards the mini tower.

The lord of Gordor and the wandering doctor, Ager, saw the scene from the shadows.

“What did he notice this time?” the doctor squinted his eyes as he saw Eden run off.

“He does have the title of a ‘wise man’, so it’s normal for him to notice something fishy. If he couldn’t, it would be disappointing. But so what? The die is cast and nothing will be able to stop this now. All we have to do is wait, wait for his Majesty to be exhausted,” The lord of Gordor said softly and slowly.

Right at that moment, the holy light that shone inside Kieran for a week now suddenly paused. Although it returned a moment later, the two men in the shadows spotted the unusual occurrence.

“See, the opportunity is here,” the lord of Gordor smiled.

“Leave the rest to me,” said the doctor before he ran further away.

…

Kieran walked from one end of Gordor to the other, and when he returned, he stopped healing the infected with his ‘holy light’, instead going back to the manor with the mini tower.

“Your Majesty?” Roffu, who brought over a chair, asked, looking worried.

Kieran waved his hand, not saying anything, but the tiredness on his face was unconcealable.

Luphus, who spotted the exhaustion, clenched his teeth and furrowed his brows.

“Your Majesty, please leave Gordor at once. There is no reason for you to stay here anymore,” Luphus said quickly.

Eden and Roffu were stunned by Luphus’ words.

“The human heart is always unpredictable and ever-changing,” Luphus said with a bitter smile.

Before he could explain further, clamouring sounded outside the door.

“Why didn’t you heal our family?”

“Why did you only heal those people?”

“Yea! It’s our turn now!”

…

Luphus’ face turned sour when he heard the clamouring.

He had expected such a scene but not o fast.

“Your Majesty, please…”

“I’ll go have a look.”

Kieran waved and interrupted Luphus, standing up, but the exhaustion on his face didn’t go away. He slowly walked towards the door.

Outside the door, a group of men were blocking the way.

Each of the men were buff and robust, armed with swords and knives, fierce and pressuring and harbouring malicious intent.

Also, each of them died without an intact body.

Sou Sou Sou!

[Dandelion Pierce] was like a ghost in the dark, shuttling across the men.

The rapier reaped the lives of the men like harvesting wheat, blood raining down furiously and splashing all over the place.

Their heads were tumbling down the path and the headless bodies fell on the ground.

Within the blink of an eye, no one was standing at the doorway anymore, as all of them were decapitated. All that was left was many others, who were groaning in pain as the Plague of Decay tortured them.

Luphus widened his eyes at the scene inconceivably.

What had happened?

Shouldn’t the group of men struggle and resist after their instincts abducted their conscience?

Shouldn’t his Majesty be tired and the end nothing but ugly?

How did it turn into a massacre?

Luphus didn’t know what reaction he should show to the scene before his eyes.

Suddenly, he realized the people suffering from the plague had stopped their painful groans.

They didn’t die, but were healed instead!

That’s right, they were completely healed!

Luphus went over to the nearest patient and checked on him.

His breathing was steady, the fever was gone, and other than being a little weak, the patient was all fine.

“This…This…”

Luphus opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a word.

Those who were healed also felt at a loss for words. They looked at each other before looking at Kieran.

“You all have been healed and saved! The blood of the evil had tainted all of you, but you are all healed!” Kieran said calmly.

“The evil? Those men?”

A lot of the patients were confused.

“They and those who brought the plague are one,” Kieran explained.

“What?!” The fully-healed crowd cried out inconceivably. Every single one of them quickly showed disgust and anger at the headless bodies, despite not having the heart to hate them just moments ago.

No one would ever understand their fear and anxiety at lingering on the verge of death; it was worse than death itself.

And now, they knew that the cause of their suffering were these people!

These people put them in harm’s way!

“Damn it!”

An hot-tempered guy walked over and kicked one of the heads away.

Like the domino effect, the person triggered a chain reaction. A lot more people from the crowd joined the person while Kieran watched the scene quietly.

He didn’t stop them.

His voice then spread throughout all of Gordor.

“Their accomplices are still hiding in town. Go! Search for them! Flush them out! Use their blood to wash away the pain of Plague of Decay! I will always be with all of you.”