The Devil’s Cage

Paladia followed Kieran and looked towards the direction where they came from.

Unbeknownst to him, a figure was standing there, but the figure was surely not a human!

A broken cape covered its body but the seams and holes on it revealed its scarlet red bones underneath. Under the hood, soul fire was burning in its eye sockets. A string of prayer beads were being twisted in its hand and as it walked forward, it laughed in a weird way that sounded like croaking.

The aerial monster seemed to have noticed this hooded skull and it was utterly frightened. It flew up higher and tried to fly away without a second thought but right when the aerial monster was about to leave Paladia’s sight…

Karooom!

The aerial monster exploded, blood and flesh raining down.

There were no signs before the bursting, the aerial monster turning into a pile of bones under Paladia’s shocked gaze and falling down from the sky, but it did not fall to the ground.

Together, with the pieces of flesh and puddle of blood, the aerial monster’s bones flew towards the red hooded skull.

Quack, Quack, Quack.

It laughed in croaks again and opened its mouth, sucking in the flesh and blood, together with the big pile of bones, which was somehow turned into bone shards before getting sucked in through the seams and holes of the mantle, but the red skull’s size did not change at all. Instead, its red color got more saturated and a fishy smell started to spread around the area.

The prayer beads in its hand were twisted even quicker.

Paladia saw how fast the prayer beads got twisted, he somehow felt dizzy and wanted to throw up.

It wasn’t just the twisting speed that made him sick, disgust and fear also rose from his body in response, like what he felt when he first landed sight on the red skull.

It was the suppressive feeling from beings at the highest point of the food chain towards the prey at the lowest point.

If Kieran didn’t hold him up, Paladia would have fallen limply on the ground.

‘What kind of monster is this?!’

Paladia was horrified, he had never seen this kind of monster before, let alone heard of it.

Throughout all the information that he spent so much effort in gathering on the Battle of Winter Night, there was nothing mentioned about the red skull monster.

Though the worse and even more frightening thing had yet to come.

The red skull raised its hand to the sky.

The bright sky with the late afternoon sun instantly turned dark!

A crescent moon replaced the bright sun and its minimal moonlight shed its pure white glory over the city.

The quiet city then came alive.

Roars, growls, clamours, wails, battle noises, all kinds of noises sounded in succession.

The red skull seemed to like the scary noises, opening its arms and hugging the air before turning around and slowly walking back the way it came from.

Paladia tried his very best to move his gaze from the red skull. He wasn’t sure if the red skull noticed him or not but he knew the red skull was far scarier than what he could go up against.

Changing day into night!

It was considered rare even in legends and those who could perform such a feat had their own title, people also came up with a general term to address them: God!

‘Is that red skull a God?!

Or is it the bones of a dead God?

Why is he here?’

Question after question popped up in Paladia’s heart, but none met an answer.

Paladia’s ugly expression turned sour, he thought of the other Herders going up against the red skull…

No! The red skull wouldn’t even need to do anything! Those monsters, without the sunlight holding them back, would be enough to deliver a catastrophic end to the others.

Paladia hoped nothing would happen to the other Herders, he had some friends in this battle too, but he was helpless against it.

He had no confidence to go back into the monster-roaming city to save everyone.

Asking Kieran for help?

Aside from their current identity and position, even if it was under different circumstances, Paladia didn’t know what cost he had to pay to make others risk their lives for his goal.

Disregarding his own life and die trying?

Paladia wasn’t that great of a person yet.

‘Sorry.’

He apologized in his heart, and prepared himself to follow Kieran away from the city.

He also felt admiration for Kieran from the bottom of his heart. If it wasn’t for this cold person in front him, he would have fallen into despair against the red skull.

However, just when he was grateful about being saved by Kieran, he was dumbstruck by Kieran’s action.

Kieran was walking back to the city!

“W-What are you doing?!”

Kieran’s sudden action made Paladia stutter.

“Going back,” Kieran said.

“Are you out of your mind!? Do you know what will happen if you go back right now? That place is filled with monsters, you will be dead in no time!” Paladia’s voice got louder as he spoke.

Despite being under [Seodi Stone’]’s effect, he was rather reluctant against death.

He didn’t want to die, otherwise he wouldn’t have submitted to Kieran and [Seodi Stone] after a little struggle with himself.

He submitted to Kieran in order to stay alive, even without pride, but now Kieran was going back to die! He couldn’t accept it!

“I’m not going! I’m staying here, this place is safer!” Paladia ought to be firm in his tand.

“It will be a mess, but there will be more chances. The monsters have moved out, so their dens are defenseless!” Kieran walked further away as he explained.

Paladia got stunned.

The monsters’ dens were defenseless!

Fear still lingered in his mind but a sense of burning passion rose from the bottom of his heart and he couldn’t hold it down!

While watching Kieran walk away, the burning passion eventually defeated his fear.

Paladia didn’t just expel the weakening feeling, his body was filled with burning energy!

He ran and chased after Kieran.

“W-Wait for me! We still have the Oath of Allegiance, remember? Of course I’m following you!”

…

Pangnard, with the burning red hair, was rather eye-catching among the Herders and it surely wasn’t just before of the hair color.

He was recognized because of his strength!

Back in the temporary campsite, aside from Lucan, Pangnard was the publicly acknowledged strongest one.

Pangnard assumed himself stronger than Lucan because he has more brains than the boorish bearman.

It was widely known that northerners were reckless and boorish, those who lived along the coast area were known for their wisdom.

Whether in terms of business or economy, the coast area far surpassed the northern lands, or any other land in the region, and the people of the coast area took pride in it.

So did Pangnard.

Should he go against Lucan head to head, he knew he would be outmatched by the brute strength but the Battle of Winter Night wasn’t about brawn!

It required brains! And talent!

Pangnard trusted his intellect very highly, his talents even more!

He was confident in himself, otherwise he wouldn’t have spent such a great cost to compete for a spot in the Battle of Winter Night representing the coast area.

Pangnard was tempted by the items scattered throughout the city.

When he stepped into this city, his talent told him the tall building held some very valuable items, he rushed towards the building excitingly, but he did not act recklessly like Lucan did, staying behind and observing.

When he realized Lucan failed to break into the building in his bearman form, Pangnard shifted his target from the tall office building.

Valuable items were great but his life was much important.

His talent guided him, allowing him to see those secretive and hidden areas.

Deep inside several alleys, Pangnard had gotten a little something after dealing with several skinless monsters.

The several vials of potion could fetch a high price back in the outside world and most importantly, he acquired it with ease and did not get into trouble.

Unlike back in the outside world, his talent allowed him to detect a lot of treasures but every single one of them were dangerous on its own or it would put Pangard in the center of a whirlpool of danger.

As for money?

Pangnard came from a wealthy family, money was nothing for him, he didn’t think money was almighty.

He was in pursuit of higher value things and that was the reason why he became a Herder.

Compared to his current life of a treasure hunter, how would his original life fair out?

He had no worries about food and shelter, he could easily obtain opulent clothes and accessories, plus unlimited women.

Though he wanted nothing from all those!

What he truly sought was his current life, as a Herder!

The process and result of chasing after his own gains was what he sought his entire life.

Gain after gain, Pangnard felt joy, so he promoted his target to a better place with more difficulty: the bank, or more accurately, the abandoned bank in the city.

The attraction he felt from the back was just slightly lower than the tall office building, but what truly attracted Pangnard was the underground!

Pangnard knew what the skinless monsters were weak against after fighting off some.

The monsters were afraid of sunlight, so hiding underground was understandable and it was also reasonable for the monsters to hide the treasures they found there.

Though Pangnard would never go down there!

He looked up at the sun moving towards east, a decision made: he would head to the abandoned bank for the treasure he detected and then leave the city for the time being.

He would need to wait for the second day’s morning to restart his treasure hunt or when the Inhumans and Monsters joined the battle, so that he could fish in muddy waters.

Pangnard held the dagger and magic pistol in his hands tightly and strode into the bank.

There was no need for a top to bottom search, his talent tracked down the treasure’s presence and let him down straight to the bank vault.

The security system in the bank was destroyed, so that titanium vault door was wide open.

After killing some skinless monsters, Pangnard arrived in front of the vault without further hindrance.

He spotted a silver glowing box, but Pangnard did not throw himself over right away.

He pulled out a specially made grenade from his belt. Similar to the magic gun in his hand, the grenade was also made from ancient alchemy.

Ding!

The safety pin was pulled and the grenade was tossed inside.

Kaboom!

After the loud bang, a dazzling light shone like an artificial sun.

The giant skinless monster who hid in the shadow next to the silver box burst into a thousand pieces without making a noise.

Pangnard smiled at the smithereens.

His talent allowed him to detect the presence of the treasure and at the same time, the monsters also lethally attracted to the treasures.

The better the treasure, the stronger the monster around them.

Pangnard was certain the reason why the monsters lurked around the treasures was to figure out a way to open the box and consume the content.

However, the organizer had prepared for this from the start.

Other than the bait from the beginning, all the treasures scattered in the city had protections and those boxes holding the items inside weren’t just for the sake of holding.

The box was a product of combined creation from human, Inhuman and Monster, it wasn’t something some low level monsters could break.

Pangnard stepped up and opened the box, he saw a ring inside and he couldn’t help but smile.

Judging from the mystical runes on the ring, Pangnard deduced this ring possessed extremely high rarity, a very rare offensive ring.

As for what the ring really did, he had to take it back for trials and experiments.

His level of mystical knowledge wasn’t high enough to tell what the ring was on first sight.

He wasn’t in a rush to put the ring on, taking the ring together with the box and putting it into his backpack before he headed out of the vault.

He was ready to leave this treasure city for the time being but when he stepped outside of the abandoned bank, his face turned pale as paper as it was already night!

Pangnard looked at the dark sky in disbelief, quickly taking his potion that dispels illusions and swallowing it.

His mind was instantly refreshed, but the sky was still dark.

It wasn’t an illusion!

But when he entered the bank, it was just afternoon! How did the sky change so fast?!

Pangard widened his eyes in shock.

The unexpected change let him know things had gone south.

The rattling noise and roars that sounded throughout the dark street made Pangard retreat back to the underground vault.

The underground vault of the bank was made out of titanium, it would be enough to fend off most of the potential danger.

On top of that, when he entered the underground for the first time, he checked the titanium door and found out it used an old fashion lock that locked both ways.

It would require three keys and a set of password to open from the outside, but one would only need to pull the lever inside to open it.

Having an extra backup plan was a good habit as it would keep up with unexpected change.

Bang!

Right after Pangnard went down the stairs to the underground vault, a big, buff figure crashed behind him.

“Lucan?!”

Pangnard cried in shock when he saw who barged in, then he saw another minotaur monster outside that was 10 meters tall and looked ridiculously buff. His face instantly turned sour and the worse thing was, that minotaur saw him!

The minotaur grinned, revealing its sharp fangs.

Without a second thought, Pangnard grabbed Lucan’s arm and dashed into the vault.

He really wanted to ditch this dizzy piece of burden but he had no confidence to deal with the 10 meters tall minotaur.

The titanium vault door might not even hold the monster back effectively!

Though the height of the passage to the vault could stall the minotaur for a while, he wouldn’t bet on it.

He dashed towards the vault, tossing Lucan inside and locking the vault door.

Just when the vault door was about to close, Pangnard had a clear view of that giant minotaur and the monster was shrinking!

The monster shrunk to a size that could fit through the passage.

‘WHAT KIND OF MONSTER IS THIS!?’

His heart screamed in horror, Pangnard pulling the door with all his might in hopes to close it before the monster got to him.

BANG!

The vault door finally closed and Pangnard pulled the lever to seal it tight.

He heaved a breath of relief.

Lying on the ground, Lucan shook his head to ditch the dizziness.

“You bastard, you almost get me ki-…. Aaaaaaarh!”

Before Pangnard could say the word ‘killed’, he screamed his lungs out.

The floor inside the vault started to crack and the cracks spread very fast!

Almost instantaneously, the whole floor collapsed.

Pangnard and Lucan fell into the hole before they could properly react.