The Devil’s Cage

The malicious and hungry gazes were hiding quite well.

They stared at the believers of the God of Mist faintly and made them very scared. The believers prayed and hoped their lord and savior could hear them.

Some believers started to disappear, so it seemed like the owner of those hidden gazes was using this kind of method to force the God of Mist out of its hold.

Kieran could very well imagine what would happen if the God of Mist appeared, the heavily injured Lord of Mist surely ending up in smithereens and getting swallowed alive.

Kieran wouldn’t even doubt it because the hunger he sensed was very obvious.

Now, he had to do something to change the outcome.

It wasn’t just because the identity of God of Mist could provide a lot of help in understanding the current dungeon world, it was also because of the effect [Land of Sicar] on [Lord of Mist]. It raised quite an interest in Kieran’s mind.

The item currently only affected Sicar, but should it expand, would it reach Edatine or even the whole Northern Land?

Kieran pondered upon the idea for a while before snapping his fingers.

“At your service, boss.”

Bloody Mary appeared from the shadows right after the snap, bowing slightly and waiting for a new order from Kieran.

“The God of Mist requires an emissary to provide salvation to its believers,” Kieran said.

“Understood, boss,” Bloody Mary then stepped back into the shadow and vanished.

Kieran then put away his spoils, standing up and walking to the main floor of the hotel.

It was dinner time and he still hadn’t eaten anything.

Although the cook of the hotel was by no means at Starbeck’s level, Kieran always had an increased tolerance towards food: as long as it was edible, he would swallow it.

The suite that Kieran was staying in was only a wall away from the main floor but in order to get there, he has to go out and make a turn.

When he was outside his room, he saw the owner, Holuff, and it seemed like the bloated owner was expecting him.

After he saw Kieran, Holuff asked away, “Can we talk?”

“Here?” Kieran asked.

“Of course not, my place. Don’t worry, I won’t take a lot of your time, dinner is on me,” Holuff smiled and pointed at the other courtyard of the hotel.

The courtyard pointed by Holuff was very similar to the one he saw in the illusion, but the shy young worker wasn’t there, what replaced him were many cooks moving in and out of the kitchen.

Inside the said courtyard was a big square table and on top of it were food containers being opened up, one after another.

Potato biscuits, fish soup, sausages, there was enough food for two.

“If you don’t mind, shall we?” Holuff asked.

“Of course,” Kieran nodded after he saw his portion of the food was 10 times more than the opposite.

The potatoes were fried with eggs inside, extremely crunchy and each bite producing a crunching noise. The fish soup was white, the meat of the fish had completely fused with the soup, leaving the remaining bones on the surface to be scooped up by the cooks.

What surprised Kieran the most was the sausage. It seemed like a normal one but it was actually made by cartilages, every bite on it provided a lot of texture to the mouth.

A mouth of potato, a spoon of fish soup and another bite on the sausage.

Holuff, who proposed a talk, lost interest in speaking in front of the food, gobbling down all the food on the table like a tornado.

Kieran was faster, afterimages created behind the motion trail of his hands.

Less than 10 minutes later, the food was all cleaned up.

Holuff wiped his mouth and tapped his stomach in satisfaction.

Kieran looked at the cook and asked, “Anymore?”

Holuff jolted, “You are not full yet?”

What Kieran just ate was similar to what he ate for lunch: a hundred plates! And this time, everything was prepared extra large for him.

Based on what Holuff calculated, Kieran should not be able to finish all these. It was already surprising enough to Holuff after Kieran swept the hundred extra large servings clean, yet he still wasn’t full… Holuff did not expect this at all.

“Did you hold back during lunch?” Holuff’s eyes were as wide as a golf ball.

“It’s better to keep my stomach at moderate full during lunch,” Kieran replied seriously.

“Then what about dinner?” Holuff pointed at the clean plates on the table which looked like they were washed.

“The sausages are nice, I plan to eat dinner and supper together,” Kieran was being frank.

“Y-You really have an appetite.”

Holuff tried to say something but it came out differently at the end. He waved at the cook and the cook ran back into the main floor.

Back at the main floor, the heated discussion about Kieran’s appetite was still going on among the businessmen.

The cook quietly shook his head when he saw the scene, like a wise man laughing at fools.

‘Still discussing? We are out of food!’

Sighing in sorrow, the cook started to move the food outside.

When the cook moved the last box of food out, one of the customers felt a little hungry.

“Is there anything on the menu? Give me something to eat,” asked the customer.

“Nothing, we have nothing left. The food prepared for dinner was all taken by the customer from lunch,” the waiter said, smiling bitterly.

The moment his words subsided, the whole floor went quiet. Borl, who was sipping on his beer, was stunned on his chair.

“The customer f-from lunch? Is that my friend?” Borl stuttered.

“Yes, Mr. Borl…” The corner of Borl’s mouth twitched when he heard the affirmative answer from the waiter.

At first, Borl planned to take care of Kieran’s meal and lodging completely but given how great Kieran’s appetite was…

‘Don’t even talk about buying myself a dukeship, I think before we even reach Edatine Castle, I’ll go broke because of his appetite!

His appetite is too scary!

If I only take care of his lodging, would Sir 2567 understand my difficulties?’

Borl was in a dilemma.

The whole floor of the hotel raised a clamour because of the shocking revelation.

The clamour was heard in the room beside the courtyard.

Holuff puckered his lips and sympathized with those bastards who were so free. He looked at Kieran, who continued eating with the same speed, the bloated owner starting to doubt his entire existence.

Holuff himself could eat a lot because of his fat body, his appetite stronger than the average.

But the young man before his eyes?

After that ridiculous amount of food, his stomach was still flat! It was like the food that went into his mouth did not end up in his stomach, but a different dimension.

Holuff started to recall similar examples in the past and his eyes on Kieran gradually turned weird.

He really found a close example of Kieran but… looking at how human Kieran was, Holuff shook his head.

Those things were undoubtedly powerful yet they did not possess the shape of a human. They were the monsters from the dark, existing only to eat and never stop, They did not even possess sanity.

Kieran?

He was very sane and exceptionally vigilant.

All traces of observation proved to be subtle, but regardless of whether he was walking, sitting or even lying down, he maintained a very highly alert state.

‘If he could become…

What am I thinking!

I’ve been through a lot to retire, how can I recommend someone else to do it?’

Holuff mocked his thoughts with a smile.

He then quietly watched Kieran destroy all the food.

After the meal, the cook served a cup of tea to Kieran, the owner then started the ‘talk’.

“What do you think of Sicar?” Holuff asked with a smile. If Kieran did not know he was the owner of the hotel, he would take him as some official of Sicar and this whole ‘talk’ happened because the bloated man wanted to cover up some sandal or secret.

“Not too shabby, quite prosperous,” Kieran answered.

After the answer, Holuff wriggled his fat body and caused the chair to squeak, then lowered his voice and continued, “You know what I am asking. I’m not asking about the surface stuff, I want to know what you think about the other side, those you cannot see but can hear. Or… did you stumble upon any trouble?”

As Holuff explained explicitly, he tried to use more appropriate words to describe the situation.

His explanation was undoubtedly confusing to normal people but Kieran understood it pretty well, leaning his body forward and putting both his elbows on the table, supporting his chin.

“In what position are you asking?” Kieran did not answer the question right away.

“I am just a poor old man who wants to live my retired life in peace and I just bought you dinner.”

Holuff even winked to win mercy but his fat face wasn’t convincing at all, instead making him look a little ridiculous, but Kieran did not mock him.

Kieran didn’t take his identity seriously but it was a fact that Holuff bought him dinner, especially that cartilage sausage, it was proof of Holuff’s sincerity.

Therefore, Kieran thought seriously for a while before he gave a reply.

“I’ve discovered the danger, but I am not sure to what extent. It might be something small that could be prevented easily without making a scene or it might be a big incident that can shake the heavens and tremble the earth. It’s not here yet, so I can’t tell for sure.”

“Is that so?” Holuff took a deep breath, a bitter smile hanging over his fat face. As he spoke, it was as if he was muttering to himself, “I thought everything would be different after I left Edatine Castle, but it seems nothing changed, even in Sicar. This soft blabber still echoes from time to time, the innocent souls always vanish overnight. Those with ulterior motives in the market would commit all sorts of atrocities just for Gold Purton. In name, the management of Sicar turns a blind eye to this kind of criminal activity but in the dark, they have a leg in this. The voice is getting clearer, a lot of people have joined them since then. Some joined because they wanted to escape from reality, some for reliance, and some to realize the dirtiest thoughts in their heart. As an observer, I am helpless.”

The bitter smile on Holuff grew heavier and more helpless.

Kieran didn’t say anything to comfort him though. He didn’t think they were that close, just like how Kieran would never take Holuff as an observer of all this.

When the bird’s nest is overturned, no eggs are left intact.

Kieran understood the saying.

“Fine, fine. Speak your heart sometimes, it’s good for venting your frustration. Better sleep early today and leave at first light tomorrow. All the best,” Holuff then waved at Kieran.

“Thank you for the dinner.”

Kieran stood up and parted ways with the owner. Holuff remained seated, seeing Kieran away into the little courtyard before he stood up slowly and walked inside the room.

It was his sleeping place and other than a big wide bed, it was only coupled with a closet.

Holuff touched his closet intimately.

“What is our mission? The hunter’s honor…”

His voice gradually grew softer and eventually went silent, all that was left was a bitter smile on his face.

Holuff did not notice how he liked to smile bitterly and right after that, the bitter smile got frozen on his face.

He heard the voices again.

“Get out! Get the hell out! I will not fall to your bewitchments!”

He held back the shouts in his throat strongly, pressing his hand against the wooden closet harder, a clear mark of his palm left on top after he moved his hand away.

His fat body wobbled and then fell on to his bed.

He kept muttering, “The hunter’s honor, protect the hunter’s honor, protect…”

…

After leaving the courtyard, Kieran frowned on the way back to his room.

The wicked presence suddenly turned thick.

He quickly activated [Tracking].

In his special vision, he clearly spotted that lively wicked presence that he noticed during the day grew vigorous. If the wicked presence was a turtle crawling around during the day, it was as lively as a jumping rabbit during the night.

On the contrary, War God Temple had a totally different scene.

It was dazzling brightly under the sun but under the night sky, it became gloomy. It was still bright enough though.

Kieran watched the few wicked presences attempt to get closer to War God Temple, but before they truly came close, the wicked presences were burned ferociously, the sudden scorching forcing them to retreat.

Undoubtedly, even if the wicked presences came at the right time, they would still be unable to compete with War God Temple, the power differences between them too great.

Yet it did not mean the wicked presences’ attempt was futile.

More soft blabbers appeared, and this time, Kieran heard it.

There was no special ability involved, the voices appeared straightaway in his ear.

It was unclear what the voices were speaking but they were stimulating his emotions.

Unlike the specific targets during the day, these kinds of stimulating voices were affecting the whole of the Sicar population.

A lot of people screamed loudly out of panic and a lot of more of them looked around vigilantly.

Some even started to praise the name of God of War, hoping for the divine’s protection.

There were also many believers of the God of Mist and they were even more devoted than before, because… they saw the ‘lord emissary’.

The almighty ‘lord emissary’ was helping them overcome the difficulties at hand.

More than 200 believers of the God of Mist gathered in a newly opened underground hideout, which was just beside the civilian district.

This wasn’t all of the believers but it was the biggest group and also the one group stared at by multiple malicious gazes.

Bloody Mary was standing in front of everyone, looking down at the believers kneeling in front of it, worshiping itself. Its heart was filled with disbelief at the ridiculous scene.

A demon worshiped by mortals?

It really had to thank its boss for this bizarre experience.

Therefore, Bloody Mary spoke in a solemn tone slowly, “God knows what you all think! He will protect wherever you are! He will…”

Blood Mary was reciting its lines but before the praising ended, a dried vine pierced its chest.

The pain troubled Bloody Mary. It looked down at the vine with a frown and felt very upset.

‘I thought I don’t have to die this time… but damn this is painful!’