The Devil’s Cage

At first, Holuff showed joy when he saw Kieran nod, but after he heard Kieran’s rejection, the joy on his face froze instantly.

‘Reject? Then why the hell did you nod?’

Holuff clenched his teeth. If only he could beat the young man in front of his eyes, he would hang this rude young man at the city walls all night to let him know how cold the night wind is.

Breath.

Breath.

After a few deep breaths, Holuff returned to normal

“Colin, did you understand what I just said? Or do you think I’m lying to you? I swear the thousand year savings of the Demon Hunter is a lot more than you can imagine. As for the chance to ascend to God, it’s bigger than you think,” Holuff explained again, with more sincerity.

“I understood what you said and I don’t think you are lying to me,” Kieran shook his head then stood up and wanted to leave.

“Then why…”

Holuff was utterly confused whilst looking at Kieran’s back.

Kieran didn’t answer, walking out without a pause.

Borl looked at Holuff with an apologetic smile before he chased after Kieran.

The both of them returned to the courtyard where their rooms were located one after another, Borl then quickly kept away his smile and replaced it with a serious look.

“Is there something wrong with Holuff?”

Borl didn’t express it verbally, asking via hand gestures.

Borl didn’t think about it at first, he just looked up to Kieran for direction and advice, but following the terms that Holuff offered and Kieran rejected, Borl instantly realized something was wrong.

Players from the big city didn’t go into a dangerous dungeon world just to have fun.

Every single run was an adventure where danger and opportunity coexisted.

Now, opportunity presented itself, despite it being coupled with danger. A popular Advanced Rank player like Kieran shouldn’t just give up like that, unless… there was some unpredictable, unimaginable danger that lay beneath.

It might be a trap!

Only with that would Kieran’s rejection make sense.

Otherwise, Kieran wasn’t a newbie, so how could he not seize the chance?

Though Borl was extremely conflicted when he knew his friend, the hotel owner, might be a problem for them. He really hoped there was some misunderstanding or he was forced to act against his own will.

However, his logic told him that things would remain unchanged regardless of the outcome, but at least he could feel better about it.

“Mm,” Kieran nodded slightly but didn’t elaborate.

Kieran of course wouldn’t tell Borl about things that concerned himself, Borl wasn’t Starbeck after all.

After Borl left with a complicated thought, Kieran, who was left alone in his room, squinted his eyes slightly. Even with the curtain as a cover, it was hard to conceal that sharp glare.

Kieran reached out to the Elite Hound’s head, who was hiding beside his bed, caressing its head as a reward before using the power of the contract to contact Bloody Mary about what he discovered.

Mastermind eh?

Interesting.

…..

Somewhere in the sewers of Sicar, an altar made completely out of bones looked extremely eerie under the candlelight.

The bones that made up the altar consisted of those of humans, domestic animals, cows, sheep, and wild jackals. In the center was a bowl of liquid that reeked badly.

Although it reeked, the liquid was actually as clear as water.

A withered old man knelt down in front of the altar and listened with concentration.

“Yes, my lord. I will bring everyone away from Sicar and hide in the mountains.”

After the old man devotedly replied to his own God, the priest of Decaying Water stood up and carefully picked up the bowl of crystal.

He then drank it to its last drop.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

The power of his God spread throughout his body and the old priest looked very intoxicated by the feeling.

Then, he moved.

Divine orders from his Gods were sent out to the believers, one after another.

When the last order was sent out without any hindrance, the priest was ready to leave but looked heavy at heart.

However, telling them to leave was his God’s order, he couldn’t defy it.

‘But if I can inflict some pain to those bastards who forced my Lord to leave before I go, my Lord should feel happy about it right?

Even though my Lord would punish me to death in the end…

I should make my Lord happy!

Yes! This is what I should do!’

An unknown thought popped in his mind, then grew rapidly and instantly became his top priority.

The priest was ecstatic, to the point that he ignored a lot of unusual details of his surroundings.

The mumbles that flashed over his ears were ignored, the same went for Decaying Water.

If Decaying Water was in its normal state, it would have noticed it but for the sake of safety, it entered a slumbering state after it went into the priest’s body. Unless the priest would receive some fatal damage, Decaying Water would not simply wake up.

It trusted its loyal believers very much, believing that he would carry out every order it assigned to him.

From the Power of Faith, it knew this old priest would die in the name of religion.

So what else was there to doubt?

None!

A loyal, devoted believer who would sacrifice his life for the sake of religion was completely trustworthy.

However, it seemed like Decaying Water had never heard of the saying ‘good intentions in doing bad things’.

Therefore, something changed.

…

On the west side of Sicar, just right beside the market, there was a three-story wooden building.

It was inconspicuous, like the other buildings of its style, looking rather aged and somewhat broken, yet it was the first choice of lodging spot for the traveling businessmen and merchants.

Not all were fond of or willing to go to Anan Hotel.

The businessmen cared about price more than comfort, and as long as they could eat, sleep, and shit, everywhere would be the same.

Therefore, this inconspicuous lodging spot became the most crowded spot with the most traffic of all Sicar.

The believers of Withering Branch and Resting Deer mostly gathered around here too.

Nothing delighted Withering Branch and Resting Deer more than this prosperous yet messy place. Here, they had endless believers and access to unlimited resources.

The fact that the two pagans were able to settle down in a single district and not fight each other to death proved their unusual relationship.

In fact, Withering Branch and Resting Deer were extremely similar from a certain aspect.

Withering Branch was once a dying tree. A mother who had lost everything to the Black Cataclysm hugged her child in the cradle and hid inside the trunk. She was running away from the ferocious soldiers.

Unfortunately, the cry from the child burst the bubble of hope.

The muddled child in the cradle was hung over the spear and was forced to watch the soldiers raped the mother over and over again.

The soldiers did not kill the mother after they raped her, they hadn’t satisfied themselves.

However, when the child was hung to death, the mother followed.

Their bodies were hung over the dying tree that night.

Then, Withering Branch was born.

It felt like a combination of the tree, the mother. and the child.

It was very muddled at first, seeing the soldiers torturing the deer they hunted. Suddenly, it realized it could move, and not only itself, even that dead deer moved.

It seemed like some extraordinary powers were granted to it, the same went for the deer.

Rage then came afloat, which was from the mother. Withering Branch felt like it had become that mother and ought to take revenge for herself.

As for the deer, it was much more straightforward. It wanted revenge for itself and its fawn.

None of the soldiers walked away alive.

Withering Branch and Resting Deer were born from that incident. They used their magical powers and roamed the land of Sicar, gradually gaining intellect and starting to make a fool out of those humans, lying to the humans and claiming that they were Gods.

Religions worshipping Withering Branch and Resting Deer were born soon after, expanding rapidly.

Following the decline of War God Temple, the two pagans even made their way into Sicar City, a place where they dared not step in before.

Now, they were preparing for their final descent.

They could break free from the shackles that bound their old vessel, they could acquire a real body and become a God!

But… when they recalled the scene with the mist giant and fireball falling from the sky, Withering Branch and Resting Deer went quiet.

The power they witnessed had surpassed their knowledge.

Or rather, based on their own knowledge, the Mist they knew shouldn’t even possess powers like this, yet fact is stronger than thoughts. Everything they saw was real and it was by no means good news.

Knowledge that surpassed their own could only mean one thing—the Mist had completed its descension! He had acquired a real body!

Although the two had no idea how the Mist did it, they knew how they should react.

Leave! Leave Sicar at once! They must or they would perish!

The God of War wasn’t a merciful god, and since the Mist had gotten the upper hand, the excuses and tricks they had prepared beforehand were not necessary anymore.

It would be useless!

Yet leaving Sicar, the place the both of them managed and worked through hell for a long time, was a little hard.

Throughout the whole Northern Lands, only Sicar was a city with a population. The rest were some villages and towns. Further away was the outskirts of Mozaar, and although it had quite the population there, compared to Sicar, the numbers were heaven and earth apart.

“What should we do?” asked Resting Deer in its eerie and ferocious face.

Perhaps since Withering Branch inherited the worldview of the mother, it was much smarter than Resting Deer, which was used to following the plans set by Withering Branch.

All it needed to do was carry out the order and shower itself with the blood of humans.

Other than that?

It didn’t mind listening to shrieks of agony either.

“Leave. Decaying Water has left. If we stay and the Mist arrives, we won’t end well,” said Withering Branch out of difficulty, even the head that it possessed showing an ugly expression.

“Fine,” Resting Deer nodded.

Withering Branch then controlled the head and showed a frank smile and before Resting Deer asked anything, it continued.

“Decaying Water has gone to meet with that viscount. Although the viscount has always stated he has abandoned his useless God of War, we all knew it was just a fluke. His beliefs in God of War never changed, he even got closer to that bishop. Based on our plan, the descension offering starts from this viscount. But now, Decaying Water would surely tell the viscount everything. Given how deep the viscount’s belief in God of War, he would never allow a Demon God to truly descend in the world, hence he would try his best to take out the Mist and will not tangle with us. At least he won’t care about us before the Mist is cleared. After all, compared to that Mist, we are nothing.”

Following Withering Branch’s words, Resting Deer’s eyes shimmered.

In the end, the deer asked eagerly, “What should we do?”

“This is our chance! If we make it, not only can we complete the descension, we might even become something like Lady Calamity. One thing worth taking note is that the offering this time isn’t just the possible clone of the God of War and the whole Sicar, there’s even a Demon God who has completed the descension! Let’s go! To Viscount Sicar mansion!”

As the voice subsided, Withering Branch controlled the head and fused into the wall of the secret room.

Resting Deer followed and disappeared.

…

Bloody Mary was lying on top of a soft mat, experiencing a never before felt comfort.

The soft bed, the warm heater, the tonic soup on top of the tea table beside the bed.

Beautiful!

Everything was beautiful! Like it was a dream!

When it returned to Sicar’s west gate ‘heavily wounded’, Shegal brought it back to the previous secret hideout right away.

It didn’t even have to say anything, all the believers volunteered to take care of their beloved lord emissary.

Bloody Mary had never been bandaged or patched up, yet it got a bandage on its chest now. The refreshing feeling under the patch almost made it tear up.

First time! First time in its entire existence!

It relied on its self-recovery during normal times, so it didn’t even need a piece of bandage, let alone potion.

Now, it didn’t only tasted like a potion, it lay on a soft mat and had a bowl of tonic soup beside it, everyone else looking at it with respect.

The respect grew when Shegal told his brothers and sisters how Bloody Mary stood in front of the Resting Deer and helped others, the respect growing into admiration.

‘What West Coast?

What sunbathing? What beach?

I don’t want to go anywhere else!

From today onwards, this will be my home!’

Bloody Mary made up its mind as it was being carried away by the comfort.

Then, Kieran’s message appeared in its mind.

Bloody Mary, who was reaching cloud nine, was instantly pulled back to the hell of his reality.

After it deciphered the message it received, its lips moved and its heart trembled.

It… wanted to go back to the West Coast once more.

Being stranded on the sea wasn’t all that bad.

Really! It wasn’t that bad!

It was nothing but loneliness and boredom! But at least that better than dying over and over again.

Boss’ new mission wouldn’t be completed by just dying once or twice.

Bloody Mary curled up its body slightly.

If death was inevitable, then it should at least enjoy this comfort at the moment. Every second counted.

At least it would die with a greater meaning, right?