The Devil’s Cage

War God Temple, the Dark Hall.

Without the glorious holy light shedding over the dark, the pungent bloody smell in the shadows grew thick.

Many men with cold expressions and gazes were quietly walking across the wet floor.

A painful cry would sound throughout the corridor from time to time but no one cared.

It was like this since the temple was first built.

The darkness was the base, the painful cry was the regulator and the blood… was the main part.

Compared to the normal priests and deacons who had to look kind, acceptable, and truthworthy while preaching, the armed priests and deacons of the Dark Hall only had to fit two criteria: power and loyalty.

The order of the criteria stated that power was the most important one.

As long as one was powerful enough, even if the loyalty was at a very surface level, no one would dare say anything.

After all, this was a world with Gods.

Mortals could be as powerful as they liked but against a God, they were still too far apart.

However, things started to change recently.

As one of the armed deacons, Sivalka felt as such.

He wasn’t born a member of War God Temple. 15 years ago, he was just a common mercenary. Then he ran into a pagan during a mission and the whole team, including the captain and vice captain, were all killed. He was the only survivor of the onslaught.

It was not his strength that saved him, it was luck.

That pagan had a full meal after eating his group, so he was saved for the next meal.

However, before the pagan could have its next meal, the War God Temple Dark Hall team appeared and erased it from existence.

He was saved and at the same time unknowingly acquired the power to control the ‘remnant’ of the pagan.

Following the course of matter, he became an armed deacon of the Dark Hall, but sometimes he missed his mercenary life.

He used to drink, he used to laugh out loud, he used to sunbathe whenever he felt like it. Here, all he faced all day long was darkness and the cold, yet he couldn’t resist, even though he could control that ‘remnant’ of the pagan.

In this particular Dark Hall, many others were like him, probably even stronger than him, otherwise he wouldn’t just be a mere armed deacon in this place.

Touching the ‘remnant’ that he hung over his neck, the unknown blabbers started to sound in Sivalka’s head again.

At first, he could not understand what the blabbers were about, he even lost sleep and was unable to eat because of the disturbance, but after spending 15 years in Dark Hall and with their guidance, he slowly but surely understood the meaning of the blabbers in his mind.

This was what he made out from the blabbers.

First, a grown man’s left index finger and thumb.

Second, a grown woman’s eyes.

Third, a liter of blood from a virgin.

Complete any one of the listed criteria and he would be able to use the power of the ‘remnant’ once.

Was it too cruel?

No.

Compared to the other ‘remnants’ that he heard and knew off, his ‘remnant’ was a lot milder.

It was still not bad since it was able to provide him with powers, like listening from a distance or seeing from further away.

There weren’t any real side effects.

He would be stationed in the back row of every mission, this time included.

He poured the fresh blood over his body. The ‘remnant’ that hung over his neck absorbed the blood like a sponge. Then, his ears gradually picked up voices from some distance away.

“I hope they keep it that way because I am willing to bear the burden on behalf of them! I hope they can live their lives well because I am willing to bear the burden and walk forward! Everyone, I can’t assure you anything else, because I don’t know whether or not I can come back alive. But if I do, I will protect you with the rest of my life, because as my friends and brother-in-arms, your friends and families are my friends and families! I hereby swear on my name!”

…

A strong and resolute vow.

What he heard allowed him to confirm the intel that he got earlier: an internal conflict within Silent Night Secret Society.

Coincidence? Probably not.

Sivalka was thinking deep in his heart but his hands were not slow at all. He picked up the quill and signed his name on the document before him. Then, as per official procedures, he made a vow, “I hereby swear on his Majesty’s divine might, everything I heard is real.”

“Deacon Sivalka, thank you for everything you’ve done for all of us.”

A normal deacon bowed and left with the document in hands.

As for what would happen next, Sivalka had a clear idea.

War God Temple would not let this opportunity slip, those bastards would surely be hung to death!

No, half of them would be hung to death, inciting hatred in the surviving half.

Hatred could blind people’s eyes. Even if there is something unusual about the matter, one would easily turn a blind eye against it.

For the sake of stability, Dark Hall had sent enough hidden armed deacons disguised as Snake Sect to carry out the mission.

If two parties fought, a third party benefits!

“As I thought, the rumours are true!” Sivalka’s heart was throbbing rapidly.

He didn’t precisely think or picture anything, not even the slightest thought.

He was in the Dark Hall and it was just underneath War God Temple, any kind of disrespectful thought would be made clear to Him.

Hu!

Sucking a deep breath, Sivalka washed himself up with warm water.

Although the blood was absorbed by the ‘remnant’, Sivalka felt like it wasn’t clean, similar to when he first ate a roasted rabbit and couldn’t eat the rabbit head.

He carefully washed himself for a full ten minutes before he changed into a set of light casual clothes and walked outside the Dark Hall.

Everytime a mission was carried out smoothly, he would have around 6 hours of free time.

However, the freedom granted was relative.

At first, Sivalka was really unhappy about it, who would want to be watched when doing something extremely private?

However, he gradually learned to adapt.

How could he not adapt?

Would he just forsake the free time he had?

Stop joking!

He’d cherish every moment that he could feel the sun, even if it was during sunset.

This time was no exception.

Looking at that blood-like sunset, Sivalka was intoxicated by the scene.

Then, he thought of sunrise.

What was sunrise like again?

He had forgotten what it looked like.

For 15 years, other than that one particular day when he was imprisoned as food, he had never seen the sunrise. The best time he could have was sunset, and most of the time, when he was able to come out, it was already deep in the night.

A free night?

Sivalka chuckled uncontrollably, his chuckles meant to mock himself.

He once favoured the night, but now he liked the morning a lot more.

The warm morning and the mellow warm breeze…

‘Soon! Everything will come soon!’

With his eyes closed, Sivalka opened his arms as if he was hugging the setting sun.

The watcher pouted in disdain, not noticing the movement at Sivalka’s collar because of the moments of his arms. Neither did he notice the little shake on the ‘remnant’ around Sivalka’s neck.

…

What is Snake Sect?

Until now, no one had a clear impression of the mysterious shadow organization, but one thing was for sure: the Snake Sect belonged to the Demon Hunters, which was confirmed by many sources.

Divano knew everything about the Demon Hunters.

A bunch of unappreciative bastards.

He was once an emissary who paid a ‘visit’ to them.

War God Temple did not mind their background and the mistakes they made in the past, they were given a chance to turn over a new leaf, but how did it turn out?

Not only did those bastards show zero appreciation, they even voiced their disrespect and insulted his Majesty.

The important thing was, back then, the emissaries had no strength to fight back against the insults to their God and it seemed to have become the shame of Divano’s life.

Fortunately, those unappreciative bastards were all dead.

A little trick was used and those God-defilling bastards died in that ‘accident’. It was great.

But… a part of them survived!

Unforgivable!

Divano was furious when he first heard of the news, but as time went by, the fury was replaced by excitement.

Back then, he was weak and unable to carry out that plan himself, but now he was an armed priest of the Dark Hall.

His powers were incomparable to his old self.

He had obtained the power to fight a Snake Sect Demon Hunter.

He looked forward to the day where he could cut off their heads with his own hands.

While he was soaking in his anticipation, a mission came, as expected.

Although it wasn’t the expected mission of erasing the Snake Sect Demon Hunters, he was still quite happy to incite internal conflict in Silent Night Secret Society.

After those unappreciative bastards went away from the scene, these sneaky bastards became bolder.

They must have forgotten the days they lived in the sewers with rats!

Now, he ought to make them remember who they used to be!

Picking up his black windcoat, then placing a hat on his head, he sheathed his dagger into one of his boots and strapped flying knives around his waist. A silver-plated sword hung over one side of his waist and his potions were loaded in the specially sewn pocket of his vest. Right before he left, he put two large caliber muskets, loaded with pellets, on his back.

Divano stood in front of the mirror and checked his appearance.

After making sure he wasn’t missing anything, he turned to the five men behind him.

The other five men were just like him, the most devoted believers of the God of War. All of them had been through some forceful past before they ended up in Dark Hall, yet their faith and beliefs were not shaken.

Quite the contrary, they were more devoted than ever.

At that particular moment, the five armed deacons were dressed like a Demon Hunter, or at least how they looked like in the rumours.

“Are you ready?” Divano asked.

“Yes, lord priest,” The five of them replied in union.

“Remember, I am not a priest anymore, I am a Demon Hunter, we shall address each other as comrades! And do not forget that our mission is to kill half of them and release the remaining half. We must also kill three of the five leaders. If any of you spot Luncar, eliminate him by any means necessary!”

Divano repeated the orders to his men once more before heading out.

The prioritized hunt on the Instigator was a direct order from the archpriest.

Divano had no idea why the archpriest would order a prioritized hunt on a silver tongue bastard, but he knew that he must carry out the assigned mission.

Right after sunset, the group of six rode the darkness and went off.

…

After the sun set behind the mountain, Stone’s heart grew restless.

As one of the five Silent Night Secret Society members who Luncar converted, Stone possessed decent strength, otherwise Councilman Colipo wouldn’t think so highly of him and take him under his wing.

As Councilman Colipo’s subordinate, he knew more about his superior than others and it was because of that, he believed what Luncar said.

Some of Councilman Colipo’s actions had completely gone against the purpose of Silent Night Secret Society.

Not only that, Councilman Colipo would sometimes harm others without benefit to himself, it was like the actions of an idiot!

An idiot becoming the councilman of Silent Night Secret Society?

It was obviously impossible.

Therefore, Stone was bedazzled by what he was told at first, he thought the councilman had the wisdom to see things that he couldn’t and plan things further ahead.

However, following what Luncar revealed to him, everything made sense, the knot was untied!

Councilman Colipo wasn’t a real member of Silent Night Secret Society, he was a Snake Sect Demon Hunter!

The shock from the news was ludicrous, to the point that not all were able to accept it.

But, Stone turned around to the hundreds of men in the temporary secret hideout.

Most of them were his friends and friends of friends.

The numbers unknowingly increased and it was obvious that he wasn’t the only one who noticed something was not right with the society.

His friends, his friends’ friends, all of them noticed something fishy.

It was just that a lot of them were the silent majority, they dared not reveal their thoughts during other times.

Now, after Luncar took the initiative and exposed the fact behind it, everything followed the course of matter.

When Luncar appeared in his mind, Stone thought of the vows he took earlier.

“I wish you all the best!”

Stone already had a hunch what Luncar was going to do, therefore he prayed silently in his heart for Luncar’s well-being.

However, his prayers did not provide him with closure, his heart was still restless.

Quite the opposite, his heart throbbed faster and he shuddered in fear.

“Bill, you need to regroup the men and assign them in hidden sentry points,” Stone told his friend.

Bill, a scrawny man with long hands, was also one of the five members. Without further questions, Bill nodded and headed out.

Bill was not much of a talker, remaining quiet most of the time and used to expressing himself with actions.

Therefore, after befriending him, Stone trusted Bill a lot.

He viewed Bill as a reliable person, likewise Bill to Stone.

So, during the selection, Bill handpicked the man himself.

Swords and muskets were not a problem for a member of the secret society, some of them even brought their self-made explosives.

The men followed Bill’s arrangements and spread out, hiding in the shadowy spots in the Lower Six Ring civilian district. They formed a contrasting scene with the four men who stood guard at the gate.

Torches were embedded on the wall, braziers planted on the ground. With sufficient blazing light, the building behind the four men was lit up.

‘Stone Storage’.

The wooden signage was brand new and big enough, anyone could easily spot the signage from far away, let alone Divano, the armed priest with outstanding powers.

He masked himself with a black cloth, revealing only his eyes and then waved his hand to his men behind him.

The five men behind him spread out and dived into the shadow like racoons, approaching their respective targets.

A hidden sentry?

It was non-existent to them.

Divano chuckled, unconsciously wanting to touch the ‘remnant’ that he wore around his wrist but when he touched it, he was surprised.

The ‘remnant’ around his wrist was gone!