The Devil’s Cage

“Extinguish the fire!” bellowed the elite knights’ captain of War God Temple.

The knights behind him rushed towards the fiery scene.

They didn’t use any traditional method to extinguish the fire. Instead, they used the swords in their hands and started to cut the blazing shop, at the same time splashing sand over the fire to kill it.

The swords slashed the blazing walls and the sand quickly followed and covered it up.

Several minutes later, the blaze was extinguished.

The cause of the fire was also located, together with 2 burnt bodies.

The bodies were heavily burnt, but the captain managed to recognize that one of the bodies was Etorin due to some very familiar traits, which wouldn’t change even after the body was burnt beyond recognition: the lingering energy in the body.

Therefore, he easily deduced where the other body came from: the arch rival of War God Temple, Silent Night Secret Society!

The elite knight captain’s face was heavy, his eyes filled with killer intent, waving and signaling to his men to bring the two charred bodies away. After nodding to the patrol squad, he walked towards the cathedral.

From the beginning, the elite knights and the patrol didn’t make any communication except for exchanging gazes and sizing up each other, as if they were abiding some rules.

The captain of the patrol saw the group of elite knights from War God Temple away, then he signed towards the dark with his hand.

Right away, the secret agents in the dark split up into three groups.

One headed to the palace.

One followed the elite knights quietly.

One went evidence collecting.

The patrol squad left some men behind to protect the fiery scene. The surroundings swiftly calmed down, as though nothing happened, except for that charred ground.

…

War God Temple, Inquisition.

Unlike Dark Hall, which was completely hidden underground, the Inquisition was hidden in the shadows of the cathedral.

Right after the captain of the elite knights returned to the cathedral, he headed to the shadows.

Correct, the captain of the elite knights was from the Inquisition.

As a matter of fact, every single member of War God Temple might be from the Inquisition, but most of the time, they had another righteous identity to show, including Sean.

On the bright side, he was the ninth captain of the Apologetics Chivalry.

On the dark side, he was the second branch captain of the Inquisition.

To Sean, who grew up in War God Temple, the double identity wasn’t something unacceptable, because everything he did was for War God Temple!

“I want everything on Etorin, especially the recent things,” said Sean as he stood in the shadow.

There was no reply, only the whistle of the wind.

When the breeze paused, a tied up scroll appeared beside Sean’s feet.

Sean fluttered his cape, and as the scarlet red cape waved, the scroll on the floor disappeared.

He strode back to his own room, locked the door, and opened the scroll on his study table to read it carefully.

The information at the start was very normal, almost similar to what Sean deduced, but he soon locked onto a certain point.

“Etorin discovered the internal conflict of Silent Night Secret Society. The last meeting before Etorin’s death, he looked a little hesitant and somewhat afraid.”

Sean crossed his fingers in front of his forehead while his thumbs pressed against his temples, rubbing them softly.

He preferred to think in this posture, it made his mind lively.

He knew about Etorin’s previous reports and also knew about the failure of the incitement on Silent Night Secret Society to cause a bigger internal conflict.

Therefore, Sean had no other thoughts on this.

If Silent Night Secret Society was this easily incited, they wouldn’t be the subordinate of the rival of the God of War.

However, Etorin’s final appearance was something worth ruminating over.

What caused the hesitation in Etorin?

What made Etorin afraid?

Sean wasn’t familiar with Etorin, but he knew, as a spy for the Inquisition, that his biggest merit was loyalty and a dauntless heart.

The firm beliefs made them dauntless.

According to common sense, hesitation and fear would never appear on them.

“What kind of tricks is Silent Night Secret Society playing this time?” Sean naturally thought of the only lead he had.

Then, the knight with a double identity stood up.

He tidied up the documents on the table, took his quail pen, and started to write down the whole incident in detail, objectively adding his own deductions. He then went back to the cathedral.

The cathedral had a confession room.

Although most of the time it was used by the common worshippers, it didn’t stop Sean, as a clergy, from using it. He walked into the third room and knocked on the wooden window in a unique rhythm.

If it was another time, there would be a priest on the other side to listen to the confession of the worshipper; in a special situation, the knock was more of a report.

Sean was the latter.

Kak.

The wooden window was slid aside.

From Sean’s angle, he couldn’t see anything inside, but Sean was used to this kind of reporting procedure. He put the reports on Etorin and his own records into the darkness, as if he was mailing letters at a mailbox.

The scroll and the paper was swallowed by the darkness on the other side without any pause.

The wooden window closed.

Sean didn’t leave right away though, he sat down in the confession room for a whole 15 minutes before he went out.

It was the rule, meant to keep suspicious eyes away.

A confession session usually lasted that long, except for some special situations.

Sean didn’t stroll around the cathedral. He returned to his room, rested up, and waited for the next mission to be assigned to him.

…

Marquis Horton kept his promise.

Shortly after noon, he had sent over a large amount of resources to the slums at Lower Seventh Ring, including but not limited to, the most needed tents, cotton attire, food, and a large amount of clean water.

The believers of the Mist in the slums moved right away.

A quarter before nightfall, all the tents were raised and fires were built.

The most arousing thing was on top of the fires were iron pots emanating with the delicious smell of food.

Ellie was helping the housewives.

Her actions were quick and neat, carefully saving the best portions for those who were on duty.

No one objected to her actions at all, ‘more work, more pay’ was recognized by everyone, moreso those who were on duty were protecting them.

As the temporary captain of those on duty, Sivalka even got a drumstick for himself.

There wasn’t any extra seasoning, but it was stewed in a mushy state, together with the steamy soul. It was tasty enough, especially when Ellie served him the meal, which warmed his heart a lot.

“Delicious,” said Sivalka as he gobbled his food.

Chicken mixed with a bowl of mashed potato, which was cooked like porridge, was really tasty for him.

The saltiness and spiciness inside even reminded Sivalka of his old mercenary days.

He missed it, but he wouldn’t neglect his current duty because of his own memories.

“I’ll leave this to you Ellie,” Sivalka stood up after he gave Ellie the empty bowl. He then looked at his men behind him.

Unlike the handful of men during the day, the brothers of the sect had joined the ranks.

The number of guards suddenly went over 30, it would be enough to divide them into two-three groups.

Most importantly, the brothers from the sect brought weapons with them!

It wasn’t a cleaver, wooden stick, or a broken musket anymore. It was real swords, bows, and arrows, plus real firing muskets.

It increased Sivalka’s confidence in protecting Ellie.

“We’re done, captain.”

The guards, consisting of the natives of the slums in Lower Seventh Ring and the young soldiers Sivalka led, stood up one after another.

They had rested up for a while and had their dinner, now it was time for them to take their colleague’s shifts.

Sivalka took the lead and headed to his post.

The post was actually a ‘watchtower’ built with the leftover materials of the ruins. Of course, appearance wise, it looked nothing like a watch tower but it had a similar function.

“A decent dinner.”

Anderson sniffed his nose when Sivalka climbed to the top of the watchtower.

The old Demon Hunter stretched his body and stood up, leaving the watch position to Sivalka.

As two of the strongest people in the temporary base, no one was more suitable than them to be the watcher.

The old Demon Hunter didn’t mind the tasks assigned to him as well.

Exchanging labour for a lodging spot and food did not go against the rules of a Demon Hunter either.

Moreover, he was originally here to understand the Mist.

Nodding at the old Demon Hunter as a greeting, Sivalka started to scan the surroundings.

“Everything okay?” asked Sivalka.

He knew things wouldn’t just end like this.

The ‘unusual attack’ might seem to be over but what about about War God Temple, who had suffered a loss?

They wouldn’t do anything on the surface, but Sivalka, once an armed deacon of Dark Hall, was very familiar with War God Temple’s methods.

Those people were much more persistent, crazy and… cruel than expected.

Those people would not care about moral or law, all they cared about was the honor of God of War!

In order to preserve the honor of God of War, they would do anything, such as ‘searching’ a camp filled with ‘heretics’.

Many of the believers of War God Temple would even be eager to do it, because after being affected by the ‘unusual attack’, War God Temple direly needed something to help them regain their honor.

The old Demon Hunter caught Sivalka’s meaning. He said straightforwardly, “It’s quieter than expected.”

However, right after the old Demon Hunter’s words faded, he looked towards a high spot.

There, a blazing light was eye-catching in the night.

“However, it seems like someone is attracting attention on our behalf!” determined the old Demon Hunter.

“That’s the commercial district near the noble district. Which is also the favourite place to get together for the agents of the Inquisition of War God Temple,” said Sivalka.

“Set up in between civilians and nobles, just like light and darkness? It’s been so many years, yet those guys never change. They are far less, simply from the Mist prying through the daze,” exclaimed the old Demon HUnter.

“Pry through the daze? Yeah. I agreed with the creed. Now that I’ve seen through my own daze, I know what I must do and I hope to protect the people that I want to protect. It’s very fitting to the creed isn’t it? You might think it’s a coincidence but I think it’s magical. Do you know that a day before, I was still a guy who drifted along in life. The most exciting thing in my life was coming out from the hole for fresh air. Now, I… have decided to protect Ellie. My sword will fight those invaders to the very end.”

Sivalka’s eyes looked tender when he mentioned the little girl.

Since when did warmth influence him?

Did it start from that cup of warm water? Or that scarf? He couldn’t remember.

Although it was just a day, he knew watching Ellie grow in a safe environment would be the best. Then, he could witness Ellie get married…

‘I can’t simply give Ellie away like that, he must go through the 12 trials to get her!

Wait, wasn’t there a brat who kept staring at Ellie in the afternoon?

NO! It’s too dangerous! I’ll have to warn him later! Warn him to stay away from my Ellie!’

Unknowingly, Sivalka’s face turned weird as those thoughts gushed into his mind.

The hand holding his sword unconsciously tightened.

The old Demon Hunter who watched in silence raised a curious brow.

“What’s wrong,” the old Demon Hunter asked, attempting to find out.

“Nothing, I’ve just thought of something important, life and death important,” answered Sivalka with a heavy look.

The old Demon Hunter shook his head and prepared to leave. He did smell chicken though. It had been a while since he had dinner in anything other than a wasteland.

An unknown reminiscence appeared in the old Demon Hunter’s heart, together with… alarm!

It was the intuitive feeling that combined the Demon Hunter instincts that lingered on the verge of life and death all year long and the weird experiments done on him.

It was complicated, but precise enough.

Therefore, three daggers were fired out inaudibly.

Puk, Puk, Puk!

Three unique thuds of metal plunging into meat sounded almost instantaneously.

The old Demon Hunter dashed further away; Sivalka was a step late but he wasn’t slow either.

He rang the ‘bell’, which was made up of iron scraps, before he jumped down from the watchtower.

He followed the old Demon Hunter closely.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw three bodies fallen in the shadow and the old Demon Hunter checking them up carefully.

“Anything?” Sivalka asked after the old Demon Hunter stood up.

“Of course. I picked up their scent from a kilometer away. Damn Silent Night Secret Society!”

The old Demon Hunter widened his mouth and bared his bleached teeth, as if he was a hungry wolf that picked on his target.

Killer intent numbed Sivalka’s scalp.

…

Silent Night Town, the Council Hall.

Kurtzargert, whose face was as still as dead water, looked at Horlaika and another field agent, Horfe.

“I told you to watch him, not startle him!” said Kurtzargert coldly.

Horlaika didn’t answer, he simply knelt down on one knee as if he acknowledged his mistake.

Horfe, on the other hand, explained.

“My lord, that Etorin is much stronger than we thought, he should be the emissary of that powerful existence that we suspected. He channeled the power of that powerful existence, hence exposing us.”

Horfe was still afraid, despite escaping death. The look on his face had said it all, because it was luck that allowed him to dodge that dagger, not his capabilities.

In short, if that scissor had been fired at him, he would be the one who died.

Coming back from the verge of dying, even if Horfe was a field agent of Silent Night Secret Society, he’d still be grateful for being alive.

Therefore, he did not notice the unusual gleam in Councilman Kurtzargert’s eyes.

Right when Horfe was about to calm down, hurried footsteps came in from outside.