The Devil’s Cage

At night, a clap of thunder cracked over all of Edatine Castle.

The people were woken from their early slumber, yet none stood up and looked, all they did was grumble unhappily for a few moments before shrinking their heads back into their sheets.

Do note that in Edatine, the most intolerable thing was to come out of one’s sheet at night during the harsh winter.

Even Gino, the young knight, had fought with his bed in the past due to the midnight duties and patrols. Everytime he managed to lie down in his bed, he felt like he was sealed on it, not wanting to move a muscle.

Back then, he always felt like other than his bed, all places were out of reach, but he ultimately had to reach the places farther away.

It was a sense of duty that once drove him to that goal.

But now?

Touching his sheath, Gino showed struggle in his gaze, then it was replaced by determination.

All he yearned for was to live.

Dok Dok Dok!

“Knight Gino?” An unfamiliar voice came from behind the door after the knocks.

“Coming,” Gino opened the door after a quick reply.

There was no hesitation and caution at all, he was absolutely safe inside the cathedral, wasn’t he?

Standing outside the door was a deacon from Dark Hall. Judging from the edge of attire, Gino noticed that this deacon was the same as the two who used to stand guard in front of his room.

The difference was the two deacons that stood guard in front of his room were cold and this one had a smile on his face.

“Deacon, are there any matters that I can help with?” Gino asked in a friendly way.

“Lord Mortor wished for a meeting, please follow me,” said the deacon respectfully.

He then stepped aside, slightly bent over and posing an inviting gesture to Gino.

A normal Apologetics Chivalry knight was not worthy of a deacon’s respect and politeness but a knight summoned by the bishop in council was.

“Sure,” Gino nodded. He didn’t tidy up or anything and followed the deacon into the deepest part of the cathedral.

As a knight of the cathedral, Gino hasn’t truly understood the place he served.

In fact, most of the Apologetics Chivalry knights had limited activity areas, only allowed to move around at the front part of the cathedral. The back part of the cathedral only allowed people with special status to enter, otherwise no one would be able to step in.

Following the deacon, Gino arrived at the back part of the cathedral without any hindrance.

Gino curiously sized up his new surroundings. It wasn’t as glamorous as rumoured, neither was there blood all over the place.

It was similar to the front part of the cathedral, the same architectural style and decorations, except… It had a great number of Dark Hall deacons.

Gino inhaled deeply when he glanced over the numbers, the deacons coming out of the shadow. He never thought there were that many deacons in the Dark Hall, it was a lot more than he expected.

Then, he instinctively prepared himself to pray, pray towards the God of Mist.

But quickly, the young man reacted and swiftly altered his prayers.

The prayers to the God of Mist were altered to the God of War, and following his prayers, Gino’s face couldn’t help but become sincere and devoted, his eyes pure and determined, as if what he experienced before this never existed.

…

Sitting inside the parlour, Mortor looked strict.

The message he got from his God was much worse than he expected.

God of War didn’t just confirm that there was another divine existence in play. According to his Majesty, this divine existence seemed to have appeared a long time ago. It was far beyond what Snake Sect claimed, which was before Black Cataclysm.

Of course, the bishop in council didn’t think that Snake Sect was lying to him, it was nothing more than Snake Sect themselves not even realizing it themselves.

Therefore, Mortor assumed it as something understandable.

Do note that the divine existence could even deceive the God of War, and not just that, the emissary of the divine existence even managed to sneak into their ranks.

Whenever he thought of what Sean did, the bishop in council couldn’t help but clench his teeth tightly.

“They must be erased!” Mortor clenched his fists.

Compared to this hidden divine existence, the Edatine royal court, Demon Hunters, and Silent Night Secret Society were relatively less of a threat, due to the fact that all the mentioned factions were on the bright side, they knew everything about the others.

War God Temple even branded some of their methods and ways into their own bones. All it took was a glimpse and they would know what each other was doing, hence everyone following the same set of rules.

But the hidden divine existence was unlike the others.

Just look at what he had done. If it wasn’t for the heir to the Edatine throne and Snake Sect being cautious and discovering him, once the hidden divine existence achieved his goal, a real war would be inevitable.

War God Temple was never afraid of going to war with any enemy, but they couldn’t forgive being used by someone, especially by someone in the dark!

“Bring chaos upon the realm? How can I let you do that? The realm belongs to my lord to rule!” Mortor muttered in his heart.

Then he looked towards the main gate.

The door to the parlour wasn’t closed. Therefore, Mortor was able to spot the young knight, Gino, following the deacon into the premise.

“I hope you won’t let me down, young knight!” With that thought in mind, Mortor stood up.

“Lord bishop.”

The deacon and Gino bowed in union.

Mortor waved at the deacon, signalling him to step back before he looked at Gino.

“Gino, are you loyal to his Majesty, God of War?” Mortor asked.

“I am willing to trade my life to protect the honor and prestige of his Majesty,” the young knight showed no hesitation as he knelt down on one knee, replying with utmost determination.

The moment his words faded, the young knight’s body emanated a faint layer of brilliance.

It wasn’t truly white in color but people perceived it as white.

It was tenacious and strong, representing loyalty to God of War! Or in other words, it was the beliefs!

Looking at the strong and determined beliefs in front of him, Mortor’s strict face showed a sense of smile.

“Stand, my child,” Mortor then helped the young knight up by reaching his hand out.

“I’ve already arranged someone to teach you all kinds of knowledge, including the swordsmanship that you yearned for. Not just the basics but also the advanced skills,” said the bishop in council softly.

It seemed like after confirming the strong and determined beliefs in the young knight, Mortor was completely relieved.

It was a test set up by his Majesty himself, Mortor didn’t think there was anything that could fool the God of War.

Likewise, this smart and sharp young man that showed loyalty deserved to be raised as the way he should.

…..

“Deceive a God? It’s difficult! Too difficult in fact! I can’t do something like that!”Bloody Mary sighed.

But a moment later, an evil smile appeared on its face. It shook its finger at its boss and said in a delighted tone, “But deceiving a normal person is extremely easy. People are good at lying at themselves anyway.”

“You’ve hunted him? Not a bad choice, but be careful,” Kieran commented and reminded Bloody Mary.

“Don’t worry boss, I don’t turn the false real, and I have more than just one backup,” Bloody Mary assured Kieran.

Kieran didn’t say anything else. Since Bloody Mary had assured him, the Superior Demon would get the job done. He believed in his own follower.

Bloody Mary easily felt the trust from its boss, it wasn’t feigned but authentic.

Just look at the power of the contract deep in its soul, it was already shining brighter than the sun.

Bloody Mary didn’t have a surge of emotions though. It had already accepted its fate, albeit it still longed to return to the West Coast.

Dak, dak, dak.

Familiar footsteps came from outside the tent.

“Lord bishop, Prince Colin, Viscount Reedral and Duke Valentine requested a meeting.” Rogart’s voice sounded outside.

“Invite the two of them in,” said Bloody Mary and exchanged a quick gaze with Kieran.

Kieran nodded and went out of the tent straightaway.

He had no intention of participating in an already determined matter, just leave that to his follower.

If he didn’t use Bloody Mary, the useful follower, and still attend to things himself, he would either be an idiot or lacking 10 stacks of contract scrolls.

Fortunately, Kieran was neither.

…

“Are you sure you want to do this Reedral? Forming an alliance with the Mist doesn’t do us any good, right? Besides, it is worth it for us to trade away that secret? We spent a huge cost to get it into our hands!” Duke Valentine couldn’t help but ask anxiously.

As a matter of fact, it was his fourth time asking already, and each time he would get the same answer.

This time was no exception either.

“It will be worth it! The benefits of forming an alliance with the Mist will surpass our wildest imagination.”

Reedral’s squinted eyes made him look like a real fox. One would assume him to be a cunning person when looked at and relate him with all kinds of sinister terms.

The same answer made Valentine scratch his head in confusion.

He wobbled his bloated body, stepping forward with his short legs as he walked in circles around Reedral.

Valentine never doubted his cousin’s wisdom, but his way of revealing half of the details and hiding the rest was resentful.

If he was someone else, Valentine would have sliced him with his sword, but his own cousin?

He couldn’t do it.

Hu!

Following a heavy sigh, Valentine deflated like a balloon as he lost the energy to think anymore.

‘Whatever, just leave it to my dear cousin. It’s always like this anyway, I’ll just listen to his command and carry out my tasks.’

With such a thought in mind, Valentine completely relaxed himself, then started to size up the temporary camp of the Mist religious sect.

It was crude, but the defensive measures held up decently.

As he glanced over the tents in the camp, Valentine couldn’t take them seriously or view them highly as he was a hereditary noble, but the education he received in his youth made him understand that the arrangements and setups were necessary and reasonable.

Just look at that watchtower that looked more like a ruin than a proper one, it was tall enough to capture every detail around and inside the camp. A group of 4 to 6 on guard up there would bring ten times the effectiveness of a watchtower.

If they could dig a moat, coupled with several battle hounds and antlers as defensive barricades, this place could easily fend off an attack of four or five hundred people at once.

“The one who arranged all this is a professional but is not from a military or mercenary background?” Valentine wondered.

As for relating it to Sivalka?

Sorry, Valentine was not good at thinking. He preferred to leave all the thinking to Reedral.

What he had was an instinctive thought.

His pattern of thinking and actions taken never changed even after he met Bloody Mary.

“Good evening, Bishop Simon.”

Saluting in a noble salutation, Valentine stepped aside and left the talking to Reedral.

“How is your body holding up? Feeling better yet?” Bloody Mary asked Reedral.

“Thankfully, due to your help, I was able to recover after the toxin was expelled. I am basically fine now. I have to thank you again for saving my life,” Reedral replied with a smile and his eyes showed a sense of intimacy.

No one was surprised at the intimacy that Reedral showed, it was a life-saving debt after all.

Only Bloody Mary knew what the intimacy represented, therefore it grew kinder and more natural in its acting.

“You don’t need to thank me twice or more, you have thanked me enough for the day. My reply will always be the same, saving you is just a coincidence—I thought I caught ‘his’ tail when I ran into you,” explained Bloody Mary.

“Him?” Reedral felt surprised.

Valentine, who was doing nothing at the side, was also interested in the ‘him’.

“Yes,” Bloody Mary nodded, looking like it was in some heavy thoughts before it smiled bitterly. “Although I should really tell you everything, please understand. I have my difficulties as well. This is bigger than you and me, I can’t explain.”

“I understand. We are always forced into things that we are not used to but forming an alliance is still something that we can decide for ourselves,” Reedral nodded and then said with a smile.

“Alliance?” Bloody Mary showed surprise.

“Yes, alliance! To show our sincerity, I am willing to reveal a secret to you: the true identity of that young temple knight, Gino,” Reedral softened his voice.

“Knight Gino’s true identity?” Bloody Mary was truly surprised by the revelation.

“Yes, he is also a direct descendant of the royal lineage. According to the lineage, he should be Prince Colin’s younger cousin. In short, he is the son of the sister of Edatine VI,” Reedral explained.

“Edatine VI’s sister?” Bloody Mary was confused this time.

Based on what it discovered, Edatine royal court had always maintained a single lineage, and with the curse of the witch back then, there shouldn’t be any sisters starting from Edatine II.

“He is a mistake left behind by Edatine V when he traveled south back then. I have detailed evidence to prove that what I said is real and there are also some mystical spells that can prove one’s lineage.”

Reedral’s words made Bloody Mary grind its gears rapidly.

It suddenly smelled the scent of an uncommon opportunity, maybe it could do something to maximize the benefits and gains.

Thoughts started to come afloat in Bloody Mary’s mind, but on the outside, it didn’t stop.

“This secret really does shock me. I hereby accept the secret and am also happy to accept your suggestion to form an alliance. Likewise, I will also tell you the secret that I mentioned before.” Up to this point, Bloody Mary then inhaled deeply.

“In Edatine, other than the God of War, the Lady, and my lord, there is another God in existence. A true God. He hides in the dark and brings chaos upon everything.

“WHAT?!”

Reedral and Valentine cried out in shock together.

Bloody Mary continued without being affected by the surprise from the two of them.

“And we, the Mist, the royal court, War God Temple, and Silent Night Secret Society have teamed up to fight him. And now, we have… you!”