The Devil’s Cage

Sivalka’s face was just like his voice, panicked and afraid.

In fact, it wasn’t just Sivalka who reacted that way.

Inside the tent, the atmosphere was like a mute button had been pressed.

Every Demon Hunters was frozen by what they heard at that moment.

Black Cataclysm!

All the Demon Hunters in the tent had experienced the Black Cataclysm firsthand.

Although they survived the initial wave because of how strong they were, the plague failing to take their lives, they had seen too many cases of the plague reaping the lives of the innocent.

No one was willing to experience that horror again, but soon enough, the veteran Demon Hunters quickly regained their senses.

They looked at Kieran.

The only one who kept calm was Kieran, as if everything was within his expectations and from a certain perspective, it was the truth, a truth that no one would have guessed.

“Qitar Bay, the north, and now War God Temple?” Kieran muttered to himself.

The people present in the tent all skipped a beat in their heart. They all thought of something.

Right! It was too much of a coincidence!

Right after Eindfern, the southern councilan, noticed some inklings, Qitar Bay was blown off from the map. Then, the Demon Hunters discovered that metallic arm in the north, followed by the plague breakout in War God Temple.

If it was a single individual case, they might be serious but nothing catastrophic. But when put together…

“Is it… Him?” Anderson asked heavily.

“Mm. A very high chance.”

 Kieran did not give a precise answer, looking at Sivalka, who was shocked out of his mind, “Calm down, Sivalka, tell me what you know.”

“Yes, your Highness,” Sivalka took a deep breath and nodded.

…

As the camp slowly came in line and Sivalka’s burden eased up a lot, he had more time to accompany Ellie.

Of course, the most important thing was that as the relationship with War God Temple eased up, he was able to reclaim his ‘properties’.

It was undoubtedly good news!

Even though Sivalka wasn’t concerned about the 5-600 Gold Purton before this, when it was time to raise his daughter, Sivalka was in dire need of funds.

Of course, as a ‘father’, he couldn’t do something that might ‘disappoint’ his daughter, so those dishonest practises that he once used during his mercenary days were off the table.

Without those ways, it was difficult for Sivalka, so he really hoped that Ellie could have a happy childhood.

Even though they were in the Mist religious sect, he ought to get the candies, dresses, and dolls that the other little girls had for his precious Ellie, and it wasn’t a small sum of money.

Even more so when he was chasing perfection. The already large cost evolved into a substantial amount that a normal man couldn’t bear.

Therefore, when he got news from the young knight, Gino, Sivalka was actually delighted.

As for the possibility of a trap?

If there wasn’t an alliance, it might be.

But once allied up, Sivalka didn’t think that War God Temple would ruin the alliance just because of a petty fry like him

Sivalka saw the young knight Gino near the commercial district of Edatine Castle.

The young Gino was wearing a suit of bright armor with a warm and bright smile on his face, not a bit of a sense of the dispirited man he was before. The aura on him had also strengthened a bit.

It seemed like after the previous incident, this young knight had gone through some dramatic changes in War God Temple in terms of his position and status.

“Hello, Gino,” Sivalka waved his arm and greeted the young knight.

Coming from a mercenary background, Sivalka didn’t have a lot of restraints. He might be a little reserved when he was in War God Temple, but now?

As long as he wasn’t beside Ellie or on duty, he was used to the casual and lazy attitude. He tends to do things in delight.

“Mr. Sivalka, you seem to be in a good mood?” The young Gino saluted officially before he smiled and asked.

“Of course. I’m going to get some extra income soon! I can buy dresses and dolls for Ellie!”

Sivalka did not hide Ellie from the young Gino.

Most of the time, whenever he mentioned Ellie, Sivalka always displayed a boasting manner. He would then look at the others who saw his vigilant boasting.

How should he put it?

It was like a farmer planting cabbages yet scared that a hog would come to grubble on it but at the same time scared that there wouldn’t be a hog there to gobble it up . It was a very complicated mental state, that of a ‘father’.

“I can’t help you on this. I am not familiar with dresses and dolls, but if you are looking for swords and armor…”

“No! My Ellie is a lady! A real lady, not a boorish female who wields swords!”

Sivalka interrupted the young knight before he could even finish and counteracted him with some strict words.

As a mercenary, he knew exactly how those ladies who wielded swords ended up.

Except for a handful of them, many of them wouldn’t end well.

If his daughter was missing a limb or had a scar on her face…

Shaking his head, Sivalka immediately discarded the scary thoughts out of his mind.

He would never let Ellie tread his old path.

Thud!

Back in the Mist camp in Lower Seventh Ring, Ellie lightly put a rock as big as a millstone down on the ground after lifting it over her head. The light thud did not attract any attention in the camp.

Ellie then looked at Tandeker and flexed her biceps.

“Am I strong?” She sounded like a boasting child, which she was.

Tandeker was also like a child, even though he was slowly recovering. He still had the intellect of a child.

“S-Strong. Ellie, eat more, eat more, become strong! Muscle is power!”

Once known as the Colossal Beast, Tandeker looked down at Ellie, who was only as tall as his knees. He felt that Ellie was still too thin and short, she must grow up to his height and be as strong as he was.

“Em!” Ellie nodded seriously.

Then, she lifted the rock again and started to breathe in the method Tandeker taught her.

Tandeker looked at Ellie, giving her best effort, and a quick thought later, decided to give Ellie a boost.

The power in his body started to amass quickly. He extended his index finger and touched Ellie on the forehead.

Roar!

A beastly roar echoed in Ellie’s ears. She felt like she was looking at a towering titan, reaching the sky.

The titan looked down at Ellie, who was like a plankton, a wide grin appearing on his face.

Instantly, the aura turned fierce and valiant, the hundred-armed titan becoming simple and straightforward, as if he was a plain farmer. It was just that he was… too tall.

The hundred-armed titan wanted to speak but when he looked at the tiny Ellie, he didn’t know what to say. In the end, the titan scratched his head and said, “Remember my name, Darland.”

His voice was as loud as thunder, to the point where Ellie’s ears started to buzz.

“I’m sorry. It has been a very long time since someone chose my legacy and it’s the first time I have met a girl who chose to tread my path.”

Looking at the wobbling Ellie, the hundred-armed titan felt embarrassed, instantly switching his way of speaking. The voice appeared in Ellie’s mind instead.

“Mr. Darland?” Ellie called out the name of the hundred-armed titan.

“Yes Ellie. Don’t feel surprised. Since you’ve accepted my legacy, it’s logical that I know your name. Well then, I have to leave now. When your name is sung under the starry sky, you can come find me—all you need to do is call out my name.”

The hundred-armed titan then disappeared.

Ellie’s eyes returned to normal.

“D-Did you see it?” Tandeker asked anxiously.

“I saw it,” Ellie nodded.

Tandeker immediately smiled.

“The power of the cyclops is what I always admired…”

Cyclops?

Wasn’t it a hundred-armed? Didn’t that titan have two eyes?

Ellie was a little bit confused, but she didn’t say anything when she saw how excited Tandeker was.

She knew Tandeker was a patient who required care.

‘I’ll tell him when he gets better!’ thought Ellie.

She couldn’t help but be attracted to the knowledge that appeared in her mind, the knowledge about a secret technique named Chariot.

…

Gasp!

A sudden palpitation in his heart made Sivalka gasp.

He felt like something bad was happening at that particular moment, but he had no evidence to prove his premonition right.

“Maybe… I’m too tired from all the work recently?”

Sivalka comforted himself as he followed the young knight, Gino, on the stone path to the cathedral.

Sivalka could already see the cathedral from where he was standing, and when he saw groups of War God Temple clergies walking in and out of the cathedral, he furrowed his brows.

He was once a deacon, so he was very familiar with the procedures at the cathedral. Therefore, some particular changes could not fool him.

For example, although the cathedral of War God Temple did not set up a rule to tell all its visitors to keep quiet, it wouldn’t be as noisy and busy as a morning market.

“What happened?” Sivalka looked at the young Gino.

Young Gino was also at a loss for what to do.

“When I left earlier, things were still very normal,” said the young Gino before he went up to a deacon on guard duty at the entrance.

“Hold on! Hold on knight Gino!”

The deacon called out loudly before the two of them even got close.

“What’s wrong,” Gino looked at the deacon in confusion.

“It’s…”

The plague!

The word ‘plague’ wasn’t uttered out, it was signed by the deacon’s lips gesture and then the deacon added, “This area is in a total lockdown, no one is allowed to leave.”

Plague?!

When Sivalka made out the word, he faltered backwards as he still had a fresh memory about the Black Cataclysm, even the young knight Gino was stunned on the spot.

“I want to see the lord bishop!”

After being stunned for several seconds, young Gino made his request.

“His lordship is currently dealing with much more dangerous things, he can’t meet you now. And the lord bishop gave an order saying that all the clergies who left the cathedral are temporarily forbidden to return, including you, sir,” explained the deacon patiently.

Gino’s name was already in the sight of the higher-ups of War God Temple. The news about him going through a baptism proved that this young man was destined to become a bishop or something similar.

Therefore, respect was a must.

“What is the current situation?” asked the young Gino.

“I don’t know. I am only in charge of guarding the entrance,” answered the deacon.

“Is that so.”

The young Gino turned around to Sivalka and said, “I’m sorry, it seems like I can’t keep my promise this time. If this crisis is over, I’ll double your compensation.”

Right after that and before Sivalka could answer, young Gino dashed past the deacon and went straight into the quarantine area.

Both Sivalka and the deacon failed to react to the sudden dash in time and when they did, it was already too late, for the young Gino was already close to the cathedral.

“T-This…” The deacon looked at Gino’s back blankly.

It was at that moment that the deacon understood why the young Gino was looked upon highly by the bishop in council.

After a quick bow, the deacon turned around to Sivalka.

“Sir, please go,” the deacon raised his hand and asked Sivalka to go away.

Sivalka didn’t have the least intention to stay either, quickly leaving.

On his way back, he started to buy lime powder.

He remembered that lime powder was quite effective in fighting against the plague.

What else? Clean water, fire and… isolation!

What if the isolation failed?

No! It can’t be! It won’t be!

Many messy thoughts appeared in Sivalka’s head as he ran back to the camp of the Mist in panic.

…

After the Demon Hunters heard what Sivalka said, all of them frowned.

“Contact Rogart to temporarily put the camp on lockdown. The food must be meticulously checked and… I want to see Councilman Kurtzargert,” said Kieran before he looked outside the tent.

Horlaika caught the gaze and nodded, then vanished into the shadows.

No walls in the world could completely block off the wind.

Soon, the news about the plague spread across the camp. Everyone was afraid and frightened by the news, and even though they were working, their minds were absent.

The fear from the Black Cataclysm branded itself in people’s heart and what else was more comforting than a God in this particular time?

Unconsciously, the people in the camp started to pray after their work was done.

They prayed with a devotion far stronger than before.

Night came. Prayers sounded all over the camp.

The royal guards that stood guard at the entrance even joined the crowd in praying.

It attracted many more curious minds.

Curiosity killed the cat.

One of the civilians managed to get solid news from his guard friend, the news about the plague breakout then spreading like wildfire.

The whole of Edatine Castle was in a state of total panic before dawn.

And when the sun rose, black smoke rising continuously from the cathedral of War God Temple, it increased the panic to a whole new level.

What did black smoke mean?

No one understood better than the elders in Edatine.

The smoke from burning the bodies!

Why would they burn the bodies straightaway without any final confirmation?

The answer was self-explanatory: the plague had descended upon them again.

The news was real, it wasn’t a lie!

Boom!

The whole of Edatine exploded like a pot of boiling oil.

Everyone swarmed towards the hidden temple in the corner that belonged to Lady Calamity, albeit they avoided the place like the plague during the normal times.

But the plague was on the other side now, so would their arrival before Lady Calamity be of any use?