The Devil’s Cage

St. Reid Hospital was overflowing with people an hour after the outbreak.

The wounded were being sent to the hospital endlessly.

The whole hospital hall was filled with the agonizing moans of the wounded, the doctors and nurses were extremely busy, running around on their feet.

Although the ferocious-looking men during normal days could easily frighten off people, at that moment, they were just regular wounded patients, no different than other common patients.

“Doctors, the ICU is all full!”

“The hall! Divide the hall into temporary wards! Tell those off-duty doctors and nurses to come back at once, we need all the help we can get!”

The doctor on duty told the nurses as he walked quickly to the hall and started arranging the hall into temporary wards. The nurses behind him were helping as well.

Just as more nurses starting to move beds after beds to the hall, the electric switch turned off on its own.

Kak!

The bright main hall plunged into darkness instantly. The darkness was followed by a loud heavy crashing noise.

When the backup generator was activated, the darkness was dispelled.

The busy doctors and nurses in the hall saw a masked caretaker standing beside Sister Reid’s statue, looking panicked as ever when the light came back on.

The statue beside the caretaker was smashed into bits of different sizes.

“I…I… didn’t do it on purpose! The blackout was too sudden, I…I… accidentally crashed the bed into the statue…”

The caretaker tried his best in explaining, the stuttered tone was proof that he was extremely nervous. In the end, he stayed quiet as guilt filled his heart.

The main hall was left with the agonizing moans of the wounded.

“Why are you people all stunned up? Go back prepping the hall for the wounded! The merciful Sister Reid will forgive any mistakes done because of saving lives, even smashing her statue!”

The doctor on duty didn’t even have the time to seek responsibility from the caretaker as more and more wounded were delivered to the hospital.

In fact, no one really blamed the caretaker.

The blackout was too sudden, especially in crucial times like this.

Soon enough, the busy doctors and nurses concentrated back on treating the wounded.

Therefore, no one really noticed the caretaker who made the mistake leave with the bits and pieces of the broken statue.

…

In the alleyway outside St. Reid Hospital, Kieran pulled off his mask and threw the sculpture that he used as a prop into the rubbish bin.

He then took out the real [Sister Reid Statue] under the moving bed.

Kieran wrapped the statue with the bed sheet carefully, adding a few more layers of protection on it before strapping it on his back. He checked his disguise once more before going deeper in the shadowy alleyway.

Although he was in disguise, he tried his best to avoid the sights of people, including surveillance cameras.

Police sirens and ambulance sirens kept echoing in his ears.

With his “intentional” help, the area around St. Reid Hospital eventually became a heavy distress area.

Every single hospital in Edland City tonight would never get to rest.

Despite the interference of the police, Anne Aldrich Augen wouldn’t just give up like that. Not only because of the hard to come by opportunity but also because she wanted to erect her own dignity and powerful presence.

What else would be more effective than fresh blood flowing and mountains of bodies?

Also, what else would be better than to catch a fish in troubled waters during a chaotic night?

Kieran, with the statue on his back, swiftly and carefully headed towards Edland City library, like a panther stalking its prey.

When he reached the street outside the library, he decided to go in through the fourth floor. It was one of the blind spots in the surveillance system that he discovered during the day.

Despite carrying a heavy statue behind him, it was easy for Kieran to climb the building barehanded up to its fourth floor. He opened the window easily and entered the fourth-floor toilet with a flip.

Just as he expected, the library personnel wouldn’t have changed a single broken window latch within hours.

Wung!

The moment Kieran stepped into the library, the statue on his back started to shake. it was light and soft but Kieran, who was close to the statue, clearly felt the shaking.

It wasn’t anything glorified though as it did not react to the place like a divine miracle.

The last Chief Friar of the Marulyn Church had expected his church’s inevitable demise during the war and in order to leave a seed of legacy behind, the library was built with immense efforts.

Given such circumstances, why would the late Chief Friar cause an unnecessary commotion that attracted attention from the world when the seed was acquired by the heir of the church?

It would be better for it to stay as secretive as possible.

However, the late Chief Friar didn’t expect that disaster would come all of a sudden!

After preparing all the necessary steps to ensure the legacies were passed down, the only thing he was lacking was to deliver the message to a reliable heir but before that, the entire Marulyn Church had been eliminated by its foe.

All of those, however, had done Kieran an immense favor!

Following the intensity of the shake, Kieran quickly reached the entrance to the basement on the first floor.

Kak!

After unlocking the door leading to the basement with a wire, Kieran entered in a flash.

A slight glance at his new surroundings later, Kieran assumed that the place was a storeroom for the library to store old books and records.

A heavy dusty smell filled the place and was mixed together with the smell of books. It wasn’t too harsh on the nose but definitely not something nice either.

Kieran held his breath as he ventured forward.

The shaking intensity of the statue was getting more vigorous and when he reached in front a certain wall in the storeroom, the statue which was tied tightly on his back freed itself from the bindings of the bed sheet.

Kieran quickly turned around and grabbed the statue before it fell.

Although he knew it wouldn’t be a problem for the statue to hit the ground since a Legendary item wouldn’t have broken that easily, in order to prevent unwanted noise and vibration that could wake the night watchers outside who had fallen into sleep with the help of alcohol and didn’t even cared what happened on the streets outside, Kieran still preferred to be careful.

Wuuung!

The moment the statue came in contact with the floor, it buzzed.

The statue buzzed for three to four seconds before it slowly sank into the floor.

Following the sinking of the statue, until it was completely submerged into the floor, a passageway with stairs was revealed from the seamless flooring.

Kieran meticulously checked the stairs and walls inside the passageway out of habit, after making sure there weren’t any traps, he slowly walked inside.

However, when Kieran went into the passageway, the entrance behind him closed up immediately without a sound.

Kieran was shaken, he wanted to turn around to check what happened.

Fuuu!

But, fire then lit up on both side of the walls and shed light over the dark passageway.

Kieran clearly saw a stone door with two door planks that opened both ways further ahead, The Marulyn Church’s insignia was carved on the surface and he was less than 10 meters away.

The stone door was half a man taller but Kieran’s eyes didn’t linger long at the unusual door, instead, he turned to the fire that lit up beside him.

The unusual aroma that flowed out made him cover his nose and mouth before dashing towards the door.

But when Kieran was about to push the door open, he stopped abruptly.

Something wasn’t right!