The Devil’s Cage

Kieran was chatting with Herbert in the reception parlor.

While they were talking about casual stuff that was of zero relevance, they were actually communicating through the words their fingers wrote.

Suddenly, Kieran’s writing finger stopped.

[Triggered Special Event: The Fated Battle]

[Based on your current progress and performance in the current dungeon world, you cannot reject this special event!]

[The Fated Battle: Bearing the name of the heir to the Emperor, Royalty and the Royal Bloodline, most of the Mutants have acknowledged your existence. With Carderweld’s guidance, the mortal enemy of the old Emperor was lured forth and this will be a prolonged battle. You need to assure the victory of the Neegor Dynasty!]

[Based on your performance on the special event, you will acquire different dungeon clear ratings!]

“Special event that I cannot reject?” Kieran frowned. It was the first time he encountered such restrictions.

“The changes that happened after I took up the name of the Royals?” Kieran tried to guess while looking at the description.

“What happened?” The elderly scholar wrote down with his finger after dipping inside the cup of tea.

“Just thought about something unexpected. Do you know who the archenemy of the Emperor is?” Kieran shook his head and continued writing

“The Emperor’s archenemy? Back in the day, the Neegor Dynasty had taken over the world and there were almost no enemies of the Emperor, let alone an archenemy… But there is still one possibility. The Witches!”

“I remember some books had stated that after the witches respectfully offered the Eye of Chimeras, they disappeared. Besides that, more books stated that the witches are quite powerful as well. They used to have their own kingdom and civilization but it is also after they offered the Eye of Chimeras to the Emperor, they vanished without a trace; Then, that Emperor became more and more unscrupulous until his entire dynasty vanished.”

“If you are talking about an archenemy, I think a high chance the Witches might be it. But it’s just a possibility.”

The elderly scholar wrote down after thinking deeply for a while.

Looking at the words on the tea table, Kieran’s expression turned heavy.

An unknown enemy!

It wasn’t good news by any means.

A powerful enemy wasn’t scary because no matter how powerful the enemy was, there would be weak spots but it was different with an unknown enemy.

Similar to an assassin hiding in shadows, while one approached the spot without knowing, the sharp edge of the dagger would slice through the throat in a less than expected way.

“The witches eh?”

Kieran adjusted his sitting posture and muttered the name in his heart. His eyes then turned to the description of the special event.

Among the description, Carderweld’s name and “guidance” were very eye-catching.

“It’s late, you need some good rest. We’ll continue the matters tomorrow morning,” Kieran said to Herbert while he wrote down with his finger on the tea table.

‘Where is Carderweld old’s lair?’

Herbert’s body shivered for a while.

The elderly scholar seemed to have known what Kieran wanted to do but he didn’t try to dissuade him. He knew his own persuasion to the likes of Kieran would be anything but useful.

After locking on to something, Kieran wasn’t a person that could be easily persuaded with mere words.

Sutherlin Castle.

Herbert wrote down the name and at the same time, he added another line of words, “The Emperor’s Legacy is also there!”

Kieran’s eyes squinted hard when he saw what Herbert wrote.

Such a coincidence?

Kieran’s squinted eyes were glaring brightly.

…

“Your Highness, our riders are trailing their tail, they will not escape us!”

Eander reported with a bow after entering the study room.

Following Herbert and the others being escorted to the camp, as long as one wasn’t an idiot, it was easy to know that there were many temporary outposts of Carderweld around Carlhart.

Kieran didn’t need to say a lot and a mere gaze at Eander notified him what he should do.

“No need to follow them anymore, just head straight to Sutherlin Castle and arrange a fast horse and necessary supplies for me!” Kieran said.

“Sutherlin Castle? Yes, your Highness!” Eander was caught off guard. He was a little baffled by Kieran’s orders but it didn’t stop him from carrying it out.

To Eander who just had his identity upgraded and acquired the qualifications to sit in the meeting hall, Kieran’s orders should not be disobeyed.

At dawn, an escort convoy together with four Mutant riders departed from the camp.

There were three wagons in the convoy and the last one on the line was a supply wagon.

Although Sutherlin castle and Carlhart Military Camp weren’t really far apart and it would only take one day with at full speed for the horses, Eander didn’t care about the distance. He still loaded the wagon with all the “necessary” supplies.

Necessary as in his own understanding of the word.

All sorts of gold and silverware, carpets made out of black goatskin to fresh cooking ingredients and fruits. In fact, if Kieran didn’t stop him at the end, the convoy would grow huge with loads of supplies.

Eander wished that he could hang the entire camp on Kieran’s back.

“He is really loyal eh?” Contly said with a mix of sneering and praising tone.

Kieran didn’t pick up the topic, he leaned back on a soft cushion and sunk almost half of his upper body in it. His face didn’t have any sense of pleasure, only light thoughts.

“Hmph!”

Contily couldn’t help but grunted softly when she saw Kieran’s manner. She turned around and jumped off the wagon.

After that, the wagon returned to its peaceful state but it didn’t last for long.

“Aaaaagh!”

An agonizing scream sounded from outside the wagon.

Kieran who was half lying down jumped out of the carriage like a bolt of lightning.

One of the four Mutant riders was decapitated.

The body below the head was still sitting straight up on the horseback but the head was nowhere to be found; blood gushed out from the neck.

Rayhart, Retsu, and the remaining riders instantly surrounded Kieran and placed him in heavy protection as they scanned the surroundings with utmost vigilance.

Contly, the big guy and Herbert too jumped down from the second wagon.

Contly who was also the wagoner for the second wagon was looking at the headless body with a terrified expression.

She wouldn’t be terrified because of some random dead body since she spent some time as a bounty hunter, the real reason that terrified her was from the beginning to the end, she didn’t see the attack, not even its shadow.

All she saw was the rider’s head twisting a couple rounds before falling off the body.

Contly quickly ran up to the dead body that fell off the horse for a close up check.

The uneven muscle tissues around the neck and the torn skin, the traces of broken spine proved that Contly got it right.

The Mutant rider’s head suffered a rapid twist at the neck and the whole head was twisted off just like that.

But… who did it?

Contly lifted her head and scanned the people around her, hoping for an answer but everyone who received her gaze was in a dazed state as well.

It seemed like everyone else didn’t see the attacker as well, except for Kieran.

“You’ve found something?”

Contly couldn’t hold back her question when she saw Kieran’s face pondering upon the situation.

Kieran didn’t provide an answer but he lifted his right hand and pointed at his own head with his index finger.

“What do you me-”

Before Contly could finish asking, she realized what he was saying.

Head?

The head! Where did the head go!?