The Devil’s Cage

Inside Naveya City, most of the shops were located around the market.

Occasionally, there were one to two special jewelry stores opened in the wealthy and noble district.

Old Vennie’s stop was a special one but it wasn’t located in the wealthy and noble district but at the edge of the commoner district: the graveyard area.

As a coffin shop, it was very appropriate for Old Vennie to set up shop there and as for the business, Old Vennie would never have to worry about it.

No one else in the whole of Naveya would try to compete with him in the coffin selling business but it didn’t mean Old Vennie could relax.

In fact, Old Vennie was also the gravekeeper at the graveyard and he had around eight disciples under him.

He had reached retirement age long ago but he still preferred to do everything himself.

Just like today, Old Vennie had put on his cleanest and best clothes while bringing all of his disciples to stand outside of his shop, welcoming the arriving VIP.

Old Vennie had heard about the battle that went down at the temple district despite him being at the graveyard.

Other than that, the VIP had sent servants to inform him as well.

Old Vennie wasn’t surprised at the battle though because, during his younger days, a big battle would happen once a month at the temple district.

Back then, which were also his busiest days, Old Vennie’s stingy teacher even hoped that whipping his disciples would make them worked 24 hours a day non-stop, but Old Vennie wasn’t his teacher, he wasn’t as ruthless.

As long as Old Vennie’s disciples were able to complete their duties and patrol the graveyards in shifts, Old Vennie would reward them with a half day of rest each week.

However, he still had to provide a meal a day and pay his disciples 10 copper coins each per month and when the thought hit him, Old Vennie thought he was being too generous.

“No, no, no! I can’t do this anymore! A gold mountain is built by pieces of copper coins! I am old enough, this place is too frigid. I need to settle down in a warmer and quieter place, like the wealthy district! I can buy a house there and live out the rest of my life. I guess I’ll have to decrease the monthly payment to 8…no, no, no, 5 copper coins! I’ll also have to increase their workload!”

Old Vennie was looking at the end of the street while he was calculating in his mind.

He was on quite excited.

After all, a huge deal of 110 coffins was quite rare even in his younger days.

It wasn’t the thin coffins of the poor but the coffins that would truly earn him profits. If he could secure a few more deals like this, his dream of moving to the wealthy district would arrive sooner than later.

Of course, Old Vennie didn’t show his excitement on his face; his face was still looking slightly sorrowful.

His age and experience allowed Old Vennie to understand what kind of expression he should use in dealing with his customer as a coffin maker.

However, a while had gone by and even the sorrowful face on Old Vennie had started to freeze but still, he didn’t see the VIP that he was waiting for.

“Go have a look at what happened.”

“Wait, nevermind. I’ll go myself, you guys wait here.”

Old Vennie was speaking to one of his disciples but the moment the words escaped his mouth, he suddenly realized that given the VIP’s identity, if he really sent a disciple to welcome them, it will do nothing but delay the process. Old Vennie needed to do this himself so he could show his sincerity in the deal and maybe if the VIP is in a good mood, he could get an extra tip.

Old Vennie quickly changed his orders and even walked as fast as he could along the street.

After a while, Old Vennie spotted the VIP’s wagon and… the bodies of the Wagoner, servants, and guards around it!

Old Vennie’s occupation saved him from common cries when one saw a dead body but when he saw the killer, his reaction was no different than a common man.

He opened his mouth and wanted to scream but a sword was faster as it grazed Old Vennie’s throat.

Old Vennie who was having complicated calculations in his mind didn’t know what in the hell happened until his last breath.

Mizelle who wielded the sword wouldn’t provide an explanation either.

“KILL!”

Mizelle pointed his bloody sword at the wagon and the hidden Emerald Rock killers sprung out from the surroundings, they threw themselves at the wagon.

Each of the killers shared a dull expression as though they were puppets but their speed was a few times faster than usual; the swords in their hand were glaring brightly and coldly like a venomous viper, showing off its viciousness.

“So these are the killers from Emerald Rock!”

A voice sounded from within the wagon.

There was no panic in the voice but admiration.

At the same time, the light from a divine spell was blasted out from the carriage, it directly pinned down Mizelle and the other killers on the spot.

Then, the carriage door was slowly opened.

A middle-aged man in a priest outfit walked out.

The man was sizing up the killers from Emerald Rock with a curious gaze.

Given his knowledge, the man instantly noticed something was wrong with the Emerald Rock killers.

“Men of sacrifice trained in special methods? It didn’t only wipe out their common thinking abilities but their strength was enhanced by paying the cost of life… That “king of killers” is really a cruel one!”

The man said as he walked towards Mizelle.

Mizelle who had a normal expression was eye-catching among the dull killers.

“You have your own thoughts, so are you their leader? Then, you shall tell me where your secret hideout is.”

The man raised his hand. Right away, the light from a divine spell shone brightly in his hand.

The shining palm was closing on Mizelle slowly.

Mizelle tried his best in breaking free but before the divine bindings, his struggles were futile. It caused the opposite effect.

The more Mizelle struggled, the smoother the next spell casting.

It was the most skilled forte of Sin Temple and the man also purposely slowed down his spell casting so that Mizelle could struggle more.

The man spent over a second in reaching Mizelle’s head.

Just as the face with a smile was going to place his shining palm on Mizelle’s forehead, the shining palm suddenly flew into the sky.

The middle-aged man was stunned and immediately, the immense pain struck his mind.

“Aaaaaaa-”

An excruciating pain sounded but it stopped abruptly.

[Dandelion’s Pierce] perforated the man’s throat and decapitated the head after a quick swing.

Kieran slowly walked out from the shadows.

He slightly squinted his eyes at the fallen Sin Temple priest.

“They’ve sent a request for aid to other temples? As expected with the wealth of the Wealth Temple! But… I don’t mind having too many enemies! The ones like you? The more the better!”

Kieran muttered softly and he picked up the Magic rank loot on the headless priest.

After revealing his plan to the Thorn Temple archpriest and officiant, Kieran already knew Wealth Temple would make this move.

The leaders of Wealth Temple weren’t idiots by any means and after witnessing what Kieran could do plus the annihilation of their entire knight squad, they would definitely request for foreign aid.

The speed caught Kieran by surprise, but as he said, he didn’t care.

He even wished the enemies like this dead priest would pile up as much as possible.

Who would say no to abundant of spoils of war?

Kieran went into thought for a few seconds before giving out orders to the Emerald Rock killers who were placed under control through some mystical spell to quickly clean up the battlefield, Mizelle included.

Kieran couldn’t hold back his nod when he saw the clean and quick movements of the killers.

Tiki’s mystical spell was great but the killers who were meticulously trained by Reppu had better basics.

After finishing the final steps of activation of Tiki’s mystical spell, all the killers that were trained by Reppu immediately fell under Kieran’s command.

Compared to the loyalty to Reppu, the killers didn’t only follow all of Kieran’s commands but their strength was enhanced greatly as well.

The strongest one among them had reached the levels of a veteran player and even the weakest were a few times stronger than common men.

Although they were without sanity and without Kieran’s precise command, they could only follow their basic human instincts. Once the order was given, they would act precisely like robots.

“Maybe I can further improve these puppets.”

Kieran thought quietly while trying to recall the mystical spell from Tiki but it was a matter for another time.

Now, it was time to complete his mission.

Wealth Temple didn’t just order coffins, they needed enough candles, food and daily supplies as well, so all of them were his targets!

Kieran was trying to isolate Wealth Temple!