The Devil’s Cage

There was only one person in the secret room.

Having a coarse hood and mantle was the common point but the square and aged face looked extremely familiar to Kieran, especially the person’s gray eyes which Kieran still had a fresh memory of.

Anxico!

A few days ago, the secret agent from Thorn Temple, Eddy, disguised as Anxico to test Kieran; Eddy was then killed.

However, it was because of the test that Kieran knew a thing or two about the person before him.

Through the secret channels left behind from Emerald Rock, Kieran got a general understanding of the man.

Anxico, the leader of the organization, Follower.

A man wanted by a few temples, especially the late Wealth Temple which had put up a bounty reward of 10,000 gold coins for gangs like Emerald Rock and Oak Hand but the results were fruitless.

The man was not only as cunning as a fox, but he was also more ferocious than a wolf.

Emerald Rock and Oak Hand had hunted him more than once because of the bounty reward but all of the attempts ended in failure and both organizations suffered retribution from him.

Not only had both of them suffered, but even Wealth Temple also couldn’t escape their ill-fated retribution.

Three Wealth Temple priests disappeared without a sign and the blame was placed on this seemingly harmless man but he was actually very dangerous.

“Sir Ryan, you seem to know me?”

Anxico signaled Kieran to sit as he asked in a curious look.

Zacky who led the way had gone away from the secret room but Kieran’s senses picked up his presence outside the door, a few more people appeared in front of the door also.

Kieran wasn’t surprised nor panicked.

Based on the understanding he had on Anxico, it was unnecessary for him.

Panic?

Even if the people outside the door were increased tenfold, Kieran had the confidence to take out the man in front him before the men outside barged in if anything went south.

Kieran would then take out everyone who walked through the door after that.

So, Kieran sat down calmly.

“Mm. There’s a guy who disguised himself as you to approach me before.” Kieran nodded.

“The secret agent from the temples? They are always cheap and despicable! A bunch of hypocrite believers! So what happened to the guy in the end?” Anxico grunted in disdain before asking.

“I killed him,” Kieran replied.

His reply was responded by Anxico’s laughter, a very happy kind.

“Nicely done! I knew you, Sir Ryan, are different from other people! Which is also a collaborator that I have been waiting on for a long time!” Anxico spilled the beans while laughing.

“Collaborator? Mr. Anxico, did you forget who am I now?”

Kieran too smiled and asked in a calm tone.

He didn’t believe Anxico did not know his current identity as Thorn Temple’s archpriest.

If he really knew, then why would he still invite Kieran for the meeting?

Kieran was quite curious about his intentions.

“Archpriest of Thorn Temple… Lady Thorn is a respectable God but your identity will not affect our collaboration. Of course, the Gods will not notice your words and actions here. Believe me, there are tons of Gods that want my head and if I can sit here to converse with you, it means I have my own ways.”

Anxico praised Lady Thorn at first before continuing but his words were lacking of content, seemingly trying to beat the bush.

Though Kieran wasn’t at all impatient, he replied with a smile.

Kieran was not a natural negotiator but after going through many dungeon worlds, he had gotten quite the grasp of negotiating techniques, he knew he shouldn’t be anxious and had to be patient while waiting for the right moment.

Therefore, the conversation plunged into silence for almost 20 seconds, the atmosphere was getting awkward but both of them were putting on their best smiles.

Kieran even leaned back and relaxed his body on the chair, acting like he would not speak unless Anxico spoke first.

In the end, Anxico broke the silence.

“Ahem… How do you see Follower?” He asked.

“I am not too sure about Follower but based on the news that I received, the ratings for your organization aren’t all that nice. But, I shall reserve my opinion for now because, before this, I had no contact with you or any of your men before,” Kieran said honestly.

“Thank you for your objective view of us.”

Anxico said his thanks before continuing, “I assume that you are familiar with the name Algor?”

“The Algor that I know off?” Kieran asked.

“Yes, THAT Algor, the Hero Algor! We are the Followers of the Hero’s Descendant!”

Anxico gave a piece of shocking news to Kieran.

Based on Kieran’s understanding, there was only a handful of news about Hero Algor; his followers had ascended to divine status and became the New 20 Gods of Naveya City.

But what about Hero Algor’s descendant’s followers?

Kieran never heard of their existence.

Inside “Analytics of the temples developments in Naveya City” and “Distributions of underground factions of Naveya City”, the two books didn’t even mention Hero Algor having any descendants at all.

However, Kieran did not suspect Anxico was lying to him because the lie would seem too bland.

Perhaps others might not be able to tell it apart but it was too easy for Kieran.

All he needed to do was ask Lady Thorn and he would be presented with the truth.

But if that was the case, Anxico as a wanted man was something that was worth ruminating over.

The list of temples that placed Anxico under the wanted list, other than Sin Temple, all the others were the New Gods’ temples, which meant they were once Hero Algor’s followers.

“Trying to uproot the problem?”

The thought instinctively popped up in Kieran’s mind.

After Hero Algor’s followers had ascended to divine status, the New Gods weakened him a lot and even tried to erase his existence, so it wasn’t really weird if they were trying to uproot his descendant.

While his gears were spinning fast, Kieran showed a shocking expression.

“I never thought that Follower had such a history! So… What is this collaboration that you speak of? Reveal your identity to the temples that hunt you to dissolve the misunderstanding?”

Kieran said while he looked at the man who seemed to be blind because of his grayed out pupils.

“Dissolve misunderstanding? There was no misunderstanding, to begin with, what is there to dissolve? What we need is… revenge!”

The last word was squeezed out of Anxico’s clenched teeth. The hate on his face was unconcealable.

While he as basking himself in his grudgeful emotions, an unknown aura started to appear on him.

It seemed like a priest praying to a God but it somehow felt different.

The aura appeared and faded away in a flash, Anxico returned to his blinded old man look.

After a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he said, “We hoped to work with Sir Ryan! So please do not worry, we will bring out sufficient leverage to satisfy you!”

Anxico clapped his hands.

The door of the secret room was opened; Zacky carried a square cage in.

The cage was not big, around 1 cubic meter and it was covered by a layer of cloth.

People couldn’t see what was inside the cage but the low pitched growling signaled that it wasn’t some tamed animal.

Zacky placed the cage in front of Kieran and unveiled the contents.