The Devil’s Cage

The barrel was cold and the body was extremely intricate, obviously not one of those standard-issued muskets and based on the patterns on the handle, it told Luncar the musket had unusual power.

It was without a doubt a very decent weapon and would be a whole lot better if it wasn’t pointed at his forehead.

“I think we might have a little misunderstanding.”

Hands up in the air, Luncar pleaded softly but his intonation was clear and his body did not move.

He didn’t want a hole in his head.

Likewise, there was no reckless action or resistance from the person who appeared behind him.

It mattered not how the person snuck up behind him or what he used to achieve it, the person behind Luncar got an absolute advantage and the right to call the shots.

As a rather smart person, Luncar knew he must go along with the person in order for him to get a chance to continue breathing.

As a matter of fact, it was what he always did.

“Misunderstanding?” I don’t think so. Why are you onto Holuff?” Kieran’s voice was cold and overflowing with killer intents.

It wasn’t fake, it was cold and authentic killer intents, causing Luncar’s forehead to be covered with a layer of sweat.

Holuff?

Wasn’t this person here for Viscount Sicar, Withering Branch, Resting Deer, Decaying Water, and the Mist?

The unexpected question caught Luncar off guard, causing him to mumble softly and attracting a rough reaction from Kieran.

Kieran raised his foot to Luncar’s neck. His kick was sharp and fierce and the air-breaking sound that came with it sounded like a snake hiss.

Hiss!

Amid the snake hisses, air streams followed the kicks and rose like the tide, feeling like many venomous snakes had sprung out from the bushes and bit Luncar’s exposed skin.

Bang!

After the kick landed on the neck, Luncar fell on the ground as though he was struck by lightning.

That kick almost snapped his neck and took his life!

A heavy dizziness filled his mind, making Luncar want to throw up but the musket was pushed up against his forehead again.

“Why are you onto Holuff?” Kieran asked again.

“I-I did not!” stuttered Luncar.

That kick didn’t just make him dizzy and raise the urge to throw up, it seemed like his ability to speak properly was obstructed and his eyes were turning blurry. However, he noticed this unfamiliar man seemed to have peaked aside in a flash, it was very subtle, like he noticed something but…

Bang!

[Dark Shining Musket], which required no reloads, was fired.

The firepower from the air bullet fired was no less than a real bullet, blasting Luncar’s crown away from his head.

Then, Kieran searched the body quickly and grabbed every valuable item from the body before disappearing.

10 minutes later, the patrolling soldiers arrived.

They weren’t slow, neither did they slack off to some place, but the fire in the viscount mansion captured their attention, which rendered them numb against a gunshot.

The captain of the guards ordered his men to quickly move the body on the ground.

As for inspection?

It was not necessary, no one could survive when the crown was blasted off the head.

Besides, the captain had no time to deal with the questions.

His priority was to kill the fire in the mansion.

The body was temporarily tossed into City Security Station—there were 5 City Security Station in Sicar, situated in the north, east, west, and south respectively and the last one was in the middle, which was also the nearest to the viscount mansion and closest to the guards.

The body was delivered there and temporarily placed in the basement morgue.

Seconds turned into minutes.

Luncar suddenly opened his eyes.

He gasped in pain and put his hands over his broken head, preventing his brains from further slipping away.

“Damn it! Damn it! Where is my crown!” he shrieked.

The guards who moved the body here were too nervous, they didn’t search for the crown at the scene and as a matter of fact, quite a lot of Luncar’s brain spilled out on the way.

Feeling the pain in his head, Luncar unconsciously looked at a corner of the morgue.

There were 2 more bodies lying there.

Dead people were nothing new in Sicar.

One or two dead bodies found in the bustling and prosperous Sicar was very normal, and this was the station near the viscount mansion. If it was other stations, which were closer to the crowded market, the bodies would pile up even more.

Hu! Hu!

Luncar panted heavily.

Step by step, he walked to the two bodies and then he revealed his teeth.

His teeth were sharp after death, like the fangs of animals.

The way he worried the two bodies were in the likes of a beast.

Less than five minutes later, two dead bodies were worried into a pile of bones.

Luncar returned to his normal state.

His brain regenerated and his skull had regrew.

After the pain faded, he started to ponder about what happened.

“He came for Holuff? Demon Hunters, eh? But most of the Demon Hunters are dead, those who are left are lone wolves, they shouldn’t have anything to do with Holuff,” Luncar thought.

Luncar had researched Holuff and knew everything about him.

It wasn’t a difficult task for him though, both were archenemies from the start, the Demon Hunters the thorn that Silent Night Secret Society always sought to remove.

In fact, not only Holuff, some truly powerful Demon Hunters were under their watch.

The reason why they did not make a move was because the timing wasn’t right, like this time.

After inciting Viscount Sicar, Withering Branch, Resting Deer, and Decaying Water to engage in a messy rumble, Luncar was planning to go stimulate and lure Holuff out, using him to create more chaos and plunge the whole of Sicar back to its lawless state. It would eventually attract more attention from various parties, hence allowing the other lords to carry out their plans smoothly.

Who knew the Mist would pop out from nowhere. It didn’t only achieved descension silently, it even became a demi-god.

The unexpected entry of the Mist messed up his plan.

The mysterious man who ambushed him even took his life once. If the man wasn’t distracted by something else, he believed the man would have noticed the unusual spots with a simple check.

As the archenemy of the Demon Hunters, a member working under the Silent Night Secret Society, Luncar knew his opponent too well.

As long as they were able to, the Demon Hunters would throw any kind of enemies into a giant grinder and turn the enemies into a pile of minced meat, then shower the pile of meat with oil and burn it away from existence.

They were nothing if not persistent. If it wasn’t for that accident, the Demon Hunters would have wiped out the Silent Night Secret Society, though fate favoured the society more than the hunters.

Those Demon Hunters were now losers in the game of fate.

Whenever he thought about the war with the Demon hunters, Luncar couldn’t help but show a delighted smile—he wasn’t a participant, neither was he a planner in winning the war, he was just enjoying the glory of his organization.

Though, his smile sunk away promptly after that.

As a member of the society, whilst he could enjoy and take pride in the achievements, Luncar knew how severe the punishments were to those who failed to carry out the missions, especially when the consequences would affect the lord’s plans. Simply the thought of those punishments sent chills down his spine.

No! It couldn’t end like this!

He wasn’t the one who made a mistake! There are too many unknown variables in play!

That’s right, this must be the Demon Hunter’s scheme!

The scheme of a group of hunters that hid in the shadows of the normal ones!

The normal hunters were wolves with pride!

These hunters in the dark were snakes!

The snakes that hide in the shadow of the wolves!

This group of hunters had always been on the move secretly, they sought to right the mistakes from the last time, hence the Mist descending and becoming a demi-god.

Even the Mist might not know about this due to how deep the ‘snakes’ were hidden.

But!

Luckily, Luncar discovered this! The smart and lucky Luncar figured it out!

He went along with the flow and used the discovery to his advantage to lure out the hunters from the ‘snakes!

As for the snakes’ motive?

Think about that lady! Then their motive was self-explanatory!

Hu!

Luncar took a deep breath, shocked by the fact that he discovered the hunters of the ‘snakes’.

It wasn’t his imagination though, it was real!!

When he ‘thought’ of all this, everything became ‘real’! At least what he believed became real!

Only then could he survive this.

Although it would affect his memory, it was just a part of some insignificant memory, and compared to his life, it was nothing.

Therefore, he quickly activated the mystical communication formation, looking a little nervous and anxious and also a little bit proud.

An elusive figure with a blurred out face appeared on top of the mystical formation.

“Is it done?” asked the figure as soon as it appeared.

“I’ve failed my lord. A Demon Hunter appeared and stopped me. Unlike the others in the past, he works in a more secretive and strange way,” Luncar explained honestly.

Waves spread from the figure’s image, signs of anger but they went away soon enough.

“Demon Hunter? Another group of Demon Hunter?” he asked.

“Yes! They are like snakes, they not only…”

Luncar told everything he knew to the figure and after the figure heard what Luncar said, it went silent.

“I understand. Return to Edatine Castle at once. I need to know the precise details!” said the figure after a while.

“Yes, my lord.”

Luncar bowed and the figure vanished. He didn’t stay for long though. After he cleaned up the traces he left behind, he slipped out of the City Security Station.

Throughout the entire conversation, he did not notice another existence hiding in the shadows.

After making sure Luncar was gone, Kieran walked out.

“Silent Night Secret Society?” he muttered.

Bumping into Luncar was purely an accident or it was more appropriate to say it was because of his habitual vigilance. When he picked up a certain presence from Elite Hound that once appeared in the mansion, the marketplace Withering Branch and Resting Deer occupied, the sewer where Decaying Water hid, and even around Anan Hotel, suspicion rose in his heart.

The seemingly peaceful and normal Sicar had fallen into a vortex of trouble.

However, he wasn’t at all surprised about Silent Night Secret Society’s entrance.

The way they did things matched what Holuff told him before, and… a familiar feeling loomed.

Broker!

That bastard was very good at using this kind of method.

Broker and society were related?

As the thought popped up in his mind, Kieran returned to his room at Anan Hotel.

Once he got back into the room, he double-checked the surroundings and then took out the [Lord of Mist] from his pocket, which had been buzzing all night long.

The palm-size crystal got clearer this time around, even giving Kieran an akin feeling, like his right hand was touching his left hand.

Attribute-wise, the crystal had gone through a drastic change.

[Name: Lord of Mist]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: III]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: III]

[Attribute: 1. Mist Control; 2 Poison Mist Assault; 3. Icy Air Assault; 4. Acid Rain Assault; 5. Flora Communication; 6. Fauna Summon]

[Effect: 1.Land of Sicar; 2. Reply; 3. Bless]

[Prerequisite: Bound to you who performed all perfect kill]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remarl: A product of an accident during the Black Cataclysm. Unlike how your predecessor crudely used it, its true potential is being brought out in your hands. After a perfect kill, you started to gain total control over it and with the following perfect kill, it is bound to you and you only. You can use it like your own arm and you can perceive the title that it brings you.]

…

[Mist Control: Summon a 300 meter radius mist and shroud everything in sight, two/day]

[Poison Mist Assault: Induce Poison to the targets caught by the mist, targets would have to go through three times B+ rank Constitution authentication. Targets who fail all three times will be inflicted with lethal poison damage; targets who fail twice will be inflicted with Powerful poison damage; targets that fail once will be inflicted with Strong poison attack; targets who pass all three will be immune but still trapped in the mist.]

[Icy Air Assault: Able to create a Weak to Average freeze attack inside the mist, the icy air cannot go outside the mist’s range]

[Acid Rain Assault: Able to call upon the normal rain inside the mist, or cast a Weak to Average acid rain, the acid rain cannot go outside the mist’s range.]

[Flora Communication; Able to communicate and control floral in the mist, the number of controlled targets cannot exceed your Spirit limit (50 for Advanced Rank, +25 for each rank)]

[Fauna Summon, able to communicate and control animals in the mist, the number of controlled targets cannot exceed your Spirit Limit (50 small animal, 25 medium-sized animal, 10 big-sized animal, 1 large animal for Advanced rank, +25 for small animal, +10 for medium-sized animal, +5 for big-sized animal and +1 for large animal for each rank (animal smaller than a rat is considered as three times the number of small animals)]

…

[Land of Sicar: Within the Land of Sicar, the title of Mist has become one-of-a-kind and you, who possess the Lord of Mist, can move natural mist at will and induce them with poison, ice, and rain, controling flora and fauna inside the mist is also possible (unable to exceed the range of the poison mist, icy air, acid rain, control of flora and fauna +1 level), but it will consume your stamina accordingly.]

[Reply: You are treated as the God of Mist, you can use the Lord of Mist to reply simply to the prayers of your believers. It will consume your stamina accordingly.]

[Bless: Inside the Land of Sicar, when your believers pray to you, you can consume stamina to bless them with the Blessing of Mist (Blessing of Mist: provide resistance against poison, ice, acid) wherever mist is visible, or provide a blessing to your teammates (communicate with flora and fauna in a short period of time)]

……

The feeling of total control really sparked joy in Kieran’s heart.

No need to resist, no need to hold back, everything belonged to him now.

His eyes could see all of Sicar clearly, and as long as his title was mentioned, he would know the whereabouts of the believer.

Even though the item was limited to Sicar only, it was enough to tell Kieran how powerful [Lord of Mist] was.

With the crystal in hand, it was fair to consider Kieran as a discounted version of a God.

Of course, the discount part was only to Kieran, he would be a true God to the natives of this world, or so Holuff thought.

When Devil Flame came from the sky, he realized Sicar had unknowingly fallen into a war of Gods.

The retired Demon Hunter grabbed his weapon without a second thought and called his comrades.

It was without a doubt that Colin, which was Kieran’s alias in the world, was the strongest that Holuff could call a comrade.

So, there he was, knocking on Kieran’s door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The knock was granted with permission and Holuff came in in a hurry.

“Something happened!” said Holuff.

“Mm. I know, I am here because of this,” said Kieran as he nodded slowly.

“You are here because of this?” Holuff raised a confused brow and looked at Kieran with cautious.

Kieran smiled at the cautious Holuff.

“Relax, I don’t have anything against you. After all, we are on the same side.”

“The same side?” Holuff jolted, the confusion in his eyes growing heavier.

Kieran stood up, shaking his clothes and extending his right hand for a handshake.

“Demon Hunter of the Snake Sect, Colin,” said Kieran with utmost formality.