The Devil’s Cage

Kieran was inspecting the five riders from the shadows.

The same standard issued armor, helmet and swords symbolized they were from the same faction but not the town before them.

Let alone the fact that the weapons and armors were different from the guards that Kieran met before, the fact that they had five robust and strong warhorses was not something a broken old town could afford.

He could see the muddy road before the town entrance and the townspeople’s dirty faces and hands; everyone was wearing cheap linen clothes, with some of the children even running around with bare buttocks. The best looking building in the town was a two-storey house in the middle. Despite that, there was nothing eye-catching there.

There might be horses around to plow the soil at the farms and some nags to pull the carts around, but war horses? Not possible.

”The captors from outside town?”

Kieran guessed the riders’ identity, and at the same time, walked out of the shadows. He needed more informations and the riders before him seemed like a good choice.

”There he is!?”

After a few seconds, the leader rider noticed his target. He shouted loudly and quickly jumped up his horse, dashing towards Kieran.

Looking at the riders who were not slowing down and holding the long swords in the air, Kieran raised his brow. Seemed like the riders were not there to catch him but to kill him instead.

Killing a witness!

The term came up in Kieran’s heart.

Then…

What made them want to kill the witness?

Kieran’s mind instantly filled with a couple of guesses and no matter which one, it was not something good. At least, he had to pay extra effort to meet Swusters Castle’s owner.

Though that was a matter for later.

Now, Kieran also dashed towards the charging riders. Kieran’s sudden move caused the riders to laugh in mockery. They were mocking Kieran, mocking him for his ignorance.

A dashing warhorse was enough to crush a colliding person into bits and bones.

The riders seemed to not mind at all about worsening the outcome.

After all, they had received orders to kill anyone who asked about the witch.

Kieran was not the first and definitely not the last.

”Hyak!”

The leader rider shook his reins hard and hastened the warhorse’s gallops. His eyes were locked onto Kieran who was also approaching fast. He then raised his sword up and performed a lunging stab.

Souuu!

The long sword lunged forward like a spear, maybe even faster and fiercer with the charging power from the horse. It even gave out an iron blade whistle from the stab.

However, such a stab was caught, or more precisely, caught with just two fingers. On top of that, the charging warhorse was also stopped abruptly on spot with only one finger.

”What!?”

The leader rider paled in shock when he saw his sword was blocked by Kieran’s one hand and his war horse was blocked by the other. No matter how hard or fiercely the horse galloped and neighed, it couldn’t advance another inch.

Before the leader rider could conceive how powerful Kieran was, he was sent flying like clouds in the sky.

Pang Pang!

Kieran grabbed the leader rider and threw him at the other two riders on his left, smashing them to the ground. Before the other two riders on the right could react, Kieran jumped up high and kicked them off their horses.

Within a blink of an eye, five riders were already rolling on the ground like a rolling bottle gourd.

The leader rider was struggling to get on his feet when a sharp long blade was placed on his neck.

”Don’t move! This is your sword and you know how easy it will be to slice your throat open!”

Kieran said slowly while holding the leader rider’s sword. He then pressed him back down on the ground with the sword edge unreservedly.

The leader rider wanted to struggle out of unwillingness at first but when he felt the pain at his neck, he chose to cooperate.

”Very good!” Kieran said, and swiftly knocked out the other four riders with his kick.

”I am going to ask you some questions first. Then I’ll ask the other four, you get what I mean? I am not a patient man, and I hate lying! So if I get a different answer, I’ll cut of one of your finger. You can start counting how many times you can lie to me! Don’t worry if your fingers run out, because there are still your toes and other parts of your body to cut off! I won’t let you die so easily!” Kieran said with a calm tone.

He did not possess any interrogation skills, but he did have some related experiences.

Kieran knew what he should say and what tone and manner he needed to crush a person’s mental baseline. Maybe it would not work against some tough guy, but the leader rider before him was not one.

Although the leader rider wanted to show off his toughness, when he heard what Kieran said, his face turned pale. He knew what Kieran meant by ”other parts of your body”.

When he tilted his head down at the sword near his neck, he even started to shiver lightly.

There was a dash of red across the blade. He knew it was his blood. If the leader rider should hesitate before this, his trachea might be sliced open!

The thought made the leader rider felt more frightened than ever, but he didn’t give up resisting completely. He tried his best in straightening his back and said with a strict tone:

”I am a honorable lord of Warren Kingdom, I am a nobility, I request…”

Pak!

Before he could finish, Kieran slapped him with the blade’s body. The powerful slap not only cut one side of his face but a couple of teeth even fell off, followed by a mouthful of blood.

”I don’t care what your were before this. Here, you only have one identity, my captive! And your attitude really pisses me off, so I’m going to teach you a lesson!”

Kieran swung his blade after he spoke.

Even without the corresponding skill, cutting off a finger was all too easy for Kieran.

The finger was cut off from the man’s hand with just a swing.

The man who claimed to be a noble a moment ago was rolling on the ground, moaning in pain and losing his noble bearing.

When Kieran showed his impatience face and raised the sword again, the leader rider quickly spilled the beans.

”I...I’m Neet, I am following Duke Sergourney here to arrest the owner of Swusters Castle. My Lord Duke has departed to Swusters Castle this morning with a group of riders! The reason I stayed behind was to prevent reinforcements that might appear in Tita Town! I swear I am being honest!” Neet emphasized.

”Where is Swusters Castle?” Kieran asked.

His eyes were looking at the town entrance again and he couldn’t help but frown.