The Devil’s Cage

Lightning Fortress was lost?

The invasion of the Prairies?

Kieran unconsciously recalled the odd encounter that he had in Lightning Fortress when he heard the news.

The war machines were fired off prematurely like a warning shot. The soldiers were fighting with their lives on the wall but the sudden appearance of the deserter incurred an unprecedented defeat of the troops.

”Come to think of it… Those deserters should be the spies of the Prairies!”

Kieran took in a deep breath and looked towards the piling notification that popped up in his vision.

[Triggered special incident!]

[Mary has returned to the imperial city, main mission completed!]

[Do you wish to leave the dungeon in 5 minutes? Yes/No]

Kieran couldn’t help but squint his eyes at the notification before him.

”I can choose to leave? If I acquire a special dungeon, how will it be then?” Kieran wondered.

The answer though floated out from his heart.

The kingdom of Warren would definitely fall.

What would happen to Mary and her father?

The best case scenario would be that both of them might able to escape and form a resistance from there.

With Kieran’s understanding of Mary, if the girl could escape, she would definitely form the resistance.

If both of them couldn’t escape, that would be the worst case scenario.

Death! Or even worse!

While imagining the possible outcomes, Kieran raised his head and stared at the royal bedroom. Since his Intuition was greatly reduced, he couldn’t listen to the conversation inside, but Kieran was certain that Mary would not be crying and shedding useless tears.

The girl would certainly be questioning the king of Warren, and Kieran could also guess the general contents of their conversation. Even the outcome was clear; the fact that Mary traveled so far to be here had stated everything.

”Her only kin?” Kieran muttered.

Suddenly, he lost interest in whatever the outcome might be; he wished not to confirm his guess with a special dungeon acquired after the rating calculation.

It would be too slow by then! He couldn’t afford to wait so long and neither was he willing to!

He had another option!

”Sure enough, I must say my goodbyes with my own mouth!”

Kieran smiled lightly and mustered his strength to stand himself up. The gears in his brain were spinning quickly.

”If I choose not to leave… I might be joining the forces in resisting the Prairies’ soldier following the current flow, but because of the previous battle, the defensive force of the imperial city has been weakened significantly and is barely able to take a hit. The battle will be extremely hard! But isn’t this what I wanted? The harder the process, the higher the rating!”

Kieran smiled brightly and voiced his answer.

”No!” He said loudly.

The system immediately provided a reply as well.

[In consideration of player’s option, a special main mission is given…]

[Main mission: Defeat the Prairies invader’s vanguard in 3 days!]

[Note 1: Triggered special duration, dungeon rating increase]

[Note 2: Complete special main mission to significantly increase dungeon rating]

...

”Three days? Vanguard?”

Kieran related into more matters when he saw the brief description of his special main mission.

”This means three days later, there might be a big fleet of troops appearing outside Lightning Fortress? Lightning Fortress, Lightning Fortress…”

Kieran touched his chin and suddenly realized a problem.

”If this is the case… Seems like it is not that hard!” Kieran muttered.

Tsssk Gak!

The royal bedroom door opened up afar.

Bosco ran out with a terrified face, grabbed the messenger tightly and requested details.

Behind him was Mary and a pale middle-aged man.

Though, after a careful inspection, Kieran found that ”middle-aged” was not appropriate to describe the man.

His face might look like a man in his forties, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the snow white hair made him looked like an elderly. The term elderly fitted his walking manner even more; with every step he took, he need to take a rest and several pants.

However, the light within his eyes looked dignified and impressive for a man with those features.

King James VIII!

Kieran knew his identity the moment he saw him.

”Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and Warren! But I have to ask more of you now… I hope that you can bring Mary away!”

King James VIII said to Kieran with a faint and weak manner, but his tone sounded stern.

When he walked to Kieran’s side, even Mary was supporting him with one hand; his body trembled as well. Kieran could also clearly feel Mary’s palm tighten her grip on the king’s arm.

The early matured little girl also heard the news.

In fact, that voice with that kind of level had spread throughout the palace as soon as the messenger yelled; anyone who was not deaf could easily hear the news.

Therefore, the little girl knew what her father, that she only met once, wanted to do. She wanted to prevent it but didn’t know how.

”Forgive me, Mary!”

King James VIII looked at the little girl with a face full of guilt.

Then, when the king turned to Bosco, he was looking stern and serious.

”Bosco, help me gather the remaining troops, I will ascend the wall myself! I will buy as much time as possible for you all. You bring your families and as much civilians as possible out of Riverdale! The Prairies soldiers’ target is me and this city. They won’t go after you! Moreover, the invasion before us is just a small vanguard team, they couldn’t prevent your escape!”

King James VIII said.

”Your...Your Majesty!”

Bosco kneeled down with his eyes turning red. The private consultant of the king knew the king’s decision. All he could do was brood and use his eyes, filled with tears, to look at the weak king before him.

If Jeanne was out of the question, the once mighty king before Bosco would surely lead the Kingdom of Warren to its pinnacle and not end up letting the country perish!

”Don’t cry. Warren will not perish like this. At least you will bring the seed of kindling with you! Although those nobles were bastards, they will harbour some of the will of Warren as well. Although I might not have the chance to see the seed burn into a blazing fire, my soul will stay here, waiting for you to rebuild Riverdale!”

Whenever the Prairies invaded a city, the city would cease to exist after they trampled past it, just like they did to scare the other tribes with relentless slaughters.

Slaughter cities as they pleased and burn everything to the ground after they were done with it.

King James VIII raised his head and looked at the palace that represented the dignity of the Warren royal family.

After he engraved the pride of the Warren royal family into his heart, he chose a glorious death.

When he put on his crown and picked up his scepter, the resolution filled his mind.

Bosco saluted his king once more and prepared to leave for the troops’ gathering.

Although he knew the numbers wouldn’t be a lot, it was better than nothing.

”Hold on!”

Just as Bosco was stepping out, Kieran stopped him.

”You didn’t forget our promise, right? The sword skills, every two-handed sword skill that you can find!” Kieran said, looking at the shocked Bosco with a serious face.

”In the time of urgency, you…”

”Very well, I’ll bring over whatever I can find!”

Bosco instinctively wanted to refute, but when he saw the seriousness on Kieran’s face, he quickly sighed uncontrollably. However, when he thought that Kieran was tasked to escort Mary away, he knew what he had to do.

”Right, before that, prepare a wagon and something to dispel a curse for me! Someone took my loots, and I think I need to inform them what will become of them with my sword!”

Kieran halted Bosco once more as he was leaving, and said slowly.

”What!?”

Bosco halted his steps and turned around, looking at Kieran with an unconceivable gaze.

Even King James VIII who was ready to die a glorious death widened his eyes.

Mary, who was soaked in sorrow, raised her head to Kieran. Her face was showing an extremely touched expression; that feeling turned into some unknown power and poured into her heart.

Kieran tilted his head down at Mary with an odd manner. He smiled and said, ”I am not doing this for you, remember? I am doing this for myself! Whosoever dare take my things away from me, I will turn them into ash!”

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

Manliest Kieran through out all the dungeon he has been through. Maybe because of the loli?