The Devil’s Cage

“You can come out now, uninvited one!”

Kieran leaned back on the rocks inside the spring fountain. He didn’t have the intention to move or adjust his posture as he spoke slowly.

The slightly familiar way of hiding presence was enough for Kieran to know where the guest came from.

The Elder Council!

After maintaining contact with Jorffany the observer for over a month, the higher ranking inviter finally appeared and in a very direct way as well.

Though, the daring way of infiltrating the enemy’s territory really fit the style of the Elder Council.

“Uninvited guest? You should have been notified beforehand!”

The blurry figure slowly emerged as the cold voice uttered.

The enshrouding steam was rumbling aside as though the steam were two rows of attendants welcoming the figure’s entrance.

The figure acted like a high ranking noble, standing on the surface of the water and staring down at Kieran with a judgmental gaze. The figure was actually a woman and she didn’t seem to be too concerned about the difference in gender.

“The notice I’ve received didn’t tell me that I should be fully dressed while soaking myself in a spring.” Kieran emphasized and at the same time sized up the woman before him.

A pretty face and decent body with a long platinum hair over her shoulders. She was dazzlingly uniquely amongst the steam and what drew more attention was her weapon.

A narrow and long sheathed sword.

With only a slight glance over the sword, Kieran felt like the wails of the dead echoed in his ears plus the Spirit authentication notifications appeared in his vision.

A powerful weapon! Whether was it the weapon itself or the slaughter intent that brooded into such a phenomenon, it was very concerning to Kieran.

Especially when such a weapon was in the hands of the woman full of threats, Kieran seemed relaxed but he was actually alarmed. He prepared himself to counterattack whenever possible if anything went wrong.

“Very well, finally a fairly qualified fella!” The woman seemed to have noticed Kieran’s alarm but she wasn’t enraged by it, instead, she nodded with praise.

“Finally?” Kieran was shocked.

Based on his knowledge, there weren’t any one of the Twenty Hounds being replaced in recent years, so how did the “finally” came by?

Unconsciously, Kieran thought of Jorffany’s unusual performance during his observation and the time this high ranking inviter appeared before him.

Truth be told, since Kieran returned to Augen Manor from the university, he had prepared himself to “welcome” the invitation but the speed that she appeared has greatly surpassed Kieran’s expectation.

In his original calculations, the inviter would come soon but after an entire month, she didn’t show up, until now.

“Could it be?” Multiple guesses appeared in Kieran’s heart but he kept his smile on looking at the woman.

“Keeping a sense of alarm and I am qualified? Then I must rethink thoughts of joining the Elder Council’s ranks! Or was Harondentte just now a test made by you people? If it is, should I praise you, saying as expected of the Elder Council?”

Kieran said slowly, the contents of his words were partially true, partially false

His eyes were staring at the inviter without a sign. He hoped to notice something on the inviter’s face to prove his guesses but unfortunately, the woman before him didn’t have any changes on her face and kept her cool from the beginning.

“If you want to know more, sign this contract and join the Elder Council. You will get to know everything!” She answered.

Her tone was very cold and as she spoke. She took out a goatskin scroll.

Kieran quickly glanced over the contents of the scroll, it roughly stated terms and conditions like unable to betray the council and also the duties and authorities of members of the Twenty Hounds in detail.

After reading it thoroughly, he noticed the terms were quite decent and even considered as scrumptious.

Though, despite how good the terms were, Kieran would never sign his name on it.

He didn’t want to completely place himself on the side of the Elder Council since he had his own plans.

“Can I not sign it?” Kieran asked.

Chang!

A crystal clear unsheathing later, the sword on her waist was drawn out at lightspeed, heading towards Kieran’s throat but the bandage was faster.

“Ms!”

Kieran shouted heavily, [Fighter Bandage] sprung out like an arrow and turned into a snake, rapidly tangling the inviter.

The bandage didn’t only bind her hand wielding the sword but her body as well.

When the inviter felt where the [Fighter Bandage] was binding towards, her face became even colder. She retracted her drawn sword and sliced towards the bandage.

She was confident her sword could easily tear the rotten cloth apart and the owner controlling it but when her sword edge touched the bandage, the inviter suddenly stopped because an aura which was a few times sharper than the sword in her hand was aimed right at her!

Dawn Force was circulating Kieran’s right hand as if it materialized, and even though Kieran didn’t raise his palm, Dawn Force was charging up to strike.

The inviter believed any further movements she took would result in a destructive blow from Kieran.

So, she stopped what she was doing. Even with the Twenty Hound’s title, she wasn’t willing to die here like this, especially on an easy mission.

Chang!

The narrow long sword was sheathed away.

The moment the hilt touched the sheath, [Fighter Bandage] flew back to Kieran’s hand and the accumulated Dawn Force faded away as well.

It was very easy for Kieran to disperse the [Dawn Sword] since he only charged it for less than 3 seconds.

Kieran then submerged back into the spring and looked at the inviter with a smile.

“Do you know the consequences of your actions?” Her icy cold voice filled with unwillingness said.

“I know. That’s why I stopped, otherwise do you think you can dodge my sword?”

Kieran nodded with his ever smiling face.

The inviter didn’t argue against the fact. She certainly couldn’t dodge [Dawn Sword] since it caught her off guard.

“I mean no harm to the council, even if I am not joining it, it’s because of the problem with my memory. I need to search for my lost memory and when I’ve recovered them, I’ll give you a precise reply.” Kieran said.

“You think the council are a bunch of merchants? Allowing you to negotiate with us?” Her cold voice was mixed with mockery this time.

“I think everything is negotiable, as long as the leverage is enough. How do you view the battle between me and Harondentte?”

Kieran asked the inviter but before she could reply, Kieran hastened his words and continued on his own, “Of course I am referring to Harondentte’s power. That kind of power isn’t something the Gravens can control and a more interesting fact is Harondentte formed the Gravens with every effort and he just to let it go like that? He was even willing to kill witnesses for some books recording myths and legends that everyone knows. What do you think happened there?”

“You are saying?” The icy cold face had a sense of surprise.

She had witnessed the battle between Kieran and Harondentte with her own eyes and although she was shocked by Harondentte’s power, she didn’t give it much thought since her target was Kieran.

Now when Kieran brought up the question, she immediately noticed the difference.

The powers among the mystical realms varied from all sorts of strange things but everything was traceable to its roots.

Blazing flames, magma, and sulfur only led towards a single origin and once the thought of the possible origin came into her mind, the icy cold face of the inviter started to breathe heavily.

“I didn’t say anything, it’s all your guesses! Likewise, it is also my leverage to buy my own life. Is the council willing to give me time to search for my memories?”

Kieran opened up his hands and asked her.

“You better make sure that what you said is true!”

When the inviter finished, she hid in the steam and vanished swiftly.

Kieran squinted his eyes as he saw the inviter off.

“First step, complete!” He muttered in his heart.

As footsteps echoed in his ears from the outside, he quickly got up from the spring and got dressed.

Even though [Dawn Sword] wasn’t fired out, the noise it created was enough to alarm the people outside, thinking something was wrong and he himself had no weird fetishes.

Exposing himself naked one time was more than enough.

He would beg to excuse himself for a second time!