The Devil’s Cage

The moment the eyes on the head opened up, a gloomy breeze circulated around the basement morgue.

Candles, oil lamps, and even the only electric light bulb were put out instantly.

The whole basement was plunged into darkness within a second, except for two scarlet red dots shining ferociously.

It was… the head’s eyes!

“Careful!”

The sudden changes shocked John but it didn’t affect his mobility. John pulled out his revolver and fired at the head while dragging Sister Moni behind him.

He didn’t forget he had made a promise to Reed to protect the elderly sister but things were a little out of his expectations.

Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Three continuous shots fired straight in between the eyes of the head.

Although the place was in total darkness, the red shine from the eyes gave John the best lighting he could ask for in that situation, as if it was a beacon.

However, that head was totally unscathed, when the bullet impacted the skin, other than igniting some sparks, it didn’t cause any harm.

On the contrary, a sudden chilly feeling came from John’s hand and swiftly spread throughout his body.

It wasn’t the hand that John held his gun but the other than he held the elderly sister.

“Could it be?!”

A bad feeling erupted in his heart, making John want to release his hand out of instinct but his hand holding the elderly sister’s hand was locked tight as if they were glued together, no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t free himself.

The chilly feeling became colder and colder as it ran down his spine. What followed after the chill was a wet liquid that dripped down his neck. John didn’t even have to touch it and he knew the liquid was blood based on his experience in the force and the bloody stench.

Then, the head appeared before John’s face, neck to neck, eyes to eyes, being extremely close together.

If John could choose, he would never have chosen to have such an intimate approach with the head, despite the owner of the head being young and beautiful when she was alive.

However, leaving behind a severed head that was swollen due to soaking too long in her own blood, nobody would have been able to look her in the eyes calmly.

At the same time, a question popped up in John’s mind, where did Sister Moni go?

As if the head saw through John’s question, it revealed an extremely hideous smile as it moved slightly out of sight, leaving enough space for John’s sight.

Right away, John spotted the elderly sister falling down in her own blood with her head smashed out of shape.

“WHAT?!” John was stunned on the spot.

Even though he was the chief officer, having experience that no common man had and having faced countless vicious, malicious bastards before, the scene before his eyes still created a heavy impact on John’s mind.

He killed the one he promised to protect?!

How could it be possible?!

The impactful scene made John’s mental state extremely unstable, his body even started to wobble and when the elderly sister wobbly climbed up from the puddle of blood, John felt like he was struck by thunder.

John couldn’t even see the head that opened its mouth, it revealed its sharp teeth and went after his neck for a bite.

Puk!

Blood splashed out. The pain from John’s neck went into his brain, it made him instinctively cover his neck.

Just as his finger touched the skin of his neck, the lights came back on!

The candles, oil lamps and the electric bulb, all went back on!

The whole basement was filled with light again.

The box was still that same old box and the body inside it was still the dismembered body, its head was still in place and although its eyes were opened, the colors were normal, not the ones with the scarlet shine.

While Sister Moni was praying softly beside John, faint white light appeared on her body.

“Oh merciful Bernadette, your glory will protect your believers!”

“Oh merciful Bernadette, your glory will protect the innocents!”

When he saw the white light, John swiftly felt peace in his heart but what happened just now in his mind had become clearer as well.

“What happened just now?” John asked impatiently when the elderly sister stopped her prayers.

Even though John saw Guntherson displayed inhuman power before in the sewer, the scene before him had a heavy impression in his mind.

Waves made up of gold were undoubtedly scary but a moving dead body was much scarier.

Death was basically similar in all terms but the fear that death brought was different, especially when it had something to do with dead bodies, the fear would be increased infinitely.

“The circulation caused by a restless soul, but…” The elderly sister wanted to explain but stopped.

“But what?” John pressed on the matter.

“Common souls couldn’t have formed such a power, and…” The elderly sister stopped again.

This made John even more anxious, he said, “Sister Moni, can you explain everything in one shot? I don’t think teasing people is what a sister should do.”

It was quite obvious that the incident that occurred just now had plunged the chief officer into a disturbed state even though Sister Moni was glowing in light when she prayed, otherwise he wouldn’t have pressed the question in such a manner, hoping to ease the situation.

“Sure…” The elderly sister stopped yet once again.

This time, it wasn’t Sister Moni’s own will but something interrupting her.

It wasn’t the body in the box whose soul has laid to rest by the sister’s prayer but further away, something was happening among a few crude looking lockers.

Where was the place again?

The morgue in the police station.

What was the least lacking thing inside the morgue?

Bodies.

The answer was very obvious but when the clunking sound echoed in his ears, John the chief officer had never felt so much disgust at the morgue than he did right now.

“Sister, what should we do?” John asked anxiously with his gun pointed at the shaking lockers.

He knew his gun was useless against those things but the only thing that could be considered as a weapon was the revolver in his hand.

The elderly sister didn’t answer but instead, she started to pray again.

This time, the prayers she did were much more solemn. Sister Moni didn’t just kneel down on the floor, she even drew a simple drawing on the floor in front of her.

Looking from the side view, John could roughly tell the drawing was half a sun that rose from the horizon, its sunlight was shining down on the fields, rivers, and mountains.

“Oh merciful Bernadette, please guide the lost souls back to the righteous path…”

As she prayed, Sister Moni and the drawing in front of her were covered with a faint layer of light.

However the clunking sounds from the lockers didn’t stop but instead, it grew stronger!

After all, the Gods had left, how could they guide the lost souls back to the right path?

“Sister Moni, we need to leave!”

John saw at the iron locker which had already been heavily distorted by the force from within as if the bodies inside would jump out at the next moment. He grabbed the elderly sister without giving her a chance to explain.

The prayers stopped abruptly, the sister showed a look of suffering.

There was nothing more unacceptable than the scene before her eyes.

The once great and mighty lord of Dawn couldn’t even settle down a few lost souls…

Even though it wasn’t the first time, she felt despair everytime it happened.

The despair added up layer after layer, appearing one after another as if it was building a bottomless abyss.

Bang!

The iron lockers broke after another impactful clunk that overwhelmed its load.

Three bodies climbed out from the lockers with a heavy growl, charging at the chief officer and the elderly sister like wild beasts.

Without further hesitation, John placed the sister behind him again and pointed his gun at the bodies.

Even though he knew it was useless, he wouldn’t just sit back and die either.

However, John didn’t pull the trigger because a figure stood in front of him all of a sudden.

The figure was glimmering softly yet real and at the same time, the drawing on the floor lit up suddenly. It was 10 times, 100 times brighter than before!

The bodies that threw themselves over fell to the ground one after another and when they touched the light, the lost all signs of mobility.

Peace came back to the morgue, leaving only a blinding brilliance that covered everything.

It was tender and tenacious, unyielding and strong like the dawn of first light.

“God’s Child!?”