The Devil’s Cage

The gigantic, vicious black monster before his eyes fit all the criteria of the Diabolic Demon that Duke Wayne knew but his sanity told him, it wasn’t real.

The Gods had left a long time ago, the abyss had crumbled, even the sulfur river had dried up, turning into a low-lying plain.

Every fact that Duke Wayne could find stated that the age of Gods was over.

“An illusion? A remain? Or something else?”

Messy thoughts bloomed and rumbled around Duke Wayne’s head but it didn’t even slow down this elder who had multiple identities that were each famous on their own, at all.

He was fast as lightning as he slashed out a golden light from his hand, seemingly identical to the one the bishop wielded, but it was bigger and more materialized.

However, the golden light was mixed with spots of white, gray, and green, it made the grand and magnificent golden light sword looked a little weird but it didn’t hurt its strength at all.

Ssssss!

One of the cardinal sins beast’s head was chopped off just like that.

“I don’t care if you’re real or not, I will…”

Duke Wayne smiled coldly as he was looking at the falling head but he stopped abruptly halfway because the head that had fallen on the ground withered away at an exponential speed visible to his eyes and on top of the bald neck of the beast, a new head was taking form.

Duke Wayne’s heart skipped a beat.

If he was still suspecting whether the monster before his eyes was a real Diabolic Demon, after seeing how the head regenerated itself, his doubts were not needed anymore.

The monster was Diabolic Demon!

“Why the hell is there a Diabolic Demon in this era? And how does it even appear in a God’s Child’s image?”

The plethora of questions made Duke Wayne retreated swiftly.

His identity of the former pope of the Church of Light made him know perfectly how he should deal with the monster before him but if he did, he would suffer a repulsion in his current state…

ROAR!

A deafening roar later, when the even more ferocious cardinal sins beast threw itself at Duke Wayne, he didn’t hesitate any more.

“I might suffer damage but it’s better than dying here.”

Duke Wayne knew he had to change the situation before his eyes, otherwise, under the current situation where negative energy was more than sufficient, he would never triumph over a Diabolic Demon.

He could chop off its head one by one but it would grow another one even faster than before. The more terrifying thing was, once the Diabolic Demon absorbed enough negative energy, it would give birth to an even more terrifying monster, a monster that would be on par with the Devil Overlord or the Grand Monarch Demon.

Wuung!

A dazzling golden brilliance burst out from the golden light sword. Its exploding golden brilliance was like a small sun, burning all the negative energy around and the black veil above the sky swiftly dissipated as well.”

“Aaaaaargh!””Rooooar!”

Two distinguished screams of agony were heard almost simultaneously.

One was from the cardinal sins beast that was being restrained by the light energy and the other was from Duke Wayne himself.

From a certain aspect, Duke Wayne’s scream was much more agonizing than the cardinal sins beast.

Following the painful roar, the cardinal sins beast only shrunk in size but Duke Wayne was burnt black from top to bottom, the kind of charred black that was caused by a blazing flame or a lightning strike.

A charred stench floated in the area after that.

The pain made Duke Wayne quiver throughout his body, it was even hard for him to draw his sword.

When all 7 heads of the cardinal sins beast were chopped off, Duke Wayne became severely wounded as well, cuts were all over his charred body, blood was gushing out from every wound there was. Especially his right hand together with the entire upper arm that wielded his sword, it was swallowed by the head of Gluttony before it was chopped off.

“Damn Diabolic Demon!”

Duke Wayne coldly grunted but right after that, he kneeled down on the ground in pain.

Inside the deepest part of his body, an energy of despair was spreading outwards.

The plague!

“ANCILANCO!” Duke Wayne shouted.

“Foolish mortals! You think you can consume me that easily?”

Ancilanco who should’ve been consumed and disappeared appeared once again.

He was more vicious and furious than before as He was trying to compete for the right to use this body.

Soon enough, the victor to the rights of the body was determined.

Ancilanco has gotten the final victory, not just because of a sudden ambush inside but also because of the “Ancilanco Codex”!

The elderly sister who should have left long ago somehow appeared inside the crater. Above her head was a book the size of a small tea table with extreme thickness. The pages of the book were flipping through rapidly, fluttering as loud as it could while Sister Moni was standing there with a pained expression, unable to even budge.

“Get out! This body is mine!” Ancilanco declared.”

“Aaaaaargh!”

After an eerie wail of a soul sounded, the first generation Duke Wayne’s image was expelled from the body, turning into a gale and vanishing into nothing.

Ancilanco smiled coldly when he saw the scene.

“You’re trying to fool me with such petty tricks?” Ancilanco then lifted his hand.

A grayish-green energy stream was fired towards the bishop’s remains.

The head that was on top of a bunch of gears, springs, and scrapped metal suddenly opened its eyes.

The head quickly rolled away, dodging the energy stream attack.

“Ancilanco!”

Duke Wayne who possessed his own student looked at Ancilanco with clenched teeth.

A feeling of rage that he haDn’t feel for a long time filled his brain because Duke Wayne was used.

“Ancilanco Codex!”

Duke Wayne had read the codex before and learned from it before. It was also the very reason that made Duke Wayne decide to execute his “God’s plan” in the first place.

He knew the relationship between Sister Moni and “Ancilanco Codex”, even more so from a certain aspect, Duke Wayne himself caused it with his own hands for his own plans and also to restrict the elderly sister.

Compared to a stronger power, Duke Wayne was more worried that Sister Moni’s long life would allow her to spot something in the process, so he needed something to distract the elderly sister.

However, Duke Wayne didn’t know Ancilanco who had lost his divine position, a broken divinity with a flickering divine flame could still “borrow” the powers from the codex.

Not only was itn ot stated in the codex, the Light, Shadow and Dawn churches’ records didn’t mention anything either.

All Duke Wayne could find was the contempt for Ancilanco and the description stating Ancilanco couldn’t utilize “Ancilanco Codex”‘s power.

It was a lie! A lie to escape imprisonment and be revived on the spot!

Then, all those records mean…

The first generation Duke Wayne’s expression changed drastically, his eyes were like the gaze from a hungry wolf or a venomous snake, staring at Ancilanco.

The God who has just been revived slowly and casually raised his hand.

Pak!

A clear sound echoed inside the crater.

After that, the contract between the elderly sister and the codex was broken instantly.

“Ancilanco Codex” flew back to the revived God like sparrows returning to their nest while the elderly sister spat out a mouth full of blood, limping on the ground.

But she didn’t fall to the ground because her guardian knight caught her.

Neither the revived God nor the first generation Duke Wayne were bothered by the intruder that suddenly entered the scene because another hand grabbed the flying “Ancilanco Codex” in mid-air.