The Devil’s Cage

The cry of the dead caused the sky and earth to wail.

The gaze of the dead shook the hearts of the living.

Without any defensive measures, Burwell was dragged into [Fear Illusion] by [Dead-man’s Gaze], his body started to wobble under Kieran’s Strong I rank mental impact.

The interrogator God protected his believer from an exploding head before Kieran’s mental impact but the sword that Burwell threw out was forced to a pause because Kieran didn’t only just activated [Dead-man’s Gaze] but also [Sword Skill, Myriad Viper]!

Sssssss!

Tens of thousands of snake hissed.

The horned venomous vipers were hissing at the moon.

Burwell’s body froze when he was forced to go through another Spirit authentication.

The sharp glare of the sword tip stopped in front of Kieran’s neck and didn’t move anymore, Kieran’s kick successfully landed on Burwell’s abdomen.

Bang!

A heavy and loud bang later, Burwell didn’t fly away, instead, an unknown, powerful defensive force field barrier protected the archpriest.

It didn’t surprise Kieran though, in fact, if there wasn’t a force field of sorts, he would be surprised.

The second kick arrived like a shadow, landing on the same spot.

After the second kick, the powerful defensive field was shattered.

Pak!

Amidst the shattering noise that sounded like broken glass, Kieran dished out kick after kick.

Each kick was faster than before.

Each kick was heavier than before.

Every single one of them landed on Burwell’s body.

Afterimage after afterimage, kicking shadows were overlapping each other as they enveloped Burwell’s body.

Crack!

Bone cracking noises were ceaseless but Kieran didn’t plan on stopping.

When all the afterimages of his kicks were retracted, a sharp qi energy wave was blasted out.

The half-moon qi energy wave was like a scythe sweeping past Burwell’s body.

Puk!

Burwell’s head flew up high, a golden glow appeared on his body.

Kieran picked up his spoils of war and left in a hurry, he didn’t even glance at the archpriests and officiants in the shadows.

After Kieran had left for quite a while, the archpriests only came back to their senses as they looked at each other.

“What a terrifying kicking technique and…”

“Horrifying skills!”

After being silent for a while, the archpriest of Valiant Temple finally spoke after a deep breath.

The others nodded too.

The combo of [Barsical Kick], [Hundred Violent Kicks], and [Blade Kick] shook the archpriests’ hearts since they had never witnessed something like that before but compared to [Half-dead’s gaze] and [Sword Skill Myriad Viper], it was nothing.

“He can decide people’s life and death without any trace or sign! Wealth Temple and Sin Temple are in trouble now! Hope they’re having the “best” time of their lives!”

The archpriest from Love Temple said softly at the direction where Kieran went off before vanishing on the spot.

The others were stunned, they were pondering upon the meaning of Love Temple’s archpriest’s words.

Some even had more thoughts about it but no one stayed behind because the battle there was finished, none of them wanted to stay behind.

Of course, they also wanted to have a look at the battle at Thorn Temple, in another way.

Everyone else vanished after a while and all of their attention was placed on Thorn Temple.

They were looking forward to what would happen next.

As Sin Temple’s officiant, Farles was the first to acknowledge the situation.

He lowered his head and prayed, his body shook as it was shone by the light of the interrogator God, the light started to ripple shortly after that.

The waves of ripples instantly captured Barrion’s attention across from him.

“Your plans failed? Our chief knight isn’t that easy for you to deal with!”

Barrion looked up and said with a smile.

“You better worry about yourself! Once Sirontu fails, it will mean your demise! And he will not last any longer!” Farles said with a cold smile.

Just like what Officiant Farles said, Archpriest Sirontu couldn’t hold it much longer.

While facing the siege from Wealth Temple’s archpriest and officiant, Sirontu was placed at a complete disadvantage, his clean priest robe was torn badly in the process.

Blood and injuries were showing on all over his body. His aged face had tiredness that he couldn’t conceal but he clenched his teeth and held his ground.

He knew if he stepped down, Thorn Temple would be finished!

So Sirontu couldn’t, he dared not step down!

He couldn’t imagine that terrifying consequences if he did.

God’s mercy was only limited to their own respective believers.

It was cold as ice and harsh as a knife for the believers of other Gods, despite all the Gods originating from the southern city Naveya.

When Wealth and Sin Temple appeared together, Sirontu knew what they wanted: to destroy Thorn Temple!

To strip Lady Thorn of her divine position, destroy her divinity and drag her down from her divine altar.

In fact, not only Sirontu, Barrion knew it as well, therefore they both risked their lives in protecting their temple.

They didn’t utilize the powers from their Goddess for they had started to burn their own life force.

They knew if they still siphoned energy from Lady Thorn, it will only increase her burden in this difficult situation.

Their duty was not to increase the trouble for Lady Thorn but allow her to concentrate on dealing with the Interrogator and Lady Wealth.

However…

Judging from the situation at hand, it wasn’t progressing too well.

Whether was it Lady Wealth or the Interrogator, each of them had extra believers that lent them their life energy, allowing the Gods to pin down these two from Thorn as they burned their life force.

Before this, Sirontu and Barrion already faced despair, they knew where Burwell went since he wasn’t apart of the siege assault.

Although they were confident in Ryan’s strength, they didn’t think Ryan could really win against Burwell. It was not an issue of trust but Burwell was too infamous himself.

The young Ryan may stand a chance in the future against Burwell but not now!

However, no one would have thought the situation would face such a turn of events!

Ryan won! He won against Burwell!

Laughter came from Sirontu who was injured.

He glanced over the declining situation before him. A scarlet red mist-like energy stream rapidly swirled around the archpriest, boosting his power and speed a few times.

The sword in his hand was as fast and sharp as wind, countering Wealth Temple’s archpriest and officiant.

“Getting here from there… I think it will only take our chief knight around 5 minutes based on his speed! And for 5 minutes… we will hold!”

Barrion’s voice was heavy and powerful, the scarlet red mist-like energy stream started to swirl around him like Sirontu too, he was using his own life force to buff his old friend for one last time.

The consequences of his action were death, which he accepted with an open heart.

“Old friend, may we meet again in the divine kingdom!”

Barrion uttered the last words before bursting into light.

The burst of light gushed towards Sirontu like a waterfall.

While feeling the empowerment on his body, Thorn Archpriest Sirontu didn’t turn around at his old friend, instead, he concentrated his mind at the two foes before him.

His eyes were teary, he shouted, “WAIT FOR ME!”

Wung!

The scarlet red energy blasted up into the sky like a typhoon, Sirontu was completely tainted red. The sword in his hand split and formed a net of swords, trapping Wealth Temple archpriest, officiant, and Sin Temple’s officiant firmly.

“Take him down together! If that guy arrives, we might fail completely!” Officiant Farles shouted.

However, he couldn’t further buff the other two beside him.

Although he had the light from the Interrogator, he was perfectly clear of their plan in this trip, he didn’t dare to borrow more power from the one he served.

Likewise, for the Wealth Temple archpriest and officiant, they dared not simply borrow the power of the God they believed in.

The Interrogator and Lady Wealth against Lady Thorn, given the odds, the outcome was in the bag but in order to further solidify the plan, it was best for them, the servants, to not further borrow the power from their Gods.

As for risking their lives, since they were on the verge of victory, why would they take the risk?

Even more so since they knew what kind of changes would come after their victory, they were even more unwilling to sacrifice themselves for the cause.

Time passed by seconds by seconds.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes…

Sirontu’s blade force was not weakening by any means.

Four minutes, five minutes.

Sirontu’s blade force was slightly slowing down.

Although he was still pressuring and pinning down the three archpriest and officiants, he knew he couldn’t hold it for long.

Why hasn’t Ryan show up?

Could it be?

A bad feeling started to fill Sirontu’s heart.

“Seems like that chief knight that you put so much hope in only clenched a victory against Burwell despite the fact!” Farles said with squinted eyes.

“Clenched a victory? They might have both perished together or he might already be dead halfway here!” The Wealth Temple archpriest and officiant were even harsher on their words.

The three of them were messing with and dissolving Sirontu’s focus and willpower.

Since Sirontu was able to take up the position as archpriest of Thorn Temple, it was unquestionable that he had an iron will but at this particular time with such despicable means, as seconds passed by, it seemed like the harsh words were working.

Sirontu’s blade force was slowing down more.

Three of Sirontu’s foes showed glimmers in their eyes, they knew it was time to reap their harvest.

But right at that moment…

Bzzzz!

The light that belonged to Lady Wealth vibrated rapidly and suddenly vanished from the archpriest and officiant’s body, both of them were instantly stunned.

They didn’t know what happened and before they knew it, a blade glare flashed over their body.

After losing the buffs from Lady Wealth, both of them suffered a great decrease in strength and speed, causing them to not dodge the slash in time.

Two heads flew up high in the air.

When Farles saw that both of his teammates died, he didn’t have any thought of avenging them but instead he quickly drew distance from Sirontu.

What happened?

The burning question rose in Farles’ heart.

However, not only the Sin Temple officiant but the other observers, the archpriests, and officiants of other temples were filled with questions as well.

All were confused except for Sirontu.

He actually didn’t know what happen but he knew it was the rare chance that was presented to him to kill Farles!

With such a conviction in his mind, Sirontu lunged at Farles.

The battle was still going on but the observes had lost the interest to continue watching.

They knew the scale of victory was tipping to one side but which side?

They didn’t know. Fortunately, all their respective knights brought precise news to their ears.

Wealth Temple was on fire!

“Wealth Temple is on fire? Could it be…”

The archpriest of Valiant Temple was stunned when he received the news. He then quickly stood up from his seat as though he realized something as his expression changed a few times.

“What a surprise! This guy is really bold!” The archpriest of Valiant sighed.

“Since mortals can ascend to Godhood, there will be mortals that can slay a God. Not bad, not bad at all.” The archpriest of Love Temple was kneeling before a crystal ball, muttering softly.

“Hahahahaha! This is the trait of a true warrior! Fearless against everything!”

The archpriest of War Temple laughed in a gallant voice.

All the archpriests that received the news were shocked and showed different expressions.

Only the archpriest of Hunter Temple reacted in a unique way.

The tall and buff middle-aged man took a glance at Herasu who was slightly pale but clear at mind before he gave out the order, “Send out support to Thorn Temple now!”

The unusual movements in Hunter Temple immediately attracted attention from the other temples around it.

They saw that Hunter Knights were marching towards Thorn Temple and also had a glance at Wealth Temple that was still burning.

Some continued to keep quiet.

Some followed Hunter Temple and took action together.

However, all of these were not concerns for Kieran at the time being.

After killing Burwell, he went according to his plan and sprinted towards the temple district.

Kieran was planning to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao, or in a more precise way, he wanted to apply a permanent solution to the situation.

Thus, he chose Wealth Temple.

The reason, however, was not just because most of the priests and deacons were led away by the archpriest and officiant to the siege on Thorn Temple and since the knights were wiped out by him, the remaining priests and deacons would not be much, thus leaving only a tiny bit of strength, it was also because Wealth Temple’s location was located at the edge of the temple district, which was very close to Kieran’s position.

All he needed to do was charge in with full force!

Kieran dashed into the core of Wealth Temple like lightning and stood before the statue of Lady Wealth.

He jumped.

Wung!

[Arrogant Word] caused a numbing whistle as it decapitated Lady Wealth’s statue.

As the head was chopped off, the buzz on [Arrogant Word] was growing restless, its bewitching purplish glimmer was rumbling ceaselessly as it grew denser.

However, Kieran didn’t even notice all of that.

His eyes were captivated by a figure that suddenly appeared before him.

The light was bright, thus the figure’s face was blurred out but the aura that the person brought made Kieran wobble and stagger backward.

“A clone!”

Although Kieran was stepping backward, his eyes were locked on the figure and his sharp senses kept telling him how powerful the person was.

However, it wasn’t a dire situation like he was facing a real God.

Everything was exactly within his expectations.

Even with the help from the Interrogator himself, Lady Wealth wouldn’t have placed all her attention on Kieran the ant-like being while facing off against Lady Thorn at the same time.

A clone of herself would be her limit and this particular clone was what Kieran has been waiting for.

Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao.

The second stratagem of thirty-six. (look up Sun Tzu Art of War) which means to distract a powerful force that is threatening you by causing greater problems for it elsewhere, particularly by attacking those places it holds most dear.