The Devil’s Cage

When Bloody Mary brought the real Reedral back to the camp of the Mist religious sect in the Lower Seventh Ring, the commotion that had occurred earlier had faded and been cleaned up.

Or more accurately, with support from Edatine royal court, War God Temple, Mist religious sect, and the orthodox party, the commotion and panic was minimized. It didn’t go out of control.

However, the atmosphere was tense, especially for Duke Valentine, who came down here in a hurry.

He widened his eyes in anger and glared at the emissary of War God Temple.

The dead Sean wasn’t some nobody. As the ninth captain of the Apologetics Chivalry of War God Temple, many nobles were familiar with him and he was also rather well-known by the lower classes.

It was because of his status and reputation that things were getting more and more difficult to handle.

“I’m sorry everyone, there must be some misunderstanding among all this.”

The emissary of War God Temple was an elderly.

His hair and beard were white, his face had wrinkles but he was quite energetic.

He was also a person well-known by the public—Priest Termino

He was the representative of War God Temple in many, MANY, public appearances.

Most of the time, he’d joke and chat with many of the nobles, but now, at this moment, as he walked along the nobles and civilians, Priest Termino was unusually embarrassed.

He, of course, knew what happened. He also knew about the existence of the Inquisition inside War God Temple.

However, he never knew how bold those bastards were and how… incompetent they were.

Since they had targeted the heir to the throne and Snake Sect, why not make it a clean and quick strike?

It shouldn’t have ended like this, failing an assassination and surrendered their weakness to the opponent.

Damn it!

Whilst cursing Sean’s incompetence, the priest started to grind his gears to figure out a way out of this but Duke Valentine wasn’t that patient.

“Where’s Reedral? Tell me where he is!?” The duke jumped out and shouted at the priest from War God Temple.

One would not doubt that with the overflowing rage in his eyes. If the duke couldn’t get a proper answer, he might do something crazy.

Edatine royal court was not surprised at the duke’s reaction though.

Reedral was more than just a common ally to Valentine.

Because of how their families came to be, Reedral’s family and Valentine’s family benefited from each other for a very long time. Since Edatine IV’s era, both families had been strengthening their relationship through marriage.

Speaking from a bloodline relationship, Viscount Reedral was Duke Valentine’s cousin from his father’s side.

Both of them even grew up together. Some rumours even said that the reason why Valentine became a duke was because of Viscount Reedral.

In short, there wouldn’t be a Duke Valentine without Viscount Reedral.

Therefore, it was understandable that Valentine was furious.

Huhaa, Huhaa!

Valentine held the hilt of his sword tightly as he panted heavily.

He told himself to be calm but he failed to do so.

Only he himself knew how important Reedral was to himself, what his cousin meant to him.

In fact, he was more than just a cousin, it was more than just helping each other out. Reedral was the… spine of both families!

Most of the time, all Valentine had to do was carry out the things Reedral arranged for him.

Now, with Reedral missing, Valentine had no confidence in ruling over the leftovers of both families, let alone the large properties and industrial investments in the south. He wasn’t even capable of taking charge of Edatine Castle.

He knew his own limits, he knew what he was good at. Without the intricacy of Reedral, there wouldn’t be any oversight over the overall situation.

Damn it!

Damn it!

Damn it!

The more Valentine thought, the more furious he was and he could no longer hold it back.

Chang!

The sword was drawn, the sharp tip was pointed at Priest Termino.

“You will go down with Reedral!”

Valentine wanted to lunge forward with his sword.

“Hold on, Duke Valentine! calm down!” said the vassal loudly, but he did not move a single step forward.

In Monte’s thought, the orthodox party was an enemy to the prince, as was War God Temple. Enemies fighting each other to the death? Why would he stop them?

No, he wasn’t an idiot! He ought to fan the flames and make things even worse for the both of them.

Therefore, whilst he was speaking loudly without taking a step forward, Monte was thinking about how he could truly incite a fight between the two of them.

To his disappointment, Duke Valentine did not stab the priest.

It was not that Duke Valentine changed his mind, he was stopped.

Viscount Reedral appeared beside Duke Valentine without his knowing and grabbed Duke Valentine’s wrist, preventing him from stabbing.

“Valentine, don’t rush. I’m not dead yet,” said Viscount Reedral jokingly.

“Reedral!? You are alright? Reedral?!”

Valentine was ecstatic when he saw Reedral beside him, shouting out of excitement, but a second later, the duke saw the many injuries on the viscount’s body.

The injuries were bandaged up but still bleeding, making them very eye-catching.

“Reedral, your injuries?” Valentine asked nervously.

“It’s fine, even if something happens to me, we can slowly deal with those who are responsible at a later date.”

Reedral then looked at Termino, his meaning obvious.

Right after the gaze, Priest Termino was anxious to publicly flog the dead Sean.

The dead captain didn’t just fail to assassinate Colin the heir, he even left Reedral alive, which would be an endless problem for War God Temple!

Thinking about the dead captain’s incompetent methods, Termino’s head started to hurt.

“I think there’s some misunderstanding in all this,” said Termino, who was socially resourceful, awkwardly.

“Really?” Reedral coldly chuckled and stopped saying anything.

Kieran stood there as if none of them had anything to do with him. He completely released the powers of the cardinal sins.

Rage was easier to affect one’s sanity, especially towards someone who was at a loss.

Now? Rage wasn’t needed, as the best actor had arrived.

Dak, Dak, Dak.

Amid the footsteps, the bishop of Mist religious sect walked over.

“Lord bishop!”

Everyone at the scene bowed, one after another, at the bishop. Even Termino from War God Temple was no exception, although deep in this priest’s heart, he viewed the Mist believers as heretics, so nothing had changed.

Before any fallout, everything should remain as it was.

Bloody Mary returned a bow to everyone, then it signalled to Rogart.

“Bring some medicine and a hare skin coat for lord viscount here.”

“Yes, my lord,” Young Rogart immediately ran back to the camp.

“Lord bishop, please don’t address me as lord, you can just call me Reedral.”

Reedral turned around and bowed at Bloody Mary.

Beside him was Valentine, looking astonished at the action of his cousin.

He could tell that his cousin wasn’t just spilling some courteous words, those words were truly from the bottom of his heart.

‘Did he save Reedral?’ With that thought in mind, Valentine too bowed at Bloody Mary, and it wasn’t just any bow, it was the salutation of the nobles, where one had to bow 35° forward.

As long as his cousin was alive, a little salutation like this was nothing for Valentine. He’d even kneel on his knees if he had to and he’d do it willingly.

The vassal saw the scene, his eyes starting to twitch, shifting his gaze to the bishop.

“He has already won over the fondness of the orthodox party? And he seems to have a close relationship with his Highness. This fella…” Monte unknowingly raised his caution.

He felt that all this had gone beyond the role of a bishop.

He unconsciously tugged the prince by the sleeve, as a reminder.

When he saw the nonchalant expression at his prince’s face and that he wasn’t at all moved by the scene, the vassal heaved a sigh of relief.

It seemed like his prince had also noticed it and it would be enough!

Not only was Monte worried about the scene, Termino was another person who shared his troubled feelings.

Looking at the Mist and orthodox party, who obviously became unusually close after this, Termino really wanted to flog the dead Sean again and again.

A religious sect who gained reputation from the lower class civilians and a religious sect who gained reputation from the lower class civilians AND a friendship with the nobles were two entirely different concepts.

Although the former might win with numbers, the deciding powers were lacking.

The latter? It would really be troublesome.

Do note that the power that Reedral and Valentine represented was not something a rural noble like the lord of Sicar could compare with.

Termino was thinking hard, hoping to dissolve the alliance, but he was out of ideas.

A life-saving gratitude wasn’t something that could be easily abandoned.

Whilst Termino was heavy with his thoughts, a more unexpected thing happened before his eyes.

The young man and a knight from the Apologetics Chivalry, Gino, who had been neglected all this time, walked up.

“My lord, please save us,” the young man suddenly knelt down on one knee.

“What is wrong, young soul? My lord is not stingy with his light but the light of God of War is still with you, bask in it and you will be protected,” Bloody Mary looked at the young man in astonishment, the same went for the others at the scene.

What Bloody Mary said was the truth.

With the light of God of War still active on Gino, why would he seek help from the Mist, who was obviously weaker than the former?

The young man did not say anything though, he looked at Bloody Mary with a pleading gaze.

“Do you want to have a talk with me?” asked Bloody Mary with utmost kindness.

“Yes my lord, please. I am not sure whether or not ‘his’ emissary is hiding among all this,” answered the young Gino.

“I see. You too have realized it… Let’s go. I will bring you to a safe place.”

Bloody Mary then helped the young Gino up and brought him inside the camp.

Watching the two of them walk away, Kieran seized the timing and perfectly showed a look of realization.

The vassal, on the other hand, thought of the meeting that happened before. He, too, was in deep thought.

Reedral and Valentine were confused but it was none of their business. They maintained their noble bearing and with the guidance from the Mist members, they headed to the camp.

Only Termino acted differently.

He was utterly confused, his head stuffed with question marks. His instinct told him the things that happened before his eyes were closely related to War God Temple, but he had ways to know what was going on.

The feeling was the worst!

No! He couldn’t let this happen anymore!

Termino quietly signalled to a follower behind him.

A second later, the follower quietly went away.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Termino thought he was inconspicuous enough but Kieran caught everything.

Baited.

A sense of delight flashed over Kieran’s eyes.