The Devil's Cage

Groom, Groom, Groom.

A wagon pulled by four horses was cruising swiftly and steadily as its wheels rolled on the loose path.

Outside the window, lush green forest flashed by.

Luphus was explaining Gordor Land to Kieran inside the carriage.

"Gordor is the smallest land in Yort Fields. It didn't have a so-called castle, no farms or plantations, and a few scattered villages formed a town. Thus, the first mayor of the town became the first lord of Gordor. The lord was a kind, peaceful elderly man who liked to study and research. Soon enough, a group of people gathered around the elderly and they learned many things from him. Then, his students applied what they had studied and served under separate lords, meaning that every single land in Yort Fields is connected to Gordor, one way or another. Due to that connection, Gordor became one of the few peaceful lands in Yort Fields."

Luphus looked nostalgic when he spoke of his hometown. Kieran, on the other hand, thought of more.

Gordor Land wasn't too far away from Arya Outpost. Two sunrises and they would arrive at the land, meaning Gordor Land was a buffer in between Arya Outpost and Yort Fields. Plus, no plantations and farms in the place made it a peaceful land.

No matter how small a plankton, it would still feed on fish.

Based on his understanding of the greediness of the lords in Yort Fields, they wouldn't spare Gordor Land.

Of course, none of that mattered to him, as he only wanted to know the details of the contract, or rather, what ushered both sides to sign such a contract?

Kieran shut his eyes, tightening and relaxing his muscles under the feather mantle. The Dawn and Plague force in his body was operating slowly.

It was already Kieran's instinct to seize the moment to strengthen his body.

In fact, the reason for this trip to Gordor, other than having Luphus together because he was required to access the books, was so Kieran could have a somewhat stable environment to adapt to his ever-strengthening body.

This strengthening process was extremely subtle though.

The fire in his mind was jumping and it would 'slowly' strengthen all the Origin Force in his body. This 'slow' speed was compared to the direct level up when he used Golden Skill Points. Had he compared it to the previous strengthening process without the use of the Golden Skill Points, his current strengthening process was more than ten times faster.

Given this exponential speed, Kieran had to adapt to his body almost every single moment.

Perhaps it was still a long way to go before some qualitative change would occur, but facing everything in his prime form was never wrong.

Luphus heaved a breath of relief when he saw Kieran shut his eyes.

Along the way, he had tried his best to initiate conversation, putting forth his best effort to make his Majesty happy, but this Majesty looked like someone whose facial expression had deteriorated. No matter the types of jokes Luphus said or interesting news he revealed, Kieran looked at him with a dull and expressionless face.

Luphus would rather face a cold butcher whose face was smeared with murderous intent than a Majesty with a dull, expressionless face. What Luphus saw in Kieran's expressionless face was nothing but ignorance.

He'd ignore everything, every rule and everyone.

As if other than the things he cared about, nothing else mattered to him.

Using that fact as a premise, meaning…

He would kill everything before him?!

Somehow, such thoughts baffled Luphus' mind. The old man gasped and at the same time, his forehead was beaded with sweat.

Luphus was good at relating matters and deducing theories, so he couldn't help but think more.

He unconsciously looked at Kieran's ever-calm face.

Should Kieran become a real God, would he be good or bad?

He treated everything like grass beneath his feet.

Although Luphus was only in Arya Outpost for a few hours, he had already heard about the rumours of the 'demigod'. Although he doubted the validity of the rumours, he was smart enough not to ask.

He treated everything as fact for the time being.

Should Kieran really ascend to Godship, what title would he get?

It was impossible for him to be the Hero God!

Although he had slayed a God before, his true nature didn't share any similarities to a hero.

Then, what could it be…

"Arh!"

While Luphus was deep in his own speculations, Kieran had suddenly opened his eyes and the gaze was like a unsheath longsword stabbing into Luphus' heart.

Luphus couldn't hold back his cry of shock, covering his chest and rolling aside.

"Roffu, stop the wagon," Kieran said.

The young soldier quickly pulled the reins, jumping down from the driver's seat with Eden, and opened the carriage door.

Kieran jumped off of the wagon and walked towards the forest beside the path. The young soldier drew his sword and followed without question.

When Eden's curious gaze was ignored, he looked at his teacher, asking with his gaze 'what should we do now?'

Luphus pouted his lips at Kieran's back.

Although he didn't know what Kieran really cared about, the old man was sure about one thing: should anything happen, staying beside Kieran would be a lot safer than being in the carriage.

Why not seize the moment and run?

Luphus wasn't an idiot, he wouldn't make such a stupid move.

Aside from the 'demigod', even the soldier beside him could locate them in a short time and cut them in half.

Of course, that didn't mean Luphus had given up on running.

Escaping required technique, best if he could leave a retreating path for himself should he fail.

As the little thoughts spun in his mind, Luphus came down from the wagon with the help of his student, chasing after Kieran and Roffu, who had stopped further away.

The forest wasn't that tall, there weren't many brambles, and Roffu had opened a path with his sword, so Luphus and Eden entered the forest easily.

Then, they saw a body leaning on a tree trunk.

The body of a man was wearing a fancy outfit and a big hat. On top of the hat was a long pheasant feather and at his waist was a short knife. His open backpack had some food and a water bottle; the harp that fell beside the tree stated his identity as a minstrel.

"A minstrel? What a poor fella!"

Luphus was looking at the body in shock.

Since the 'wise man' was from Gordor Land, he had quite the impression of the minskels there. Of course, neither of them were in conflict. Once conflict broke out, Luphus would never hold back.

And now?

"Eden, help bury this poor fella…. Wait! Don't touch him!" Luphus said as he walked over to the body.

Before he could finish, he saw Kieran flip the body around.

It might look normal from the front but the rear, leaning on the trunk, was seriously rotten. It was badly decayed, to the point that the throat was almost gone, the organs turning into a pile of rotten meat.

However, there weren't any maggots or a rotten stench.

It was like a rotten apple, where one side was fine while the other side was rotten.

A very unusual decaying process.

Luphus widened his eyes in shock. He dragged Eden away as though he was electrocuted and poured the potion that he took out from his sleeve into his mouth and Eden's.

As the potion swirled down his tongue, Luphus mumbled "The Plague of Decay!"