The Devil's Cage

His head was a little dizzy but his body felt no pain. The ground wasn't as hard as Pangnard thought, it felt a little… soft?

Pangnard slowly woke up after falling deeper underground, looking around to check his new surroundings and touching the 'floor' beneath him.

"Had enough touching?"

A muffled voice entered Pangnard's ears, shaking him.

He quickly realized he was on top of Lucan.

Pangnard jumped up, and with the minimal light in the area, saw many cracks caused by a heavy impact below Lucan.

Lucan was completely embedded into the ground, so Pangnard could only imagine how much force Lucan had sustained after falling.

If it was Pangard, he would be crushed to death!

Pangnard's gaze on Lucan turned complicated, because a while ago, Pangnard deemed Lucan as a competitor but this competitor had saved him.

Pangnard didn't know how he should face Lucan all of a sudden.

Lucan seemed to notice Pangnard's awkward gaze.

"I didn't want to save you, it's just that I am heavier than you, that's why I fell down first."

Lucan said while he clenched his teeth to stand up, but he fell back down halfway through.

Even Lucan, the Herder from the North who was known for his strong physique, would have suffered serious damage without question after falling from such height and acting as a human falling pad.

"Are you okay?"

Pangnard regained his senses after Lucan fell back down, running over and squatting down to check on Lucan's injuries.

"I'm fine," Lucan said in a heavy tone.

"Your ribs are broken, your leg is broken, your internal organs suffered multiple degrees of injuries…"

"I said I'm fine! I'll get better after some rest!"

Lucan stopped Pangnard and simply shut his eyes, but right after he shut his eyes, he felt warmth poke his mouth and then liquid that smelled fishy ran down his throat.

Lucan opened his eyes and saw he was sucking on a test tube.

He wanted to spit it out but his exhausted body prevented him from doing so.

Pangnard took a few more test tubes from his pocket and stuffed all of them in Lucan's mouth.

"I don't like owing debts. This is the healing potion that I found earlier. You should be back on your feet in no time," Pangnard said seriously.

Pangnard then helped Lucan up, putting Lucan's arm over his shoulder and grabbing the belt to move the injured Herder to the side.

They landed in a large, dark hall, neither of them able to see properly but Pangnard knew they couldn't stay any longer because that minotaur would come for them.

After witnessing the shrinking ability from the minotaur and his brute strength, Pangnard didn't think that titanium vault door could stop the monster. Lucan knew it as well.

Lucan wanted to ease Pangnard's burden but whenever he tried to use his strength, his body would hurt from top to bottom, from inside to outside.

The injuries he sustained from the fall was much more serious than he thought.

"You better stay still. The potions I gave you are everything I got, if you are hurt beyond this, I don't have any left to save you," Pangnard said as he looked around.

They had arrived at one side of the hall with a tall and sturdy wall that had some broken reliefsfv on it.

Pangnard touched the wall and felt cold, a mixture between rocks and metal.

"Where are we? Have you seen anything like this before?" Pangnard asked in a muffled voice.

"No, I thought we fell into the underground sewer," Lucan said.

"Underground sewers won't have reliefs like this, and… the air here is fresh, it doesn't feel stuffy at all. There must be a specialized air vent for ventilation."

Pangnard licked his finger after he touched the wall, carefully tasting the coldness and texture and then pointing at a certain direction in the dark.

"There."

Pangnard held Lucan up and moved forward to the designated location.

They arrived in front of a tunnel, which was also covered in darkness.

Both of them could feel the refreshing wind just by standing at the entrance.

Pangnard brought Lucan together and ventured forward.

400 to 500 meters later, Pangnard was already panting heavily because of the weight.

Heavy!

He felt like he wasn't holding a man but a bear!

No! Even a bear wasn't as heavy as Lucan!

"Let me down. I feel better now, I should be able to walk on my own," said Lucan when he heard the heavy breathing from Pangnard.

He knew how heavy he was and he also understood what Pangnard was good at.

In fact, Lucan was already surprised that Pangnard was able to hold him this far.

Though Pangnard didn't take the advice.

Pangnard looked down and held Lucan tighter over his shoulder, his face displaying his stubborn side.

Like all the other Herders, regardless of who they were during normal times, they would always hold onto their beliefs during critical moments. Pangnard was no exception.

Pangnard could allow other irrelevant people to die in a heartbeat but Lucan saved him from that fall, so he had to return the favour.

It wasn't about kindness, it was about his life principle.

Another 400 to 500 meters forward, Pangnard finally saw where the wind came from: there was an open door at the end of the dark passageway.

The door wasn't opened up the usual way though, it was smashed through.

The thick wooden door was shattered to pieces and scattered all over the ground, some pieces of the door still lingering on the frame.

"What the…" Pangnard frowned.

After a quick check, his brows furrowed tighter.

"The wooden door is around 20 cm thick, it's soaked in tung oil, so it's super sturdy. I can't see a cutting mark or traces of a blunt weapon smashing through; there's no explosives in sight either, only a set of shallow footprints. Meaning…it was kicked open!?"

Pangnard was frightened by the answer he came up with.

He gasped and looked at Lucan.

"I might be able to pull it off during my prime, but definitely not this easy." Lucan said frankly.

"Do you know who else in the campsite is able to do this?" Pangnard asked.

"None," Luan shook his head.

He really had no idea who else in the campsite possessed this kind of monstrous strength.

Kieran's name flashed over his mind but Lucan quickly shook his head.

Kieran should be stronger than Lucan, but not ridiculously much, otherwise he wouldn't end up in the human camp but the Inhuman camp.

Could it be…

"The Inhumans have entered the arena?" Lucan whispered.

"It might be the Monsters too," Pangnard looked extremely ugly.

The Herders reserved their real opinions towards the Inhuman, but they were still considered allies.

As for the Monsters?

Both sides were arch nemesis!

Otherwise, the Battle of Winter Night wouldn't exist at all.

"What should we do?" Pangnard was hesitating as he looked at the path beyond the broken door. Lucan went silent.

While both of them sunk into their own silence…

BANG!

A loud bang came from the hall behind them.

Both of them looked extremely ugly at the commotion behind them: the minotaur was already behind them!

Without further ado, Pangnard held Lucan and strode forward.

Both of them had no idea who they encountered in front but they knew that minotaur was chasing them!

If the minotaur caught up to them, they would both perish.

Ahead of them was the unknown.

Should they meet an Inhuman, they would get an instant ally and it would be the best case scenario; should they meet another Monster, it would also end up in an ugly fight and it would be exactly the same as if the minotaur caught up with them.

So, hesitations aside, they moved forward!

With their lives on the line, Pangnard showed explosive power again, he could even jog while having Lucan around his shoulder.

However, the jogging duo looked uglier and paler as they moved forward and saw what really happened.

Monster's carcasses were all over the passage, door after door was smashed to pieces, and many boxes were opened up without the contents inside.

It seemed like this person or thing did not stop at all, neither did he or it get stopped by anything.

Monsters? Killed!

Doors? Smashed!

This person or monster rammed forward, destroying obstacles one after another and going on a rampage.

Both Pangnard and Lucan pictured the fearsome scene in their mind.

At the same time, a question appeared in both their hearts: Who is this? Or what is this?

Even more so for Pangnard, he was very confident in his talent, but until now, he did not pick up any presence of treasure.

He met similar situations before in the past though. Back then when he was still very new and weak, he encountered a colossal crocodile guarding some treasure and even though he saw the treasure with his own eyes, but he didn't sense its presence.

Back then, he was as weak as a normal man, but now?

He was the Herder representative of the coastal area!

Even if he would face that colossal crocodile again, he wouldn't be helpless anymore and although he still couldn't win, he could run!

However, his quiet talent slapped him in the face and told him he was still as weak as he was before, against this unknown person or monster.

Subconsciously, hesitation rose in his heart but the sound of running hoofs behind him didn't let his hesitation slow him down.

He continued forward as fast as he could.

More than 15 seconds later, both Pangnard and Lucan saw a giant figure.

This figure had the head of a horse with a giant blade in its hand and was charging towards them in a fearsome manner.

'F*ck! It's a monster!'

Pangnard and Lucan's hearts sank when they saw the monster that looked nothing like a human and felt the menacing aura.

Without further delay, Pangnard put Lucan down and pulled out his magic pistol and magic grenades.

He was prepared to go all out.

Getting caught without a fight? Stop joking!

He was Pangnard, the representative of the coastal area! Even if he would die, he would drag one of the monsters with him.

"I don't know how long I can hold them back but…"

Pangnard was talking to Lucan without actually looking at him but before he finished, he was tossed up into the air.

He flew up quick and the toss was very precise too.

Right after Pangnard grazed the horseman's head by sticking close to the ceiling, Lucan rammed into the horseman heads on!

BANG!

"RUN!"

A loud bang sounded together with Lucan's roar. Lucan's body then bloated up like a balloon and at the next moment, a brown grizzly bear roared loud.

The brown grizzly bear shouted at the horseman who got rammed on the floor and the minotaur behind him, "COME ON!"

The grizzly bear roared like a clap of thunder and rumbling lightning.

The dust at the ceiling got shaken and fell off, the dark passageway instantly getting dusty.

Amid the dusty scene, Lucan, who was prepared to die, noticed something wasn't right.

That horseman who he rammed on the ground was panting heavily, angry and grieving, looking at Lucan with an unwilling gaze. The horseman wanted to retaliate but it dare not move a finger, like a girl being bullied.

Further away, that minotaur acted even stranger, it stopped running and turned around, but when it showed its back to Lucan, it froze on the spot, like a statue.

"What happened!? Did I break through my limits without knowing it? I suppressed these two with my fierce aura alone?" Lucan scratched his bear head.

He even had a moment to turn to Pangnard, who was also confused.

Pangnard was utterly confused but he knew the situation had turned to their favour.

While Pangnard speculated what was going on, a set of footsteps came closer and gradually sounded clearer.

Dak Dak Dak Dak.

The pair of boots stepped on the ground, the footsteps weren't quick at all, like the owner was taking a stroll.

Pangnard and Lucan looked towards the source of the footsteps, which was the direction where the minotaur was trying to run to.

Shadows covered that direction and darkness blessed it with its abysmal presence.

Lucan and Pangnard saw the strong minotaur who had been chasing them fly towards them like a speeding truck had rammed over it. The minotaur crashed and landed beside the horseman.

Both monsters trembled as they looked at the direction where the footsteps sounded.

"Submit, or die."

A calm and cold voice came.

Both monsters quivered hard, looking at each other in utmost hesitation.

At the next moment, killer intentions as intense as a mountain pressured the two monsters.

The two horseman and minotaur stuck their faces on the cold hard ground for they chose to submit to the voice.

The battles before this told these two monsters this intense killer intents wasn't a joke.

They would really die if they chose not to submit.

"I, Deus, hereby agree to submit to the person in front of me and follow his footsteps, treating him like a king…"

"I, Kantes, hereby agree to submit to the person in front of me and follow his footsteps, treating him like a king…"

The minotaur and horseman spoke in a single voice.

At the end of their vows, both monsters paused unusually.

The brands deep in their soul that they had bore since birth made them submit in their own way. They knelt on the ground on one knee, held the greatsword and pitchfork up high with one hand and the other hand was placed in front of their chest, their heads were slightly tilted downwards while they said out loud, "Lord Yan Luo!"

Yan Luo?!

Lucan and Pangnard were shocked.

They did hear about some cultures and customs of the Monsters in teachings they received in the past, so they quickly reacted to the scene.

Yan Luo! The ruler of Hell!

No!

It was actually Royan! The Ai City representative who arrived at camp last!