The Devil's Cage

The news on the ambushed convoy got back into King City inside Ring City after three hours.

In fact, if King City did not send scouts after the convoy which did not return after the designated time, the time would prolong endlessly.

"Who!? Who the hell is it! I will tear it to shreds!"

After knowing the news, King Liao roared furiously in the grand hall.

As for why 'it' and not 'him'?

King Liao firmly believed that those 'pups' from the outside world had gone through many unexpected changes and were currently in panic. Before they made contact with their 'parents' in the outside world using some bridge, they would never pay attention to the underground city.

Even if they noticed the underground Ring City, they would keep their distance because as long as they weren't idiots, they knew the darkest underground without sunlight was the most dangerous.

Keeping their distance from the underground city was the safest way to survive!

Getting close to the underground city?

Stop joking.

No one would play with their lives and approach such an obvious danger.

King Liao was very confident of that and what his subordinates reported after that verified his thoughts.

A monster covered in black armor knelt before the three kings.

"Sire, the attackers tried to cover their traces with fire but we found traces of hooves at the scene where the convoy was attacked. There are also the marks of a pitchfork and a greatsword. Based on the traces we found, we have reason to believe that the attackers were Peis and Anno, a pair of monsters," the leader of the scouts reported.

"Peis, Anno?"

King Liao was unfamiliar with the names of the strangers.

"Peis is a minotaur and Anno is a horseman. They lurked around the outer city sector and robbed others for a living. They once tried to sneak into Mou City Sector but were stopped by Guard White, hence the grudge towards Ring City. They would occasionally cause trouble for us. I've sent a team to wipe them out before but these two bastards are very cunning. We'd lose them every time and they escaped outside Ring City."

Unlike King Liao, the leader of the scouts seemed to be very familiar with the minotaur and horseman, speaking of them with great understanding.

"I hope this time you won't lose them like you always do," King Liao said in a heavy tone.

"Of course! I assure you sire, you will see their heads in the shortest time possible!" The leader of the scout gave its assurance.

It wasn't talking big, it was confident it could capture the minotaur and horseman.

From how the scout leader viewed it, the reason why the scouts let the minotaur and horseman escaped in the past, other than the area outside Ring City being too large for a proper search, was that the leader and its men did not treat the robber duo seriously. They simply searched for the duo due to standard operating procedures and the dissatisfaction from the monsters inside Ring City.

This time, however, wasn't the same!

These two robbers were bold enough to ambush the convoy from King City! This would be the end of the robber duo!

The scout leader looked down with bow and slowly retreated out of the grand hall.

After the leader went out of the grand hall, the door slowly closed up and it straightened its back before it strode to the inner city.

A group of 300 scout riders wearing the same armor as the leader had been waiting in formation in the inner city.

The armor was pitch black, shadowing the rider's faces and only revealing two soul fires in their eye sockets—the horses they rode were as black as their riders, with a body of armor and soul fire in their eyes.

As dead spirits that once fought on the battlefields, these monsters were stronger and more ruthless than normal ones.

They were fond of not only killing their enemies but also torturing their prey, therefore they were King Liao's favourite.

"Take Peis and Anno back! For his Majesty!"

The leader chanted loudly and hammered its chest in the direction of the grand hall.

"For his Majesty!"

The rest of the monster riders chanted en masse.

The group of riders then turned their horses around and rode out of Ring City.

King Liao saw how vigorous and quick his favourite group of riders were, the respect from them very satisfying, causing him to nod in delight.

King Liao strongly believed this group of riders would not let him down.

"The troublemakers will soon be apprehended. What should we do now? Follow that man's suggestion and send another convoy to the surface?" King Liao asked.

King Qi was as silent as usual, as though he was asleep, not moving at all.

King Reow chuckled, "Are you really going to send another convoy?"

"Of course not! We might have lost a little of our collection but it's our collection!" King Liao shook his head.

"Em. That is why we are doing this our way. Also, I don't believe them. Whether it is that Victor or that bastard, both of them bear hidden agendas, likewise us too. Isn't it fair?" King Reow nodded slightly, his action so soft but the shadows around his throne shook.

"Fair! Of course it's fair! Now, do I need to kill those two bastards? I have been waiting for a long time!" King Liao said eagerly.

"No need to rush, they can't run. What we need to do now is capture those 'pups'. We still need to work with Scarlet—did you find out where his powers come from?"

King Reow then looked at King Qi.

King Qi shook his head in the shadows, he didn't speak a word but the other two kings understood the meaning.

"That bastard Scarlet, always so mysterious. The robe and the prayer beads are all pretentious items, but his prayers were very suspicious in my point of view," King Liao said.

"Prayers, eh?" King Reow thought about it for a while before he waved his hand.

Several blurry figures flew out from the shadow and then the grand hall.

"Leave Scarlet to me. I'll leave the 'pups' on the surface to you. Remember, alive!" King Reow said.

"I will try to hold back. It's just a taste, I won't eat all of them!"

King Liao vanished from his throne with a frantic laugh.

"King Qi, please continue to cut the transportation link, don't stop before King Liao comes back."

King Reow also vanished after that, leaving King Qi alone in the grand hall.

The last king on the throne remained silent, though his hand under his sleeve was moving.

...

Back on the surface, on the outskirts, Pangnard was standing straight with an ugly look.

He used every single way that he knew of to contact the outside world but none bore results.

One of the methods Pangnard tried worked yesterday, but not now.

"Someone sealed us off? Or… is it the handy work of those monsters in the underground city?"

Pangnard looked even more worried as he pondered. Regardless of which speculation he came up with, it wasn't any good news to him.

Pangnard originally planned to return to camp, contact the Herders, and then open a passage for the help to come in to end the Battle of Winter Night earlier, so that that muscle-brain Lucan could leave this place alive.

But now?

He couldn't even get back to camp, let alone end the event earlier.

The worst thing was…

Souu!

An air-breaking whistle sounded, Pangnard moving a bit and raised his gun.

Bang!

The magic gun hit the attacker accurately, it was one of the monsters from the other camp.

The magic bullet blasted a hole in the monster's chest, which was the size of a fist, yet the monster didn't care, it staggered a little before it ran towards Pangnard again.

Pangnard moved backwards while he fired his gun repeatedly.

Bang Bang Bang!

Three consecutive shots were fired, the last bullet blasted off the monster's head and it finally fell down without anymore struggles.

Though Pangnard didn't stay for long, he didn't even have time to clean the battlefield before he ran to the other side of the woods.

Right after Pangnard left, the predators appeared and more than one!

Similar to the other monsters, they didn't care whether it was day or night anymore. Any living being that entered the outskirts was their prey.

These predators, as long as 10 meters with their wings fully extended, soared the sky silently. They would storm their prey whenever they picked up some unusual noise.

Many prey died like this, without knowing why.

Some victims were Herders, some Inhumans, and some monsters.

The number of all three parties sharply reduced once more, especially the Herders.

When the night suddenly befell them, the outskirts became a fearsome place for the young Herders.

The weaker and less careful ones died, one after another.

Those who remained were either extremely strong or very vigilant and most of them were the best of both.

However, even if Pangnard wanted to team up with them, it would be anything but easy because none of them trusted Pangnard.

All the other Herders would run away from Pangnard upon seeing him and those who got near would fight him.

Pangnard was helpless against it. He highly believed if he was Lucan, the result would be a lot better but still limited.

Now he was stuck in the middle. He couldn't go back and couldn't team up with others, he had fallen into a weird and ill cycle.

The worse thing was, he knew the situation before him was considered calm. If that Royan did anything stupid, the real danger will follow.

Pangnard looked up at the dark sky, sighing helplessly and ran deeper into the woods.

Other than hiding, he couldn't think of a better way.

Similarly, Song Shi was also sighing and she also ran into the same problem as Pangnard: unable to contact the outside world.

As the eldest daughter of Song Shi Family, her family had fully prepared her for this event. Other than the many methods of communication and escape, even her emergency plans and items had choices for her to choose.

Though should she forcefully leave the venue, she would be disqualified but it would be better than dying, right?

Mian Yi was behind all of the preparation, he hoped that the young lady would just give up upon entry.

As for the lady he served winning the whole event?

Hmmm… impossible.

Mian Yi understood the young lady very well.

To put it in an euphoric way, she was naive and the less than pleasant way was that she was ungrateful little bitch, especially her ability to cause problems wherever she went.

How could a person like her win the Battle of Winter Night?

Song Shi had no idea what Mian Yi thought of her, and even if she knew, she wouldn't care.

She was Song Shi, the eldest daughter of Song Shi Family. There was no need to explain the motive behind her action.

She sighed, not because she couldn't go back, but because she was hungry.

Even though she had some well-baked rations with her, every time she thought of the food Roye cooked and the food container in Royan's backpack, Song Shi could barely swallow anything.

After multiple failed attempts, Song Shi got grumpy and stuffed her piece of biscuit back into her pouch at her waist. She then sniffed around with her nose.

A dog's nose was very sharp, but a fox's nose wasn't all that bad either, and probably stronger than a normal dog because she was not just any fox.

Nevertheless, she still couldn't locate Kieran's whereabouts.

"Covered his scent? Bastard! How afraid is he? Me stealing his food? Hmph! I will not! And don't you think you can lose me this easily!"

The illusive tails and ears appeared on her, and this time, she did more than just sniff around.

She used her ability from the bloodline to search for Kieran.

She always used her ability, especially against some special bloodlines, which proved useful, but not this time.

She clearly felt Kieran's presence around the area but something seemed to have blocked her out.

The shielding power was special, something like the contract's but also felt like seals.

"Hmph!"

Song Shi grunted, she was upset. She then took a strand of fur out from the pouch.

It was a fox's fur but not her own, her mother gave it to her.

The strand of fur could greatly enhance the bloodline power and amplify her fox abilities.

Although her father told her not to use it and hoped that she could grow step by step with a stronger base, she was troubled by hunger at the moment.

She knew her parents would forgive her for using it, so she put it to immediate use.

The illusive tails and ears became more realistic, but… she still couldn't locate Kieran.

It upset her even more, she took out another strand of fox fur, and then the third, the fourth, the fifth…

When the fur in her pouch was running low, Song Shi finally got something.

She saw a figure enveloped in magma and chained down with black chains.

Even though it was chained down, the figure was still as arrogant and untamed as ever, its eyes even showing disdain.

When Song Shi saw the arrogant look and eyes of disdain, she knew she had found Kieran even without further, careful observation because both of them looked the same!

As for the face?

Who cares, both of them looked very common anyway.

Song Shi flew towards the direction where she spotted the magma figure, following her vision and then she went underground.

She then found herself beside the Reek River.

Ugh!

The heavy stench made her retch, she saw Kieran further ahead and shouted at him, "Give me your backpack! The food is being contaminated! They are crying!"

Song Shi ran to Kieran as she cried.

"Does fox trick people like this?"

Kieran turned to Song Shi and then pointed at his backpack, which was wrapped in 20 layers of plastic wrap.

"I'm just worried about you…"

Grrrmmmmm!

Song Shi was being serious but before she finished, her stomach grumbled again.

Kieran watched her without any reaction.

"What are you looking at? This is normal bowel movement, it's one of the proofs that I am human!" Song Shi replied with a glare.

"Oh," Kieran kept away his gaze and looked at the Reek River.

Song Shi wanted to say something but when she opened her mouth, the stench entering her mouth and then her head, choking her until she could barely stand.

"What the hell are you looking at? This place stinks! Let's go!"

Song Shi said in a muffled voice with her hands over her nose and mouth.

"Ever seen a black firework?" Kieran asked.

"What?" Song Shi was startled.

Kieran reached out to a lighter, lit it up, and then threw it into the hold beside the river.

It wasn't a natural hole though, it was dug up by someone and it was rather new.

Song Shi could tell the hole was very fresh, but just when she was pondering what Kieran was doing, Kieran grabbed her by the collar and ran.

Song Shi shouted loudly out of anger, "What the hell are you doing…"

KABOOM!

Before she finished, a deafening blast silenced her hearing, the ground trembling fiercely as Song Shi stared blankly at the scene.

Behind her was… Ring City! And it was collapsing!