The Devil's Cage

As the horses sprinted, the golden swallowtail flag waved in the air.

The eagle on the flag was lively, as if it was soaring in the sky.

Beneath the flag were hundreds of riders from the royal guardians of Edatine, sitting on their horses that sprinted forward in a horizontal line, their bodies moving along with the motion and even the galloping pace of their horses synchronized.

Anyone who saw the group of riders would be in awe of how scary and sharp they were.

A hundred riders rode like a single entity, it wasn't something easily achievable.

It required a huge amount of money, supplies, and a very long period of training together.

Moreover, this group of riders didn't just look impressive, they also emanated a trace of killer intents as they rode and such killer intents would only be visible on veterans of the battlefield.

Therefore, as the leader of the riders, Feliquex was very proud.

As a trusted follower of Edatine IV, Feliquex had helped the king to remove and clean up many obstacles more than once.

And this time, it would not be any different.

Moreover, this mission was very easy. Not assassination, not assault, not even a battle, it was just a mere 'escort' mission. His mission was to escort the new lord of Sicar safely to Edatine Castle.

Whenever he thought about how easy this mission would be, Feliquex couldn't hold back his chuckles.

Coming from a noble background, Feliquex knew what the king meant: control the baroness in their hand tightly. Otherwise the king wouldn't have sent him, the youngest and most handsome leader to carry out the mission.

As a matter of fact, Feliquex had heard of the well-known widow baroness, who had lost her partner at a very young age.

She did not fit into the noble social circle, loving reading and possessing vast knowledge.

Of course, her beautiful looks were vastly discussed throughout the land when she was young. If it wasn't for her weird personality and persistence in rejecting the proposal of the royal court, she would have ended up as a wife of some member of Edatine's royal court.

Now?

She was just stepping into 30, her looks would definitely not have changed that much. She was in between the youthful beauty of a girl and the "maturity" of a woman and Feliquex extremely liked this kind of mature and beautiful looking woman, let alone that tremendous amount of wealth that would follow.

"If I can conquer this widow, I might not be a little branch leader anymore in the future! And my family's status will rise because of mine and… I could even build a new mansion in Edatine!"

Falling into his beautiful fantasy towards the future, Feliquex was filled with energy.

He eagerly whipped his horse to make it gallop faster and appeared in front of the baroness so that he could display his charms and act like a gentleman before her, winning her heart.

As for his fiance back in his home?

He couldn't care about her anymore.

If the fiance did not mind following him after this little important step and did not concern herself about the name, Feliquex would still accept her, but if she minded?

Well sorry, she was just a fiance to him. How could she be more important than his future and his entire family?

After the decision was made, Feliquex's eyes grew determined and strong.

Even if there was a lion in his way, he might even have the courage to wrestle it.

However, a lion would never appear in the land of Sicar. Sicar was cold and filled with snow, only animals born to resist the cold or possessing extremely good adaptability could survive, like rats!

The rodents accompanied a great cloud of mist and silently appeared in the dense woods on both sides of the main route. They were extremely good at hiding, their sneaky eyes gazing upon the royal guardian riders who slowed down because of the mist's appearance.

There was no order, so there was no attack from the rats, watching the riders like an audience.

The sudden appearance of the strong mist slowed down the riders and eventually forced them to a stop.

Feliquex was looking in front a dozen meters into the mist, he couldn't help but coldly chuckle.

After he accepted this mission from the king, he had paid close attention to everything that happened around the land of Sicar.

He knew about the so-called Mist religious sect, but he didn't take them seriously due to the fact that he had Edatine's royal court behind him!

"A mere demi-god who has just completed descension dares to disregard the rules and roam free? If Edatine royal couldn't even deal with a mere demi-god, they would have been annihilated by their enemies long ago!" Coldly chuckling in his heart, the leader of the riders raised his hand.

The riders under his command drew their swords one after another.

The swords glared brightly, on the broad body were many strange patterns, and under the morning light, the patterns shimmered with their unique shine.

Magical weapons! And not just one but hundreds of them, in sets!

The magical weapons resonated and reciprocally buffed each other.

Finally, all the powers gathered on Feliquex's body and a sharp and strong aura appeared.

Feliquex couldn't help but suck in a deep breath as he savoured the strength of a hundred.

Although it wasn't the first time receiving such powers, Feliquex would still be in awe at his current state.

Powerful! Power that was unrivalled!

What could those pagans do in front of such power?

Aside from those who hadn't even completed their descension, even if they did, Feliquex had killed two before in his empowered state.

A demi-god?

Unconsciously, a sardonic smile coupled with killer intentions appeared on Feliquex's face once more.

He raised the golden swallowtail flag, which he tied behind him earlier.

He might be lackluster against a demi-god even in his empowered state but he had his 'war flag' with him!

Without a second of hesitation, Feliquex diverted all the power in his body to the flag.

Fung!

An eagle's caw, powerful enough to shatter stones or gold, echoed in the sky.

The lively eagle on the swallowtail flag came alive!

It twisted its neck, then looked at the mist, its sharp eyes seeming to have pierced the blurry sight and seen everything in the mist.

Then, it flew out from the war flag.

The golden war flag turned gloomy after the eagle flew out but at the next moment, a denser golden shine appeared on the eagle, soaring up to the sky powerfully and quickly, like a sun rising from the horizon.

Even the sunlight was absorbed by the eagle! The light and heat from the sun gathered on the eagle and two breaths later, the golden aviary shone even more dazzlingly

The light was warm and blinding, as if it was a second sun.

It kept climbing up, not just its body but its powerful aura also.

When it flew up to the furthest point where eyes could reach, the eagle dived down like a suicide bomber plane and shot itself into the mist.

Fung!

The powerful wind that followed the dive whistled over Feliquex's face and the others, causing them to squint their eyes instinctively. Even the well-trained horses couldn't hold still and staggered backwards.

The mist that was blocking their way rumbled, like water boiling.

At the next moment…

Kaboom!

A huge explosion went up into the sky.

The golden shine swept across everything in the area and even the ground shook for a few seconds before stopping.

After the ground stopped shaking, the mist dissipated, together with a human figure.

It was unclear and vague but Feliquex saw it, along with several of his sharpshooters.

Neither Feliquex nor his sharpshooters felt surprised at the dissipated figure.

It was normal to them!

After all, this war flag was purposely prepared to deal with those so-called demi-gods.

The sun shone upon the land again.

All of the royal guardian riders clearly saw a huge crater a dozen meters in width in front of them.

Not only was the main route damaged, even the dense woods on both sides were caught in the explosion.

"Disengage! We will go around the crater!" A new order came from Feliquex.

The two meters deep crater wasn't something their horses could cross, even if the horses were carefully handpicked.

Every single one of the riders came down from their horses, pulling them by the reins and carefully going around the deep crater.

In order to hasten this process, Feliquex split the group into two and told them to move from both sides.

There was no pushing and squeezing but the team was messed up. Feliquex didn't say anything or scold them though. He knew no matter how elite his troops were, it was impossible for them to move in a neat fashion.

Moreover, the biggest enemy was wiped out.

What's left was for Feliquex to receive his spoils of victory.

As he thought about the beautiful baroness again, Feliquex started to set up a plan to woo her.

As a young man from a noble background, he not only had a myriad of methods for wooing a girl, he also knew which one would be the most suitable for which target.

As many scenarios ran through his mind, the branch leader of the royal guardian riders couldn't hold back his smile on his face.

While he was carried away by his thoughts, some tiny, grayish black figures were quietly approaching him without his notice.

Then Feliquex was further distracted by how bad the road was.

Due to the heat from the explosion, the icy land around the area turned soft, and together with the melted water, Feliquex felt like he was treading across a muddy ground.

Looking at the gooey mud sticking onto his clean boots, Feliquex frowned. In order to not trip or fall, he had to pay full attention to the ground as he went around the edge of the crater.

It wasn't just Feliquex who suffered the unpleasant experience. The other riders went through the same, not even the several vigilant veterans were excluded.

After all, their biggest enemy had been wiped out by the eagle, wasn't it?

None of them wanted to fall into the gooey mud and become an after meal joke for their colleagues.

Until…"

"Aaaargh!"

A loud scream came from one of the riders among the group.

Everyone else immediately drew their swords and looked towards the source of the scream.

A member of the guardian was covering his arm and beneath his foot was a rat that he stomped to death.

"Damn rat!" the rider cursed, then signaled to his colleagues that he was fine.

"You must have gotten honey on your hand, otherwise why would the rat bite you?"

"I know right!"

Laughs then followed.

Feliquex wasn't concerned about the laughs as it entered his ears but a sense of danger unknowingly rose in his heart and made him size up the surroundings.

Then, the branch leader with exceptional eyesight discovered something wrong. He was instantly shocked.

"Heads up!" he warned his men loudly, but it was already too late.

A sea of rats swarmed the guardian riders.

150 rats split into two and moved in an organized manner. Each and every single one of the rats targeted one guardian rider and the remaining 50 went for the horses.

Squeeeeak!

The rats bared their sharp teeth and worried the horses' neck and hip without restraint, continuing to the next horse after a few severe bites on the last one.

The pain forced the horse to shake it's body painfully and it's master beside the saddle was badly affected.

The guardian riders were already caught off guard by the rats and when their horses struggled furiously, those who stood beside them were knocked to the ground or dragged away.

The strength of these guardian riders wouldn't have set them in such a desperate situation but after eliminating their biggest foe, they lowered their guards.

Additionally, the gooey mud on the ground greatly restrained their abilities, therefore a strange scene happened: a group of rats emerged as the temporary victor against the most elite guardian riders of Edatine.

The reason why it was a temporary victory was because the teeth of the rats couldn't have inflicted any fatal damage to the troops unless the rats went for the neck, but the odds were too slim, probably next to zero. But what appeared weren't just rats and Feliquex knew very well that this wasn't the end.

He shouted loudly, "Assemble! Assemble!"

The rat that attacked him was crushed to death very early on but Feliquex did not loosen his guard this time. He knew the rats were just tools to mess up their pace, the real killer move had yet to come.

In such a desperate situation, the group ought to regroup and channel their powers again but before anyone could fall into position, the shadow beneath Feliquex's feet distorted, Bloody Mary jumping out and slicing its palm over his neck.

Pak!

Blood spewed as Feliquex covered his throat with his hands and fell down in disbelief.

From the appearance of the rats, Feliquex, who was very cautious, dared not even believe the true enemy hid in his own shadow.

Looking at the fallen Feliquex, Bloody Mary curled up its lips. It had been hiding for a while and used its illusory techniques to create the mist.

It was a lot easier than it expected.

These riders came prepared and had a clear goal.

It wasn't good news to any other commoners but to Bloody Mary, it was decent news.

Since they came prepared, they must have set up specific methods to deal with a particular situation.

In short, going up against enemies who were prejudiced by their first impression was far easier than dealing with enemies who had their guard up at all times.

Though Feliquex's capabilities still surpassed Bloody Mary's expectations.

"That guy is really something for being able to build an empire in the land with Gods," Bloody Mary muttered softly.

Bloody Mary dared not underestimate the way Feliquex battled with that kind of method—a group of men channelling their powers just to empower a single person.

Bloody Mary and its boss had a similar view in this: quantity incites qualitative changes.

This was a group of hundred, what would happen if it was a thousand?

Even its undying traits might suffer some irreversible damage against the speculated scenario.

What if there were a hundred thousand?

Probably the God of War and Lady Calamity, or in the likes of them, had to step down.

Of course, the weakness of such method was obvious in that the single person who would be empowered wasn't a simple selection.

It wasn't just the person, even his sword was the same.

Having a sufficient level of Mystical Knowledge, Bloody Mary picked up Feliquex's sword without any hesitation. It smiled at the other rider who was charging towards it, waving and then disappearing on the spot.

Then, the mist came back.

The raging shouts became horrified screams.

Then, all went silent.