The Devil's Cage

Kieran was certain Torstar wasn’t there to capture Mary alive but to kill her.

Whether was it the burst of killing intent or the angle of his longsword, it proved as much.

It seemed like Torstar had discovered a hidden big fish when he tried to kill Mary.

Kieran squinted his eyes at Torstar.

Fear still lingered on Torstar face but he was helpless against it.

The poison that was hidden in their teeth and the items on their body were all confiscated by Kieran when they were captured.

Torstar swore that he had never met someone with such a meticulous, vigilant manner.

The coldness he felt from Kieran wasn’t an act like Fanner, it came directly from his heart. The coldness was something that neglected the presence of life as though Fanner, Bob and himself weren’t living beings and he could do whatever he wanted with them.

The feeling was terrible. It reminded Torstar of the other two people in his mind.

Fear covered him like shadow yet he didn’t confess.

Torstar clenched his mouth hard because he knew he still worth something if he kept the secret but once he spilled it...

He will be killed!

The best possible outcome would be sharing the same fate as Fanner, being a living puppet under Kieran’s control.

"You are still insisting? You recognized the Witch’s ring, obviously, you know its function and limits. You know I can dominate you after a couple hours under normal circumstances and you will tell me everything I want to know. So, your struggle will be useless, unless...Something will happen within this period of time and will change your situation?"

Kieran stared at Torstar said clearly.

Regardless of how Torstar tried to control his emotions from overflowing, Kieran viewed his persistence and calmness as something unusual.

"Celty?"

Kieran uttered the name out of the blue but the disappointing thing was, Torstar didn’t react to that name.

"It’s not Celty? So there are others involved in targeting Mary? Perry Kanner, the current leader of the Viper Sect, Celty the self-proclaimed Raven Sect member, and some unknown party? What does Mary have on her?" Kieran frowned.

He didn’t think there was any secret on Mary. It was true that her maturity excelled her peers but she was still very attached to Kieran because of all sorts of reasons; he knew that himself.

Given her character and attitude, she wouldn’t have kept a secret from him.

Unless...

"Even Mary doesn’t know?"

The moment the thought bloomed in his heart, so did the system notification on his vision.

[Discovered sub-mission: Mary’s Secret]

[Mary’s Secret: A secret lies on Mary that she doesn’t know herself. As her most reliable person during her desperate times, you need to help her in investigating the secret!]

"As expected."

Kieran saw the notification and right away, he ordered Fanner, "Watch them, don’t let them talk or talk to them. If anything happens, kill them if you must."

Fanner nodded.

The merciless order made the two captives feel more despair.

Kieran then walked out of the tent without paying further attention to them both.

When he walked outside, he saw Mary coming towards him, looking a bit absent-minded.

It seemed like the girl was lost when she got the answer from the king.

"Why did mother never tell me her background and where she came from?"

The absent-minded girl pulled Kieran’s mantle, asking the question that troubled her.

"I have no idea."

Kieran shook his head even though he himself had a lot of questions in his heart.

After all, all the theories inside his head were just guesses and not actual facts.

Maybe some of the guesses could turn out to be the actual facts but had a high chance that it remained a theory; speculated theory was not something necessary for the girl right now.

Kieran reached his hand and tapped the girl’s head.

The warmth of his palm quickly calmed the agitated, lost-minded girl.

She hugged him once again, sticking her face onto the armor plate.

There wasn’t any obstacles around this time, the patrolling soldiers easily saw the scene.

But Kieran didn’t push the girl away, instead, he glanced over the busybody soldiers.

The moment the soldiers sensed Kieran’s eyes, they quivered and swiftly returned to their patrolling route, running faster than before.

After Kieran made sure the place was emptied of others, he said, "There are a lot of things in the world that are more than meets the eye. You’ve gotten to know your mother’s identity from a stranger and it was also that stranger who provided you with necessary information, which means he wasn’t lying... but it also doesn’t mean you should lose yourself."

The girl raised her head at Kieran, looking confused.

"You are confused because your beloved mother deceived you, so why don’t you think about why your mother did what she did? She loved you without a doubt, so try to think about why she deceived you?" Kieran said slowly.

He didn’t provide further explanation though, some things were better for the girl to realize herself than to hear it from his mouth.

"A stranger and my mother... I choose to believe mother!" The girl answered.

"Um! So now, let us see what in the world does that Celty want! Besides, he did say he didn’t mind company, which means he is indirectly inviting me as well. If I don’t meet him, it would be rude of me."

Kieran lowered his head and saw Mary casting off her absent-minded expression, he smiled warmly out of control.

However, his warm smile was filled with coldness soon as he turned his eyes at the woods behind Lightning Fortress where the meeting was due.

He was looking forward to Celty’s performances that evening.

...

Back in Riverdale, the main streets were still filled with fleeing citizens from day till night.

Although the numbers have decreased, the crowd was still moving very slow.

Even though Rover has accepted the mission that Bosco left behind, it was still an inadequate effort to evacuate the people.

Other than that, Rover still had another mission that was assigned to him which was to eliminate the spies within Riverdale.

Compared to the evacuation, the elimination had almost no progress.

The thugs that were hiding throughout the streets couldn’t escape the royal wizard’s eyes but he didn’t find any spies among them.

"My Lord, an urgent letter from Lightning Fortress!"

The wizard’s follower ran to him from afar and passed him a secret letter.

Rover checked the letter and opened it after making sure it was safe.

There was only a thin piece of paper within the envelope.

A black greenish viper was drawn on the paper.

Right after Rover saw the snake drawing, the snake came alive and raised its head to hiss at him.

Rover was frightened and threw the letter away out of instinct but he was too late.

The poisonous viper sprung out from the paper and bit Rover on the hand.