The Devil’s Cage

The prison corridor was even darker than Kieran had expected.

There was only a dim light in the whole place, yet that was enough for Kieran to get a good look with his C Rank Intuition. Everything was clear to him.

”As expected, there are only cells on one side of the corridor, 15 in total. Other than me, there are no others prisoners kept on this floor. Lawless and Hanses must be on the floor below mine!”

Kieran scanned the whole floor, listening for any potential clues. Then he hastened his steps and headed downstairs.

As he went down the right side of the stairs, he heard the sound of chains.

The messy sound stopped and resumed without any rhythm, but Kieran could make out a pattern in its arrhythmic frequence. It was a hidden code!

The hidden code that the three of them had agreed upon before entering the dungeon.

It was not just limited to the sound of chains. They could use doors, walls, or anything that could produce a sound to contact each other. It all depended on the situation and the means available.

Kieran rushed towards the source of the sound.

It was the deepest cell on the lowest floor.

Kieran made his way to the cell. When he opened the little window on the door, he saw an exhausted Lawless.

Lawless looked relieved when he saw Kieran.

”Finally, 2567! If you’d come any later, I might have given up! What kind of bloody mission would have us start in a Wounded Status?” he started ranting about the dungeon.

”There’s a first time for anything, and you should consider yourself lucky that you were on the lowest floor and I was on the upper one. Otherwise, you would be wondering what kind of mission would have you start wounded and ambushed!” Kieran said as he opened the cell door. He quickly used the [Deceiver’s Key] to release Lawless from his shackles.

”You were ambushed? What is your Main Mission?” Lawless asked in shock.

”[Escape Morko Principality]. I’m also Moderately Wounded. Some Morko prince came to interrogate me. He was asking me about the whereabouts of a ‘Legacy’! Then he was suddenly killed by his own bodyguard, who happened to be a man of sacrifice! Things went south though, and the bodyguard killed himself with poison. I didn’t even get a chance to interrogate him for information! If that sissy prince could stand the stench here, he might have come for you or Hanses first instead of me!”

Kieran knew what Lawless wanted, so he told him everything that had happened ever since he’d set foot inside the dungeon.

”My Main Mission is [Escape Morko’s Pursuit], which is harder than yours, and I am Heavily Wounded. Hanses must be Lethally Wounded, otherwise he would have made some kind of noise…”

Lawless’s voice got softer as he spoke. When he paused, he looked at Kieran with a blank look.

Kieran turned pale in an instant.

Both of them knew that when one was Lethally Wounded, all their stats dropped by five ranks. Considering Hanses’ abilities, he would still be able to make some noise and not went totally silent.

Similar to Lawless who was Heavily Wounded, only the decreased HP and stats affected his abilities. It was not so bad that he could not stand up or make any noise like the natives.

This would have been easier for Hanses, unless… Unless he was not inside the prison with Kieran and Lawless!

Once the possibility popped up in Kieran’s mind, he quickly made his decision.

”I’ll go have a look!”

Kieran turned around right away and went out of Lawless’s cell.

He quickly ran through the whole floor, scanning all the prison cells, even the empty ones, yet he did not find Hanses.

”What about the upper floor?” Lawless had not given up yet. He went up stairs for another round of searching.

The final outcome was the same. The two of them stood inside Kieran’s cell, looking at each other speechlessly.

”You don’t think his Main Mission is totally different than ours, do you?” Lawless asked.

”Might be!” Kieran nodded.

There were no other possible explanations why Hanses would not be locked up with them.

What was his Main Mission though?

As the main culprit behind the theft, Hanses’ Main Mission would certainly not be easier than Kieran’s or Lawless’.

It had to be at least a couple of levels harder than Kieran’s Main Mission.

The ‘Legacy’!

Kieran unconsciously recalled the term Reedrall had mentioned in his cell.

Was Hanses’ disappearance somehow connected to this ‘Legacy’?

Although Hanses had failed to retrieve any loot from the previous dungeon, the natives had assumed that he had.

That was why they had sentenced him and his accomplices, Kieran and Lawless.

It was the only logical explanation.

What if Hanses had lied to Kieran and Lawless though?

He might have if it had been just him and Kieran, but with Lawless in the equation, Kieran believed that he had no reason to lie.

Most importantly, they had signed a contract. Kieran believed Hanses would not lie to him or Lawless.

”The ‘Legacy’? What is that?” Kieran furrowed his brow.

The name itself betrayed its value and worth, but the information they had was too limited. It was insufficient for them to come up with a theory.

Kieran still knew what his priority was though.

”We need to get out of here first! If the men of sacrifice have made their move, the people behind them must have this place under their control. The longer we stay here, the worse things will get for us! We might be able to contact Hanses through the team channel if we leave this prison!” Kieran said.

”Should we put on their outfits and slip out?” Lawless pointed at the dead bodies.

”It’s the best solution I can come up with right now!” Kieran replied.

...

Lawless donned the guard’s armor and raised his torch as he walked behind Kieran.

Although he made an effort to bend his waist down, his body was still way larger than the dead guard’s. The armor looked extremely awkward and distorted on him.

Kieran, on the other hand, shared a similar figure with Reedrall, so he was more comfortable wearing his clothes.

Reedrall had been killed with a stab through the chest though, so the cut on his dress was obvious as Kieran walked.

Kieran had no choice but to pick up the handkerchief filled with rouge and powder and cover his face with it like Reedrall had. Then he raised his elbow and arm to cover the cut.

He had to rely on Lawless to help cover the cut on his back though.

The two of them finally made it to the prison gate.

The prison guard that Kieran had seen earlier noticed the torch coming through. When he saw Reedrall’s clothes, he did not dare say a word. He opened the gate wide right away.

”Your Grace, Lord Reedrall!” the guard saluted him reverently.

”That filthy bastard is stubborn…” Kieran coughed. ”... is teaching him some manners! Damn it, this awful stench is making me suffocate! I want to leave right now! Get out of my way!”

Kieran mimicked Reedrall’s manner of speech and coughed slightly to avoid saying the warden’s name. Then he walked out in a hurry.

With the handkerchief covering his face, the prison guard could not see Kieran clearly.

The man quickly made way for him.

Kieran walked out quickly as Lawless behind him tilted his head down.

Lawless’s move turned out to be unnecessary.

The prison guard did not even notice that the duo before him was two thieves who had stolen Reedrall’s and the guard’s clothes. He had a humble smile on his face as he watched Kieran and Lawless go.

After heading up a spiral staircase, Kieran and Lawless reached the ground floor. Although it was only an empty room with a window, it was much better than the underground prison.

At least the air was fresh there. The two of them took big deep breaths, trying to wash away the vile stench from their noses.

”It was even easier than I thought! I thought we might run into more guards. Who knew there would only be one?” Lawless said with a laugh.

Before Kieran could suppress his own laughter, a series of footsteps and the sound of steel armor and sword sheaths colliding was heard from outside.

The footsteps made Kieran and Lawless turn pale.

They could tell that those fully armored men were heading towards the prison.

”Damn it, I jinxed it!” Lawless slapped himself before turning his eyes to KIeran.

He was holding onto his long sword tight.

His intentions were clear. They would face them head on.

Lawless lacked any heavy firepower, his abilities were affected, and his HP was lower than 30%, but that did not mean that he had had lost the power to fight.

Quite the opposite, Kieran could see that he was quite familiar with a sword.

According to his calculations, Lawless’s sword skill had to be above Master.

The two of them might stand a chance against that squad, but Kieran still had not agreed to such a fight.

They were weak in too many ways for them to just go head and attack them.

A small spark could turn into a huge fire and spread throughout the whole castle, resulting in all the natives raining down upon them.

Even though Hanses had said that most of the fighting units had followed Grand Duke Morko out to war, the leftover natives were still more than enough to handle the two of them, especially considering that they didn’t have any equipment, their HP was low, and their stats had dropped.

Kieran waved at Lawless and pointed towards the window.

”Let’s just hide first. It has to be the mastermind, the man who sent the men of sacrifice. He must be here to clean up the rest… Let’s wait and see!” Kieran said as he opened the wooden window and climbed outside. Lawless followed tightly behind him.

Kieran landed on a small crevice outside the castle. He took a glance below and saw a cliff without an end.

He grabbed the wooden window frame tightly and opened his ears wide, waiting for the squad of men to enter.

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

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