The Devil’s Cage

Carrying the kerosene lamp, Kieran and co. walked towards the inner part of Isogu City.

It was not the first time they were doing this that week. Other than the fact that they wanted to locate the weapon faster, which they had been preparing for for a long time, they also hoped that their unusual actions would not attract the attention of the Night Race.

In other words, they were using habitual actions to fool the Night Monsters.

It was much more effective than they had imagined. Kieran could not sense any monsters following them. Maybe the monsters were beyond his sensing range though.

Kieran still had a fresh memory of the superhuman senses of the Night Monsters.

Maybe not all Night Monsters could reach such a level, but elite Night Monsters were enough to induce fear in people’s hearts, their leader even more so.

Kieran frowned when the thought bloomed in his mind.

He became more vigilant as he followed Herbert.

Herbert was making stops on his way in, checking his notes from time to time.

When he finally stopped, they had reached one of the underground holes.

Kieran was no stranger to that place. He and Herbert had been there before during their third day in Isogu City.

According to Herbert, it was a knight’s house. He had talked about the structure of the knight’s house to Kieran in great detail, especially about the practice ground in it. Kieran remembered it very well.

After all, compared to other noblemen’s halls and corridors, the practice ground was very unique. The narrow, cramped chambers, and the living room and study around it were hard for Kieran to forget.

Herbert was standing in the middle of the practice ground, carefully exploring the area around him.

After a few minutes, a thunderous noise was heard all over the practice ground.

An underground entrance wide enough for two people to go through at the same time appeared in the middle of the ground.

”Now!” Kieran quickly urged everyone.

He was not astonished that the hidden door could still be used after 1,500 years. He did not even make sure the entrance had no mystical powers.

A series of rattling noises were already closing in on them. They sounded like sprinting footsteps and the wind blowing against someone’s clothes.

It had to be at least 100 people. One person could not cause such a commotion.

Herbert, Pierre and the big guy quickly went through the entrance.

Kieran’s performance throughout the journey had won their trust, so Kieran was the last one to go in.

He had the explosives in his hands, ready to ignite them to seal the entrance shut.

No doubt blowing up the entrance before locating another exit was a huge risk, yet compared to the Night Monsters in pursuit of them, that risk was nothing.

If there was no other way out, Kieran could blast an exit open with the explosives.

If they faced the Night Monsters, their attacks would be relentless.

Debris spread all over the place, dust and sand flying around.

The open entrance started to crumble right after the explosion.

Huge chunks of rocks were falling down, blocking the entrance and rolling down the stairs.

”2567! Block the rocks!” Herbert’s voice suddenly reached Kieran’s ears.

Although Kieran did not know why Herbert wanted him to do that, he trusted the elderly scholar.

Kieran’s original thought had been to dodge and run away from the falling rocks while pulling out the [Infantry Spear] and breaking the moving rocks. He was pushing smaller rocks aside and smashing the bigger ones away,

It was not hard for his Pro Level [Sharp Weapon, Spear]. The only thing Kieran had to worry about were the bigger rocks.

When one of them, which was as big as a milestone, fell down, Kieran had to back off completely.

It was not just a simple retreat though. Kieran stabbed repeatedly at the rock with his [Infantry Spear].

The sharp spearhead was clashing with the rock nonstop, producing sparks each time they collided.

With every stab, the exerted strength was slowing down the rock’s rolling speed.

When Kieran was past the stairs, the millstone-sized rock stopped completely as well.

”Well done!”

Pierre ran over with more explosives on his back. He was installing the explosives all over the corridor as he said, ”I’ll show those monsters! Sharp fangs won’t do the job!”

Pierre was staring at the blocked entrance with the big rock in between. He lifted the kerosene lamp high with his hand.

Kieran believed that once the rock was moved away from the entrance, Pierre’s kerosene lamp would fall. He did not mind the explosions being more thorough this time.

Kieran took more explosives from the big guy’s back and set them down around the hall while checking things out.

It was not a big hall by any means. Other than a tall tablet in the middle, which was carved with Neegor words, there was only a life-sized statue at the end of the hall.

When Kieran looked at the tablet, the system notified him about the completion of his Sub Mission.

[Sub Mission: Find the Lost Monument (Completed)]

[Found the Lost Monument, Isogu City Exploration +3%]

[Main Mission: Explore at least 20% of Isogu City within 4 weeks, Completion 18%]

After finding The Lost Monument, the completion rate increased a lot, which Kieran had expected.

Compared to earlier, when Kieran had to absorb second-hand information from Herbert, this time he had found something by himself, which had resulted in a bigger increase.

It was still less than Kieran had expected though.

”Is this the weapon? Or is it the way to create the weapon? Is deciphering the tablet the last part of the exploration?” Kieran speculated as he shifted his attention to the statue far away.

It was a male statue in a resting stance. There were not many decorations on it. No long swords or armor that symbolized courage, or books that symbolized wisdom. That didn’t mean that the statue was crudely crafted though.

Truth be told, it was very delicately crafted. Even its facial features looked lively.

Kieran could even make out that the statue was an eastern man.

”An eastern man?”

It was the first time Kieran had come across such a man in the dungeon. Although it was just a statue, this was enough for Kieran, who habitually observed things, to spare another look at it.

However, other than the rare facial features of the man, the statue was nothing special.

After taking another look at it, Kieran turned around and headed back towards Herbert and the tablet.

When he turned around, he was struck by panic.

”Huh? The statue’s gaze…”

Kieran turned around again and checked the statue’s eyes carefully. Then he walked behind the statue, parallel to its gaze. The statue’s eyes were looking at a spot on the ceiling.

There were runes and pictures there, incomprehensible by common people.

Kieran could see a pattern within them though, thanks to the [Mystical Knowledge] writings and the secret script.

”His Majesty’s ambition drove him madder each day. The day of the Saint’s Prophecy will soon arrive…”

”Bodies piled up all over the royal city, rivers were dyed red…”

”Disaster is here!”

”The sinful fire burned all the land!”

”I only left my sorrowful knowledge behind…”

[Deciphered Isogu City’s secret scripture, Isogu City Exploration +1.5%]

[Main Mission: Explore at least 20% of Isogu City within 4 weeks, Completion 19.5%]

Kieran was reading the scriptures. He was unable to recognize most of them. The parts he could read were few and far between.

The process still managed to increase his completion rate and trigger his own memories though.

Since his [Mystical Knowledge] was still low, Kieran had gotten used to reading unknown secret scriptures and cramming them into his mind.

That was no easy feat though. At first, Kieran had had a hard time remembering. His head was full of information, but Kieran had mastered some techniques to memorize secret knowledge more quickly.

Although he could not remember everything with just one glance, by the time Herbert finished copying the scriptures on the tablet, Kieran was almost finished as well.

Suddenly, Pierre threw down the kerosene lamp with force.

The corridor leading underground crumbled once more.

”Hurry up, we need to find another way out! The monsters’ digging speed was much faster than we thought!” Pierre yelled at Herbert.

Among everyone present, Herbert was no doubt the one most familiar with the place, so it would be wise to consult him about which place they should blow out in order to create an exit.

However, when Pierre shouted at him, Herbert stood still, stunned by what he had copied down. He was mumbling gibberish as if he was possessed.

”Wrong! Everything! Wrong! We’ve been looking at the wrong place the whole time!”

Herbert’s sudden revelation stunned Kieran and Pierre as they approached him.

”What’s wrong, Herbert?”

Pierre tapped Herbert on the shoulder, confused by his sudden outrage.

The elderly scholar acted like he had been awakened from a dream.

”Hurry! Blow up the tablet! Right now!” He spoke quickly to Pierre, ordering him.

Pierre was even more confused, but he was not slow.

The tablet was strapped with explosives soon, and the fuse was ignited.

As the spark burned through the fuse, Herbert stared at it. He looked more anxious than ever.

Boom!

The tablet was blown to pieces. Herbert finally let out a long breath.

Not waiting for Kieran and Pierre’s questions, he lit up the notes he had taken down using the kerosene oil.

His move confused Kieran and Pierre even more.

”We’ve been wrong all along! There is no weapon that can destroy the Night Race here! That weapon has been in the hands of the Night Race all along!” Herbert said slowly as he took a deep breath.

”What?” Kieran and Pierre said together in shock.

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

Herbert’s whole life has been a lie!!