The Devil’s Cage

Looking at the [Sister Reid Statue], the gears in Kieran’s brain spun fast.

Why was Damien so familiar with the late Chief Friar of Marulyn?

Or, what was the reason that a notorious member of the Twenty Hounds of the Elder Council had gotten such an extensive understanding of a church that vanished throughout the river of time?

Benefits!

The simplest and truest answer!

Then, what would the benefits be?

Some powerful items? Or some chord-striking legacies?

Such thoughts almost appeared out of instinct in Kieran’s mind, it set his heart ablaze.

Because, other than those, Kieran couldn’t think of a reason why would Damien risk inciting war between the Elder Council and the Saint Relic Association to touch the [Sister Reid Statue]?

Despite the fact that the Elder Council were notorious for being lunatics, Kieran believed the men who were addressed as such weren’t idiots.

Idiots couldn’t become an existence that people feared, let alone those who feared them were mystical individuals themselves.

The [Sister Reid Statue] must have some special secret within it.

A secret that could be known only by resonating with the statue!

“The fake Gannett wasn’t captured for long and he was still able to resonate with the statue’s power. The technique or spell shouldn’t be that complicated and might even be very simple, but it was restricted to Damien and his kind…”

Kieran slightly frowned when he thought about it. Even though he theorized that the secret spell wasn’t complicated, it was still difficult for him because he had absolutely no knowledge of the special spell.

Even the incantations, the gestures, it might even be some kind of ritual…

Hold on… Rituals?!

Kieran suddenly thought of the scene he saw in the illusory realm.

When the friars were praying at the statue, the statue changed.

Although the illusions were only partially real, similar to how Damien imitated Gannett, who could tell whether he hid the truth amongst the lies?

“Oh Saint Reid My Lord, We ask of your light to dispel the darkness!”

“Oh Saint Reid My Lord, We ask of your light to protect the weak!”

“Oh Saint Reid My Lord, We ask of you to bring peace upon us again!”

Kieran stood in front of the [Sister Reid Statue] and prayed softly.

The chants were fractions from that illusory realm that night, it wasn’t the complete version.

That phrase “Our lives will be the cost for the harmony of us all! Oh, Saint Reid!” would never come out from Kieran’s mouth no matter what.

Even though he was very excited about the possibility of an item or a legacy, the excitement didn’t cause him to lose his sense.

The reason Damien chose a captive to complete the resonance couldn’t only be because his powers conflicted the statue’s but there was also a high possibility was that it might require him to pay a certain cost.

Under such circumstances, Kieran would never be careless.

The prayers came out of Kieran’s mouth clearly but the [Sister Reid Statue] remained unchanged.

The statue was still staring at him with a merciful look.

“No reaction? Do I need to follow the friars and kneel down?”

Kieran frowned once again. He hated the salutation of kneeling before anything.

In fact, when he first learn about the saying “Kneeling before your parents is the reasonable act even in the heavens”, such disgust rooted deep in his heart since then.

It was because he was an orphan. When he arrived on earth, he was abandoned. If that someone didn’t notice him in time, he would have died in that box.

If he was fortunate enough, he would have been buried in the ground. Less fortunate, he would have ended up being snacks for the stray dogs to fight over.

No doubt chances were higher for the latter.

He didn’t know why his parents would abandon him, he didn’t want to either.

He only knew that he would never kneel as long as he was alive.

Dong, Dong, Dong!

The warm Dawn Force seemed to be affected by the stubborn emotions, it hastened the flow and pumps suddenly with almost two times faster than normal speed.

It completed a loop throughout Kieran’s body swiftly and right after that, sparkles and faint radiance appeared on Kieran’s hands.

Wung!

Just as Dawn Force appeared on Kieran’s hands, the statue shuddered.

An inch thick radiance appeared on the surface of the statue, even visible to the naked eyes.

Then, the radiance dazzled, forming an illusion above the statue.

It was the figure of Sister Reid bathing in radiance, smiling at Kieran.

Her love and mercy were the same as the statue and it felt even more genuine. It wasn’t the cold statue’s liveness but a real existence.

Kieran was stunned instantly, not because of the illusion’s expression and manner but because an extra image popped up in his mind.

A map!

A slight pause later, the illusion vanished rapidly and returned the statue back to its cold and stagnant form.

Nothing changed in the system notifications either and Kieran didn’t feel like he had resonated with the statue.

Though, a map really appeared in Kieran’s mind.

The map was not a modern one but an ancient one with the marking of a statue.

The image of the statue was clear as well, it was Sister Reid’s statue marked on the map.

But Kieran was sure, the marking on the map certainly wasn’t St. Reid Hospital that he was in because there was another marking of the hospital in the map.

“Dawn Force can draw resonance with the statue?”

Kieran “looked” at the map in his mind in shock.

Heavy doubts floated out in his heart but he knew the hospital wasn’t a place to think.

As the sky got brighter, people would start to flood the main hall of the hospital.

Therefore, after several more attempts and still not being able to incite changes from the statue, Dawn Force was also useless after that, Kieran chose to leave.

“Chelsea, I want to go have a walk on my own. Go back first on your own,” Kieran said to the secretary waiting for him outside the hospital.

“Very well. Please don’t forget the appointment you have with boss,” the secretary reminded him.

“The dinner at night right? I won’t!”

After finishing his words with a smile, he went straight to in Winchester House’s direction.

It wasn’t a cover but the marking of the statue’s location in the map was at the Winchester house.

Although it was an ancient map, with St. Reid Hospital as a reference, Kieran could tell the general direction of the whereabouts.

Kieran was taking a stroll down Edland City streets under the morning light.

He would stop from time to time, taking a look around, resuming his walk after a while.

Some of the earlier joggers saw him, they felt weird because Kieran didn’t seem like he was trying to find something. Finding would eventually lower one’s head but Kieran looked like he was looking at a distance.

Though, the joggers only showed their weird gazes when they passed by Kieran. Plus, each time a jogger passed by Kieran, he would return with a smile. The joggers continued their training after replying the same to him and soon enough, they discarded the weird thoughts from their mind.

But not everyone.

The female chief officer, Teresa.

After an irritating screech of a car breaking, the female chief officer’s car stopped beside Kieran.

She got off the car and blocked Kieran’s way.

“Still looking for your memory? Well, why not let me jog it for you… Winchester House’s new owner, Mr. 2567!”

Teresa said out loud fiercely.