The Devil’s Cage

Not only did Contly realize the situation, Rayhart, Retsu, and the other three riders realized it too.

Without even the need to order, everyone started to search for the head but…

Nothing!

Starting from the Mutant rider’s body, after searching the entire convoy, there were still no results. Until Contly unwillingly expanded the search area, only then did she notice something unusual.

“Here!”

Contly waved behind a bush further away.

The group went over quickly and when they circled around the bush, everyone’s body shivered.

A huge crucible was placed behind the bushes and there was warm green juices leftover inside as well, emitting a pungent smell.

“What…What is this?” Rayhart, Retsu, and the other three riders looked at each other, confused.

In the end, everyone’s gazes turned to Kieran who only then walked by slowly.

Kieran’s eyes were sizing up the crucible and shifted back to the convoy.

Both points were at least hundreds of meters away, plus the bushes that were covering the crucible, where they stood before shouldn’t have noticed the crucible but once they got near, the pungent smell was hard to conceal.

“Luckily!”

Kieran muttered in his heart before signaling Rayhart, Retsu to meticulously search the area and ordered the remaining riders to return protecting the convoy with a wave of his hand.

He, however, mimicked Contly in expanding the search area.

“That’s weird, how is this possible? Even if the neck was twisted off by a special force, the wound on the neck would have been bloody but why not a single bit of blood trail was left behind?” Contly unconsciously followed behind Kieran, muttering.

Kieran listened to her mutters but he didn’t answer, thought Contly obviously had it differently.

“Did you find something?” Contly asked directly.

“Nope.” Kieran shook his head.

“Really? But your expression just now…” Contly looked at Kieran with a suspicious gaze.

Although she didn’t spend a lot of time together with Kieran, Contly knew he was a delicate person and extremely cautious.

While such a strange murder occurred around in the likes of Kieran, his performance was overly flat.

No! Not flat but…

Contly frowned, she tried to describe her feelings but she couldn’t find the right word.

“I am thinking about the purpose of what the culprit did,” Kieran said.

“The purpose?” Contly was confused.

“You can go to Herbert to ask about the other things,” Kieran said and after that, he stopped answering and continued to search the area in an extremely meticulous way.

The meticulous search lasted for almost an hour but other than the crucible Contly found, nothing came up after that.

Kieran turned back and headed to the convoy with hastened steps.

While Contly had trailed Kieran for almost an hour, her gaze at Kieran became more and more confused.

“I think we should return to Carlhart Camp and adjust ourselves against this enemy that we don’t know of. Besides, the defense at the camp is much more reassuring. I don’t wish for anyone else to die in such a freaky way.”

Once Kieran returned to the convoy, Herbert who had been waiting for a while uttered his suggestion.

At the same time, Kieran passed Herbert a note, stating ‘Sutherlin Castle is safe, nothing will happen.’

Even when only both of them could see the contents, the elderly scholar still carefully covered the keywords.

“Believe me, sometimes more men doesn’t mean it’s better. Our destination remains unchanged. We will ride forward to Sutherlin Castle!”

Kieran then went back into his own wagon.

Herbert helplessly shrugged against Kieran’s arbitrary act.

The rest of them didn’t object other than Contly frowning for a while.

Rayhart and Retsu would not object Kieran’s orders since they were the dominated ones and the Royal identity and powerful strength was enough for the three riders to know their place in this.

The convoy continued on.

Meanwhile, at the second wagon which was trailing behind Kieran’s one, Contly quietly asked Herbert about her concerns.

When a piece of paper filled with words was passed to Contly’s hand, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

Contly was reading the paper that generally described the conversation between Herbert and Kieran together with many guesses from Herbert himself, her heart couldn’t help but cried out in shock, “The Witches!?”

As the new generation of guardians of Isogu City, Contly had countless ties with the Neegor Dynasty, it was natural that she would have heard about the existence of the Witches.

Even more so, she knew some secrets regarding the Witches.

When she recalled the crucible that she discovered, she couldn’t sit still anymore.

“Sir Herbert, I’ll be back shortly!”

Contly passed the reins to Herbert and she went upwards to Kieran’s wagon.

Kieran’s body sunk in the soft cushion and his face was thinking deeply of something, just like before.

“Why didn’t you tell me the Witches have their eyes on you? Don’t you know those old hags are very terrifying? We should listen to Sir Herbert’s suggestion and return to Carlhart Camp, at least it is your turf now and their arrangements wouldn’t go through so easily!”

Contly fired out her concerns when she stepped into the carriage.

“You know the Witches well?” Kieran looked at Contly with a surprised face.

“Of course! Isogu City had once fought a 10-year war with a group of Witches! Those old hags are not just skilled in crafting all sorts of weird, freaky potions but also skilled in casting never before seen spells and curses! Some stronger ones could even see into the future… Damn it, why didn’t I think about the witch’s handy work when I saw the scene just now!”

Contly cursed at herself because of her negligence and looked at Kieran with a serious manner, she said, “I know you are strong and I will never deny it but no matter how strong you are, you wouldn’t be able to dodge the poisonous arrows from the dark! The Witches forte is to create arrows laced with poison!”

“Thank you,” Kieran nodded.

“So you’ve agreed to go back?” Contly looked at Kieran with slight surprise. Based on her impression of him, he wasn’t such an easily persuaded character.

“Nope but I will remember what you said to me. Those rats hiding in the drains will lose their hiding spots when the sun shines on them. I will let them understand how terrifying it will be to provoke me!” Kieran said in a heavy tone and as he spoke, the colorful glow emitted from his eyes again.

The wicked and tyrannical force made Contly who still wanted to dissuade Kieran feel sluggish.

As Contly looked at the Kieran before her eyes, she realized the person before her had gone through drastic changes since her initial meeting with him.

With a feeling of helplessness lingering in her head, Contly left Kieran’s carriage and quietly went back to her own wagon, taking back the reins from Herbert.

“Anything happened?” Herbert asked when he saw Contly’s expression.

“No…Nothing.” Contly concealed her own emotions and focused on driving the wagon.

The convoy’s speed suddenly hastened up and for the rest of the journey, no accidents happened as well.

Sutherlin Castle which original required a day’s journey to reach had its contour presented before Kieran and co.’s eyes after a day and half a night later.

Together with the castle’s image, there were also… bodies!

The bodies of the Mutant riders were hung on the trees along the way.

A total of five bodies were hung up and under the night breeze, they were waving back and forth like arms welcoming Kieran and co.’s arrival.