The Devil’s Cage

Although there was some distance between them, Kieran’s hand gesture was very clear to the bishop in the sky.

Right away, the bishop’s face turned extremely ugly but after a slight second, it returned to normal.

“Just a fallen God’s Child! Without a real God, what waves can a single God’s Child call upon? More so… the ocean dried out long ago, leaving behind nothing but a swamp! Did you think I came for you? Hmph, seems like you think too highly of yourself!” The bishop said slowly before lifting his hand.

The golden radiance around the airship became denser instantly. It was dazzling and blinding with a sense of heat, even those kneeling below were sweating all of a sudden.

“Wh-What is this? Another sun?”

The mystics that laid eyes on the airship that radiated heat and light were frightened beyond belief. Despite the mystics knowing more than commoners but once they faced against the unknown, they were just slightly better than the commoners.

Though it was exactly that point that gave them more chances, chances to survive!

When the mystics around saw the unusual occurrence in the sky, all of them started to retreat.

Although they looked frightened and moved in disorder, they were still better than those commoners who kneeled and prayed continuously on the spot because, at the very next moment, all of them died.

KABOOM!

A fat golden beam was blasted down from the airship, the shockwave from the huge explosion that it caused tore the commoners’ bodies apart.

The ground trembled hard and a dust storm was blown up into the air.

When the dust settled, those mystics who ran further away instinctively turned around for a look.

Then, all of them saw a scene that they would not forget for the rest of their lives.

St. Paolo School which occupied a large plot of land was demolished, leaving behind a huge crater a dozen meters deep and few hundred meters in diameter.

However, the strange thing was inside the crater, a small chapel was floating up in the air.

There was nothing beneath it, neither was there anything above it pulling it up, it just floated up in the air.

The mystics who saw the scene didn’t cry out in shock anymore because everything they saw today had exceeded their wildest imaginations.

In simple words, their senses were numbed yet right after that scene, their numbness was shattered completely again.

The small chapel vanished without a sign from everyone’s eyes.

No, not vanish but it disintegrated into powder by a powerful crushing force that none of them could imagine.

The presence of despair from the crushing force swept the field like a raging tornado. Despite the mystics having escaped quite a distance, the wind caught up to them, sending them tumbling to the ground with agonizing cries.

“Not a bad body.”

Amidst the self-compliment, the captive that Kieran left inside the chapel slowly walked towards the ground and was feeling the texture of the ground beneath his feet. He then took in a long breath.

“What a nostalgic feeling.”

Following the exclamation, the captive looked up to the airship and the bishop from the Church of Light in the sky, his brows slightly furrowed.

“The sun? Seems like a bit of trouble,” the captive mumbled to himself again.

“Yes, you are the one in trouble!”

The bishop replied to the captive without being bothered by the distance between them.

“Do you know who you are talking to? And, I don’t like talking to people above me, get down here!”

The captive looked up, staring at the bishop viciously.

A beam of greenish gray light was fired up at the bishop in the sky when the captive’s words subsided. Before the beam of light could really touch the bishop, it was smashed by the golden light, or rather, burned down into nothingness!

While feeling the temperature that exploded from the golden light, the captive started to gather more Plague Force around him.

Though the bishop who saw the scene slightly shook his head in a sympathetic manner.

“What a pity Ancilanco! You have been imprisoned for a thousand years, you have no idea what you have missed out on and neither do you understand how ridiculous and… foolish your actions are now!” The bishop purposely emphasized the word “foolish”.

“You know my name yet you insult me? Who gave you the courage to do so, mortal?”

Ancilanco squinted his eyes, he swiftly toned down his rage and started to carefully size up the floating bishop.

“If it was 50 years ago… no, no need for it to be that long. If it was a minute ago, I really wouldn’t dare but now? In order to enter this seemingly fitting vessel, not only did you exhaust your best effort, you didn’t even mind withstanding the “sun”s power, suffering damage to break your cage. Without your divine position and your divinity destroyed, your remaining divine flame should be flickering, isn’t it?” The bishop sighed.

“Even if it is, you think you can insult me so rudely? Or do you think you can rely on your little toy to defeat me?”

Ancilanco did feel something was off but he couldn’t tell what.

He had checked the body multiple times, there was no mark from that cunning kid, neither was there the slightest presence of Dawn Force, because of that he gave his full effort and took the risk despite suffering damage from the sunbeam.

“When you chose that body to revive yourself, you must have checked multiple times. You didn’t find anything on the body that alarmed you, like the presence of that pitiful God’s Child power?”

“That’s right! How could you have detected anything? After all, the one who did something to that body wasn’t that pitiful kid but… someone else!”

The bishop seemed to have seen through Ancilanco’s thoughts and he said the answer directly.

Ancilanco’s face suddenly changed for the worse. The God of Plagues wanted to do something right away but, it was too late.

An unusual energy spread out from the deepest part of his body and devoured the flickering divine flame with thunderous speed.

“Huuuu!”

A satisfying sigh came from the captive’s mouth and at the same time, clear bone-cracking noises could be heard from all over the body, it sounded like popcorn being fried or firecrackers going off.

Pak Pak Pak!

After the continuous cracks stopped, the captive’s body had undergone a drastic change.

His young face turned old, his body too grew bigger and stronger. His hair and beard that mixed gray and white together were emanating an unusual charm, together with the compassionate eyes, one would think the man was a merciful elder, just like Sister Moni.

However, only the meticulous could realize how fake the compassion in his eyes was, how dense the cunning and vicious thoughts that were hiding behind those eyes.

“It’s been quite a long time Wallen.”

The newly formed elder looked at the bishop in the sky, greeting him with a smile.

“Yes, my teacher!”

“The last pope of the Church of Light, the archbishop, the Master Knight of Light. It sounds a little stranger calling you all those names right? Then… Shall we change it back to the name that plotted the rebellion against the noble alliances, the first generation Duke Wayne?”

The bishop smiled with a nod.