The Devil’s Cage

‘Do you feel injustice? Do you feel rage? Why not choose to resist?’

The whisper in his ears sounded abrupt, loud, and soft at times, making the young man dizzy. The last bit of caution rose from the bottom of his heart, raising his hands over his ears and covering them, but the voice continued whispering as if it was singing, appearing in the young man’s heart instead.

The shattered beliefs of the young man couldn’t stop the invasion of his heart.

It was only a while later that the young man’s face started to twitch and twist.

“No! No! This is not what I want!” bellowed the young man.

He jumped up from his bed and tried to run outside, wanting to call for help!

In such timing, other than asking for help, the young man couldn’t think of others anymore.

Bang!

His hand pushed hard against the door but it didn’t budge at all.

Locked from the outside? The young man was stunned, then started to knock on the door furiously.

Bang, bang, bang!

“Help! Help me! Please help me!” shouted Gino.

His shouts were obviously heard by the two deacons outside his door but the two of them weren’t moved by it.

They were assigned to ‘watch’ Gino, not ‘save’ him.

As for his life and death? Neither of them cared.

He was just a traitor bewitched by a heretic after all.

…

Valentine’s wagon drove into the outer court of the cathedral, the sun already hanging up in the sky.

The crystal reflected the sunlight brilliantly, making the entire cathedral look utterly holy.

It wasn’t the first time Valentine saw the view but everytime he saw it, he exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.

“How rich! If all the crystals are traded for Gold Purton, how much would that be? At least a million? If it can fit in the vault of my castle…” Valentie dared not to continue beyond this point.

The place he arrived at was the cathedral of God of War, he couldn’t act unbridledly, he must at least show some respect, even though what he thought of just now, in most people’s eyes, could send him straight to the stake and burn to death.

But!

No one noticed it, so it didn’t count as committing a crime!

Withholding his beliefs, Valentine entered the cathedral with a deacon leading the way.

There were many people in the large cathedral, all praying, but they were not clergy. Quite the contrary, the majority of them were nobles similar to Valentine.

After each noble finished praying, they’d walk to the front of the cathedral, where the donation box was and donate the Gold Purton they prepared.

The most donation was a bag of coins; the least also had around 3 to 5 coins.

Valentine chose to donate 10 Gold Purton.

As a matter of fact, if he had a choice, he wouldn’t even want to spare a copper, but he had no other way, he must do it because he didn’t want to stand out.

After the donation, Valentine started to converse with the other nobles while his eyes scanned the surroundings.

He was trying to locate his target.

Based on the information he got, there was a high chance that the target would appear in the confession room but all the confession rooms that he saw, the doors wide open, were empty of people.

“Could he be out on a mission?

After the thought popped up, Valentine shook his head.

He bore in mind the schedule of his target, the mission assigned, the training time, everything. It was impossible that the target was on a mission or training right now. The target was just a common temple knight, so he was already determined to be normal.

It was because of that that Valentine felt safe to put him in this place, as a trump card against the king.

Valentine believed that they spent a great cost in finding the target and the king would never pay the cost, he might not even hear of the target’s existence.

As for War God Temple? They would never know either.

Every year, many orphans, similar to the target, were sent here to receive training and education.

The target wasn’t extremely talented, he would never attract the attention of the higher-ups in the temple.

‘Where is he though?’ Valentine wondered.

At the same time, he was also thinking whether or not to ‘bring’ the target back.

Coming down here every time was such a hassle for him, but his ally’s persuasion seemed to work magically again.

‘Sire is much more powerful than he looks. That kind of power isn’t just from his influence, it’s also from his… power’.

When he thought of how afraid his ally was when the ‘power’ was mentioned, Valentine couldn’t help but twist his neck.

As one of the orthodox noble families, he knew about the rumours surrounding Edatine royal court, especially the few that made him lose sleep and meal.

Maybe there was a smokescreen somewhere among all of them but who could guarantee that all the rumours were false?

‘Damn it!’ Valentine couldn’t help but curse in his heart.

“Duke Valentine, is there anything troubling you?”

With the question out in the air, the ninth captain of the Apologetics Chivalry, Sean, walked over.

The captain, who had another secret identity, had smiles on his face, his suit of armor making him look extra valiant. His presence attracted the ladies and lasses in the area.

“Nothing in particular. It’s just some troubling news from last night.”

Valentine showed a sense of anger on his bloated face in a timely manner.

“Is it because of the new prince, his Highness? Snake Sect… so surprising,” exclaimed the captain.

“It’s still not confirmed whether it is true or not,” Valentine coldly grunted.

“Leave the judging to his Majesty, we don’t have to worry about all those. Lord Duke, have a good day ahead. I’ll take my leave for I have matters to attend to,” said the captain.

“Very well,” Valentine nodded repeatedly, then saw Sean off. He then returned to his own wagon.

After the wagon left the cathedral, Valentine, the prestiged noble, who showed aggrievance, suddenly looked gloomy.

He did hear about rumours regarding the chivalry captain’s secret identity before, albeit not complete. It was enough to tell Valentine what he should do.

‘Did War God Temple notice something? Impossible! No one else knows about this!’ wondered Valentine.

He kept hinting to himself in his heart but he felt like his heart was beating in an unusual rhythm, as if something was about to happen.

“Hurry up, we must return,” Valentine told the wagoner.

…

Sean walked along the military camp of War God Temple.

The guards and knights along the way bowed and greeted him, the captain, until he stood in front of the room guarded by two deacons.

“My lord,” the two deacons bowed.

“Open the door,” ordered Sean.

One of the Dark Hall deacons opened the door. Bright sunlight shone into the room, shedding light over everything inside, including the young knight Gino.

Looking at the dispirited young man, Sean couldn’t but curl his lips into a grin—everything was within his expectations.