The Devil's Cage

"Did anything happen to Rei?" Simones asked, looking distressed. His voice sounded like he was shivering.

"No, no! How should I put this?" Raul shook her head. She wanted to explain, but she didn’t know where to start.

She took out an enlarged colored photo.

The photo pictured a unique rainbow arch soaring through a blue sky and white clouds. It was very beautiful, yet everyone’s attention was not on the rainbow’s beauty, but on the blurry figure beside it.

It was Nikorei!

Even though the picture was blurry, beside the figure was a cat and a translucent figure was following right behind it. Everyone present was sure that the blurry figure was Nikorei.

"This was taken by a photographer after a rainy day. He accidentally discovered the picture and thought it was a mistake of his camera. He threw it aside and forgot about it until he encountered the supernatural element himself. He contacted a mystic to help him solve the problem, and the mystic noticed the picture. Coincidentally, that individual was a friend of ours, so she knew we were looking for Madam Nikorei and contacted us!" Raul and Cidney explained.

"Is she a reliable source?" Kieran asked warily.

"Very reliable. Rukie is a very reliable person and a loyal friend. She would never have lied to us!" the couple said, defending their friend.

Kieran trusted the couple, so he decided to trust that Rukie too, even though they had never met.

He took the picture and scanned it carefully. The figures had to be the missing Nikorei, Tiki and Ferad. After looking at the photo for a while, Kieran was certain.

As for how they had managed to appear so high above the ground, Kieran believed that, considering their abilities, it would not have been hard.

"When was this taken?" he asked.

"About four months ago," the couple replied.

"Four months ago? Any other discoveries?" Kieran muttered, following up with another question. He did not ask where the picture had been taken, as he believed that Raul and Cidney would have done their research before returning to the house.

"Yes! The locals in Feronde saw Madam Nikorei’s figure a couple of times! Sometimes at dawn, sometimes at dusk, after the rain, during the rain, even during a full moon!" Raul and Cidney said.

"This means that there is no precise timing... Could you confirm she was only spotted in Feronde?" Kieran asked.

"Yes, only in Feronde, but..."

The couple looked odd again.

"What’s wrong?" Schmidt asked nervously.

"The town of Feronde has disappeared! After we received the picture from Rukie, we headed to Feronde to investigate. It was normal during the day, but at nightfall we were awakened by a series of cries. A group of black-armored knights appeared in town and killed everyone in sight..."

Cidney looked terrified as he mentioned the incident.

"Black knights?"

Everyone exchanged looks.

"Evil spirits?" Schmidt asked.

Some evil spirits would appear in human form before they died.

"Not evil spirits!" Cidney said in an affirmative tone. Raul nodded, agreeing with her husband.

"Although I am not really a mystical individual, I know fire, blessed items and electric batons would have caused damage to evil spirits, but the black knights we encountered were not afraid of them! They were wearing noir armor and riding black horses. Their eyes were scarlet, and they were wielding black longswords, battle axes and spears as they rampaged through the town. The owner of the hotel we were staying at got his head chopped off by a battle axe. His brains splashed all over my face. That feeling..."

Cidney found it hard to continue. Although he was a doctor, he wasn’t fond of blood.

Raul held Cidney’s hands in hers, comforting her husband. Then she picked up where her husband had left off, elaborating in a more professional way.

"Fire, electricity, blessed items, and spells could cause no damage to the black knights. Small bullets could not even penetrate their armor! Plus, they were moving fast. They were as strong as oxen and they had a clear target in their minds. Throughout the massacre, they did not even talk. They only signaled at each other using gestures! I have never seen such a horrifying squadron before!"

"To be honest, if Rukie hadn’t helped us escape, I’m afraid we might have died under their swords! However, when Rukie tried to lure away the black knights, she did not come back..."

Raul’s rough, dry voice made everyone even more anxious.

"Rukie was a loyal friend," Simones tried to comfort the couple.

"When did this happen?" Kieran’s sharp senses had picked up on something.

"About a week ago! We tried everything within and beyond our powers, but we still got no results, so we came back here seeking help!" Raul said.

Suddenly, Schmidt became infuriated.

"A week ago? A whole town vanished just like that? What the f*ck is the government doing? Why weren’t we informed about this? Are they scared or something? Those goddamn f*cking pieces of sh*t!"

The chief officer could not hold back his anger anymore. He vented out his rage through cursing.

No one present had any more comments to make after that raging outburst.

As mystical individuals, everyone was accustomed to solving matters the mystical way.

The mystical way was to solve their own problems when they came across them.

If they couldn’t do so, then they requested help from friends or comrades.

The government was always ignored by the mystics. Some of the most elderly mystics had the impression that there was still a king.

They were not wrong from a certain perspective, but Kieran was not one of the old geezers.

As a player, he had his own ways of dealing with problems. All he cared about was the missions.

[Sub Mission Unlocked: Missing Town!]

[Missing Town: Raul and Cidney brought news about Nikorei, but you need to use your own strength and wits to determine whether these news are useful. Head to Forende Town, but beware! Danger lurks freely there!]

...

The Sub Mission forced Kieran to make a decision.

"Very well! I’ll do my best to help, but I can’t make a move right away..." Kieran said, pointing at his wounds.

Raul and Cidney seemed to understand Kieran’s condition.

Everyone sat down and talked about Feronde before Schmidt left to do his job.

As the Chief Officer of the West Coast and the special operation task force captain, he had no spare time for chit chat.

However, after about 15 minutes, Schmidt entered the house again with another person.

Everyone inside the house frowned when they saw the person Schmidt had brought back.

Louver instinctively gripped his sword tight.