The Devil's Cage

The scroll was made out of goatskin and oak wood.

It was less than 15 cm long but its weight was slightly out of Kieran’s expectations.

The seemingly thin and light scroll weighted at least 500 grams but what astonished Kieran the most was the scroll itself.

[Name: Whisper of the Dead]

[Type: Scroll]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attribute: Oath of allegiance 1/1]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Remark: This is the scroll written by the God of Earth Nikorei herself. While being used at specific times, it will bring out the unimaginable effect!]

...

[Oath of allegiance: Form an alliance with all the spiritual beings before you out of willingness. Cost 2000 Points and able to summon them with the scroll]

...

"Sure enough you’ve seen everything that is going on now right?" Kieran muttered.

He understood the reason behind the scroll and why it appeared before him.

Therefore he turned around and told Ohara, "We’ll have to delay our departure time a little, I have to go out for a while."

"Well then, 2567 stay safe!" Ohara didn’t object at all yet the reminder that sounded so intimate made Elli stare at her angrily again.

Ohara ignored the young lass’s gaze from the start, which made Elli even angrier. After another harsh stare at Ohara, Elli went up to her own room looking upset.

From the start to end, Ohara was carrying her smile.

Simones and Charles looked at each other and returned to their own rooms after a shrug.

Tally was leaning at the left corner of the wall as she stretched her body, she wasn’t concerned about Ohara’s eyes on her and showed off of her lithe and voluptuous body.

"I’ve booked the last room in the inn, you need one? I can give it to you." Tally said.

"It’s fine, I’ll wait for 2567 here!" Ohara replied.

"2567 eh?" Tally didn’t bother to suppress her tone and muttered before Ohara, sounding unusual. Instantly, it caught the attention and vigilance of the Archdeacon.

"Don’t misunderstand anything, I’m just a little curious. Well then, good night your gracefulness Archdeacon." Tally said with a laugh.

Tally then walked away with her charming and graceful steps.

Behind her was Ohara, frowning hard as she stared at Tally’s back.

"Curious? What will happen when a woman is curious about a man?"

Ohara knew exactly what would happen and she knew even more that Tally was not like Elli, a young lass who had nothing against her and was easy to deal with. Ohara needed to be more vigilant from now on. She had lost Hugh once in the past and she wasn’t planning on losing him twice, regardless of what way!

...

Azinder was driving a modified car and was slightly sizing up Ohara in the back seat with the corner of his eyes.

Four days ago when the bunch left Lons Port, the Archdeacon had "I am not happy, don’t piss me off" written all over her face and manner.

For the remaining four days traveling, Azinder didn’t even dare to breathe out loud as he had no idea what happened but he knew it would be best to not get involved.

As for Kieran?

Azinder took a peek through the back mirror at Kieran, he was lying down with his big backpack and laid his legs straight on the seat, sleeping soundly.

Azinder promptly lowered his breath even more. If the Archdeacon had a bad mood and he had to be careful, then he would be trembling in fear if he accidentally woke Kieran from his sleep.

He knew Kieran was not a person with the best temper back from the "swimming" lesson on the ship. Therefore, Azinder drove the modified car which was modified to cruise even smoother on the road with the utmost care, trying to stay as smooth as possible.

Let alone an emergency brake, even when there was a hole in the road, Azinder would go around in rather than over, completely burying the modified car’s purpose and the benefit of a driver.

Of course, it had Azinder worried a little because, for the past four days, Kieran was mostly asleep.

Something must have happened, otherwise...

Just as Azinder was pondering on his messy thoughts, a loud yawn sounded behind him.

Kieran who had been soundly asleep had awoken, he rubbed his eyes with his middle finger and sat up straight on the seat, stretching his body.

Since he had maintained his sleeping posture for a long period of time, a clear cracking noise came following his body stretch.

"Where are we now?" Kieran asked, sounding coarse as he hadn’t really spoken for the whole journey.

"We will be arriving soon at Ciaran City! How are you, 2567?"

Ohara who was in the passenger seat turned around to Kieran, looking worried.

For the past four days, Ohara was worried about Tally of course but also mostly because how sleepy Kieran was.

Compared to Azinder who knew nothing, Ohara did saw it with her own eyes that Kieran was still energetic the night he left for his business and when he came back the morning after, he looked exhausted and dispirited as if a common man had stayed up late for a whole month.

If it wasn’t that Kieran didn’t have any odd smell on him, Ohara would definitely suspected Kieran must have been up to something, but it made Ohara worry even more because, excluding the other possibility, she knew it must be related to the scroll that swindler gave him.

"That damn swindler!" She cursed the young lass in her heart with the least delight.

On the contrary, Ohara’s eyes at Kieran became even more worrisome.

"It’s nothing really, just a small accident. I feel better now." Kieran said with a smile.

He didn’t go into the details about that night since he had acquired a new ace card, it would be best for fewer people to know about it.

It wasn’t that Kieran didn’t trust Ohara and Azinder but after that ambush back on The Coral yet they couldn’t locate a traitor from the crew, it made him cautious.

No one could guarantee whether the enemies had their hands on some peculiar technology, combining mystical methods with science. If it wasn’t a joke then it would be something that could go down in history and with Barry’s performance, Kieran tended to lean towards the latter.

Ohara didn’t press the question, she didn’t really think much about the puzzling thoughts. She simply didn’t want to press the question because she didn’t want Kieran to hate her.

"2567, are we going to meet up with Smulder?" Ohara switched the topic without further exaggeration.

It was the question that Ohara had been thinking for quite a while with utmost consideration.

"Um!" Kieran nodded his head.

He knew that Ohara would switch course if he said no but at that moment, Kieran wouldn’t mind seeing that Holy Knight again, after all both of them had a common enemy.

Phew!

Kieran took a deep breath.

Suddenly, a thick, dense black appeared at the far end of his sight.

The typical darkness that even the sun’s ray couldn’t pierce, it was giving out a corrupting, cold and unsettling feeling.

Even though there was still some distance between them, Keiran could already feel that Ohara and Azinder had started to feel anxious.

However, he himself was cheering in delight, whether was it the devil’s energy or the Eye of Chimeras, both were feeling very happy as if they saw their own land, their home before them.

At a further spot, countless gazes were staring at the moving car approaching.

Some were curious, some were contemplating but most of them were malicious gazes, staring nakedly at the approaching target.

Kieran unconsciously frowned when he picked up on the gazes.