The Devil's Cage

Two men were carrying the royal wizard into a basement somewhere in Riverdale.

They threw Rover down on the floor without courtesy once they entered the basement. His white robe was instantly covered with a layer of dust.

Still, both men didn’t mind the dust and started to search Rover.

Any commoner knew the royal wizard would surely possess some valuables, let alone the two men who had other intentions.

They didn’t just know how valuable the items were, they even knew how to differentiate them.

After a few minutes, every valuable spellcasting ingredients that were hidden on Rover was confiscated, including the dagger that was hidden in his boots.

Other than his robe, the royal wizard had nothing left on him.

The men then left after getting their valuables.

Bang!

The door was slammed tight as the men left and it whipped up a cloud of dust at Rover’s face; the little commotion startled him and woke him up.

His eyes were clear and energetic, there weren’t any signs of blurriness after waking up from unconsciousness.

Rover sized up his new surroundings.

"So this is one of the bastards’ base?"

He looked at his wrist as he wondered.

The spot where he was bitten by the snake on the drawing had been treated.

The poisonous blood was sucked out and bandages were wrapped around it with recovery balm inside.

Rover clearly noticed there were substances within the balm that could put one to sleep and it was the strong kind.

If he wasn’t hinted beforehand, he might really end up like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

"You do foretell things like a God!" Rover exclaimed.

He swiftly got on his feet and quietly went to the door of the basement.

He wasn’t there for sightseeing after taking the risk of being abducted.

The basement door wasn’t on the wall like the typical structure but was built on top of the ceiling. He would need to climb up the ladder to reach the door above him.

"It’s not locked?"

Rover was delighted after pushing lightly at the door.

It seemed like the abductor assumed Rover was knocked out cold, so it wasn’t necessary for extra precautions.

It was a good news for him though.

Rover’s palm was steady enough, he wasn’t all bad even compared to a warrior.

After all, some of the spellcasting required a matching hand gesture and it would be impossible for him to cast the spells without a steady and nimble pair of hands.

Rover quietly pushed up the door and saw what was outside through the seam.

The basement was located under the stairs. From Rover’s angle, he could see the corridor, living hall, and another flight of stairs to the second floor.

The corridor was emptied of people, the two men who abducted him were sitting in the living hall and there seemed to be more people on the second floor as he could clearly hear the screeches on the floor when people walked over it.

He quietly closed the door and went back to the spot where he was lying down.

He was considering melee combat as an option for him to escape.

However, if the targets were common folks, it wouldn’t worry him as much. Rover too had been through the training of a warrior in the past, he was quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat and was able to use simple weapons.

It would be enough for him to deal with commoners and soldiers but the men above?

Rover wouldn’t dare strike a stone with an egg.

Those people upstairs obviously were assassins that had been through vigorous training and had mastered the art of killing people. More importantly, the snake drawing that bit him told him that there might be a spellcaster among them as well.

Given such circumstances, Rover wouldn’t act recklessly.

He opened up his coat which was filled with small pockets inside, the ingredients for spell casting were confiscated though, leaving the coat useless other than providing cover.

However, his undershirt was different. He took off his seemingly common undershirt and it had mystical wordings written all over it.

A magic circle!

Rover placed his shirt flat on the ground and started to chant his incantations.

Smoke then came from his magic circle and soon after it filled the whole basement.

The smokes also seeped through the seams and went into the house.

The two people in the living hall were knocked out cold after smelling the smoke, then followed by those on the second floor.

Soon, Rover was the only conscious one within the house as the other men passed out.

Each of the unconscious men possessed the strength to easily take out Rover during head to head combat but during certain situations, Rover turned the tide to his favor and took them out in a single go.

The reason a wizard was revered by others was because of this particular aspect and not his own body strength which was inferior to others.

Rover opened up the basement door and quickly headed over to the living hall. He took back all the ingredients and cast the same spell once more to thicken the smoke that numbed people.

He finally let out a breath of relief after that.

Rover then took the initiative to check on the men. When he noticed one of the men’s arm had a Viper tattoo on it, the relieved breath was sucked back into a cold gasp.

"The Viper Sect? They are not the spies?"

A cold sweat broke out instantly as he realized he was wrong. He was clear that his wrongful judgment would cost him the entire plan for the situation.

"Let’s hope that he will notice something is wrong."

Whenever he thought about that someone who foretold things like a God, Rover placed his last hope on him.

Still, Rover wouldn’t just lay back and wait for things to happen. He quickly moved out as the thought bloomed.

...

After returning to the campsite, Kieran and Mary were summoned by the king.

The king was sitting on the only chair in his tent and he quickly stood up when he saw Kieran and Mary.

King James VIII wanted to dash over to the two but his worsening condition made him stagger to a fall. Kieran swiftly moved over and helped him up, preventing him from falling.

"Thank you!" The king nodded in gratitude.

It would be really faceless for a king to fall on the ground.

However, when the thought came into the king’s mind, he knew what his priority was.

"Rover is in trouble... The spies attacked Rover but he was abducted by someone else. They are requesting an exchange of hostage, particularly for Torstar!"

"Only Torstar?" Kieran asked in surprised.

"Yes, only him." said the king in certainty.

Although his body was bad, his mind was clear as water, he knew he didn’t deliver the message wrongly. It was what the masked men requested.

"What is it?" The king seemed to have noticed Kieran’s surprise.

"Nothing. So where will the hostage exchange take place? Is there anyone they specifically wanted to be present during the exchange?"

A sudden thought came into Kieran’s mind but he remained calm on the surface.

"The connecting path between Lightning Fortress and Riverdale, they didn’t mention anyone special." The king said.

"I understand." Kieran nodded and went out.

Some things had changed beyond his expectation but he didn’t dislike the changes.

Changes made him see more of the situation.