The Devil's Cage

"Yes!"

The reason why Kieran chose the difficult path to clear the dungeon was because he wanted to explore all kinds of sub-missions and special events, he wouldn’t have hesitated this time.

[Based on what you have experienced in the current dungeon world, automatically distributed into the Dragon faction!]

[Battle Of The Sons: the son of Wolf has been strengthening his body and sharpening its claws in the fertile lands of the north. He is eager to go south to restore his ancestor’s glory and pride and now before him is the son of Dragon who has become weak and withered over time. He will feast on the flesh and drink the blood of the son of Dragon to add an incredible milestone to his conquest achievements...]

[After joining the Battle Of The Sons, you must ensure the survival of son of Dragon]

[Note: Different dungeon rating will be given based on performance during the event!]

...

"Wolf? Dragon?"

Kieran uttered the terms that he was most concerned about in his heart.

He knew the terms weren’t referring to animals but some kind of God!

The Wolf God, it was why the Prairie King kept addressing himself as the son of the Wolf God.

After a glimpse of his presence and it felt so similar to Great Swamp, it made an impression on Kieran’s mind.

What about Dragon?

Kieran barely knew Zilin Prefecture’s duke.

Other than knowing that his prefecture was on the north side of Warren, which was a barren land baffled by cold weather, the duke also commanded the best warriors and hunters within Warren.

After muttering to himself for a while, he left for his tent.

He needed a reliable person to tell him everything and Mary was the best candidate but after seeing that Mary was still asleep soundly, he hesitated.

"If my lord wished to know more about Duke Zilin, I can give you some insights. It might not be the most complete but definitely better than common men."

Maxim said softly while following behind Kieran.

Maxim was the recorder of the Raven Sect. He had control over most of the Raven Sect’s secrets and what they wanted to reveal to the public. Obviously, he knew Mary was the rightful heir to the throne of Warren, in fact, he had started to gather info about Mary the night before, including Kieran who had broken through the fortress for Mary.

Maxim had guesses about their relationship but after seeing how Kieran cared for her, Maxim tended to think highly of Mary and even categorized her on his "to-watch" list.

Mary’s strength wouldn’t have made Maxim do that but her position plus Kieran’s attention to her was enough.

Kieran glanced over Maxim who was bowing out of humility, he didn’t care about the thoughts behind his words and instead he replied softly, "Let’s talk outside."

Kieran too had some guesses about Maxim’s real thoughts but he didn’t care enough.

As long as Maxim decided to play along and complete the mission, Kieran could agree to his terms.

What Maxim wanted as none other than the Raven Sect leader position, otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen an outsider to interfere with their internal affairs.

Maxim did say that he was unwilling to see the Raven Sect follow the path of destruction like the Viper Sect did because of their civil war. It did have some truth to it though.

A sect suffering civil war or a united sect?

For Maxim who was about to ascend to the leader’s position, he would surely prefer the latter.

Maxim too came outside the tent after Kieran and after thinking for some time, he went on with his story.

"The current generation of the dukeship of Zilin is the seventh but the first Duke of Zilin didn’t appear when Warren was founded but actually twenty years later after Warren had formed its kingdom. Back then, the king of Warren was lost in an accident and given that he didn’t name his heir, his three princes fought for the throne."

"After almost six months of civil war, Warren was filled with the fog of war and the Prairie invaders seized the opportunity and rode south. The Prairies invaders successfully reached outside the walls of Riverdale that time."

"It was at that moment, the three princes woke up from their foolish battle. They started to gather their house officers, nobles and knights to defend against the invaders. However, they quickly faced defeat because of all the lost opportunities. A month and a half later, Riverdale was taken and the three heirs were killed one after another. None of their direct kin could escape their demises as well, that is until... The fourth heir appeared!"

"It was one of the far relatives of the king, a daughter of a duke!"

"Her father died in the war defending their lands from the Prairie invaders so she led her house and entered the northern snowy woods and mountains. The time when the capital’s orders reached her, the lady has gathered the seven strongest knights and three thousand northerners rallied behind her and started their counterattack against the Prairie invaders. I wasn’t there during the war but according to some hidden text, the seven knights are so powerful that they can rival a thousand men on their own. Especially the leader of the seven knights, he could sweep the battlefield with his might and it was him that broke through waves and waves of seals to reach the Prairie King at that time and crushed the king’s head!"

Maxim’s face was expressing his admiration towards the knights as he spoke.

It was a pure admiration towards the powerful.

"Waves and waves of seals? Crushed the king’s head?"

Kieran raised a brow.

The simple briefing allowed Kieran to imagined that the first generation duke of Zilin was unstoppable. Even without Maxim’s follow up, Kieran was able to guess that the lady ascended to become queen and became the second generation ruler. That strongest knight eventually became the first generation of the Duke of Zilin.

However, Maxim seemed like he read Kieran’s thoughts and shook his head.

"My lord, your guesses are not quite right. Though most of the stories out there are indeed told as such but based on the truth that we know, the moment the lady ascended to Queen, that powerful knight went missing and so did the other six. The queen, however, bore the child of the first knight and it was that child who became the first duke of Zilin. Other than that, the first duke of Zilin wasn’t granted due to his birth but it was a title given due to his outstanding battle achievement!"

"That’s right, it is what you thought! After resting for almost twenty years, the Prairie invaders came back with a vengeance. That child was only nineteen years of age and he stood on the battlefield alone and slaughtered the entire Prairie vanguard troops. Then, he lead the imperial army of the queen and marched straight to the new Prairie King’s main troops and just like his father before him, he crushed the Prairie King’s head. He then acquired his dukeship and was rewarded the Zilin prefecture. His house uses the red flying dragon as the house banner and was known as the son of Dragon since then."

Maxim smiled when he saw how shocked was Kieran because when Maxim first approached the matter, he was sharing the same expression or even worse than Kieran’s.

As the recorder of the Raven Sect, Maxim was very clear what the records of "swept the battlefield" meant. That had exceeded the range of rivaled a thousand men or a myriad but had reached the level of God of War!

Kieran didn’t know the meaning behind the Raven Sect records but after many runs through dungeon world and especially after witnessing the existence of Great Swamp and similar ranks, he knew what "swept the battlefield" meant as well.

"What about the current Duke of Zilin?"

Kieran unconsciously asked as he gazed over the description of [Battle Of The Sons].

"After the first, second and the third generation of dukeship, the heir to the house of Zilin had become normal and after the fifth generation, they even became mediocre but were still considered as geniuses if compared to commoners. Especially the current Duke of Zilin which is the seventh generation, he is exceptionally hard working and was labeled as the leader of their clan that will bring glory back to the house of Zilin," Maxim replied honestly.

After a slight pause, Maxim continued.

"My lord, do you wish to meet the current Duke of Zilin?"

"Of course!" Kieran replied in a decisive manner.