The Devil's Cage

The Fire Raven soared high in the sky, its sharp eyes were fluttering, searching for the best route for Kieran to meet the Duke of Zilin whilst avoiding direct contact with the Prairie King.

Kieran knew that after [Battle Of The Sons] popped up, all the conflict had shifted from Lightning Fortress and Riverdale to the battle between the son of Wolf and son of Dragon.

Should the son of Wolf emerge victorious, everything would fall too far from redeemable, for the people of Warren or for Kieran as well—it would be a catastrophe.

So, Kieran ought to spend all his effort to assure the son of Dragon will emerge the final victor.

However, when he saw the campsite of Zilin’s troops through Fire Raven’s eyes, his heart couldn’t help but feel strange.

The campsite within sight wasn’t big by any means, at most housing 30 to 50 soldiers and certainly unrelatable to "reinforcements".

Any number of common soldiers would be useless against that Prairie King though.

However, being on the weaker end and having a day and a half to prepare, Duke of Zilin didn’t set up any arrangements and it baffled Kieran greatly.

Through Fire Raven’s eyes, Kieran made sure there wasn’t any ambush or mystical powers surrounding the Zilin camp but it wasn’t entirely without results either.

Kieran saw in the middle of the Zilin camp, a big square area was covered by a white gunny cloth.

"Is it some secret weapon?" Kieran wondered.

Since the house of Zilin had an extremely powerful knight that could sweep the entire battlefield before, Kieran dared not underestimate their strength, even though their house had been falling off since then and was getting worse with new each generation.

A dying camel is still bigger than a horse!

It was the saying that Kieran had always believed in.

Kieran came out from the shadows when he was around a hundred meters away from the Zilin camp. He saw four guards guarding the entrance as he walked near and quickly stated his identity.

"I’m 2567, I mean you no harm. I’m here to see the Duke of Zilin!" Kieran said loudly.

The name 2567 had become famous in all of Warren after the death of Jeanne James, plus breaking through Lightning Fortress alone and preventing the Prairie’s soldiers from invading south boosted his popularity, at least the guards had heard of him before.

The guards saluted. One of them quickly went into the camp and returned swiftly.

"The Duke is waiting for you inside the camp, my lord!" The guard said.

But Kieran’s sharp senses realized that the guard’s tone wasn’t right, neither was his expression. Despite how hard the guard tried to cover up, Kieran saw a sense of sorrow behind his face.

A bad feeling rose up quickly in Kieran’s heart, a sudden guess then formed amidst the terrible feeling.

Kieran hastened his steps and entered the camp. There was no need for a guide as he easily saw the Duke of Zilin. He was young and handsome, his figure was tall and straight and was standing in the middle of the camp like a stiffen javelin.

He was wearing silver armor with a scarlet red cap. The sword at his waist even added an extra layer of valiantness in his handsome presence. He too had a head of semi-long blonde hair like Mary, his eyes were blue as well but had much more maturity and wisdom to it.

The person before Kieran would look similar to Mary if she grew up in the future without freckles and regardless of gender.

"Greetings Duke Zilin!"

Kieran moved his right hand over his chest and did a less than standard knight salutation.

Kieran was prepared to state his intentions for the visit, he did not plan to flatter the Duke and make detours on the topic since it was a matter of urgent. Dancing around the topic wasn’t Kieran’s character as well but before he could utter a word, the Duke of Zilin spoke first with a smile.

"You wish to fight beside me?" He asked.

"Um." Kieran nodded without any hesitant.

Kieran still knew how to choose between facing the Prairie King alone or facing him with a powerful ally by his side.

The display of power from the Prairie King made Kieran understand that maybe the Prairie King wasn’t as powerful as Great Swamp but had the fight broke out, the win rate would still be 50-50.

Kieran didn’t mind increasing his winning rate.

"I thank you for your arrival... You really lived up to your name by advancing forth before the face of danger."

The Duke retained his smile and praised Kieran without any intention of holding back yet he rejected Kieran’s offer.

"But, this is my fight. Forgive me that I can’t allow you to interfere. I’ve waited for this fight for too long. There will only be one victor in the battle between the sons of Dragon and Wolf!"

The Duke sounded serious all of a sudden and his tone was decisive.

The young duke then reached out his hand to the white gunny cloth beside and dragged it down.

Fuuu!

After the fluttering from the cloth spread in the air, Kieran finally saw what was hiding underneath the cloth and the moment he laid eyes on the thing, his heart sank.

It was a coffin!

A stone coffin without any excessive decoration and had the house of Zilin’s emblem over the cover.

The Emblem of the Flying Dragon!

Its wings were widespread and it was roaring at the sky, even if it was a stone carving, it maintained a dragon’s pride and honor, just like the young duke before Kieran.

The duke didn’t waste a day and a half that he had. He sent back most of his followers and soldiers and prepared the stone coffin for himself.

As the Duke’s rival, the Prairie King waited patiently over the day and when the duke had finished his preparation, the king finally came out from his camp to fulfill the promised fight.

Both parties did pry on each other but most of it was tacit understanding. The details in the process were enough to strike awe in anyone’s mind and urge them to look into the cause.

To be honest, if Kieran read such scenes in books, he too would exclaim the determination and bearing of both parties but in his current situation...

"Are you out of your mind?"

"You know your opponent is a much stronger person than you and yet you play along and came for the fight? Do you know how to spell DEATH?"

Kieran’s heart was roaring fiercely. He wanted to question the Duke before him so hard but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer because his answer was the stone coffin beside him.

The man was willing to throw his life away, if he is not willing to tell anything, nothing will come out from him.

Fuuuu!

Kieran took a deep breath and adjusted his emotions.

"Is the house honor that important?" Kieran asked.

It was just a test, he didn’t expect the Duke to answer but surprisingly the Duke did.

"It is higher than my life alone! From the day I was born, I knew I had a destined rival waiting for me! The educations, training, everything I’ve learned in my life is to teach me how to defeat my rival, but..."

"As the descendant of Dragons, the blood in our house has gotten thinner by the generation. I, my father, his father before him, and even the great ancestors couldn’t achieve what the first generation could. On the contrary, my rival had gotten stronger by the day, he has the fertile great lands to strengthen his body, to sharpen his claws!"

"And I... I only have the power and glory of my ancestors in books. Although I didn’t inherit the powers from the great ancestors, I’ve gotten their honor and glory!"

"The son of Dragon will never yield!

Wuuung!

As the last sentence came out from the Duke, a slight pressuring aura appeared on Kieran as though he felt the young duke’s soul was roaring.

Kieran heard the roars of the dragons in his ears, it was loud and fierce, shattering through the clouds and heavens.

Kieran saw the shadow of a Dragon before him, the phantasmal, bubble-like mirage that would pop with a slight breeze.

Yet it stood persistently above the camp’s sky and gazed over the figure of its rival on the horizon.

The almost materialized aura of a giant white wolf.