Two weeks had passed since Michael's capture. His cage was teleported inside a floating palace above the volcanic mountain. The ground beneath the cage was wide open. If someone wanted, they could drop the cage right into the volcano with a single push of the button. Inside the cage, Michael was doing one-arm pushups to keep himself healthy. A burly man accompanied by Mutrad broke Michael's right arm. He twisted Michael's armor into three sixty degrees. Over the past two weeks, they had been asking Michael about a portal to the higher realms. Michael had zero clues about any higher realms.

After Michael finished his three-hundredth pushup, he noticed Alicia and Mutrad through the glass. Michael stood up. Michael looked rugged with a long thick beard and long hair. His right arm just swayed along his body lifelessly. Before they entered the cage, the golden chains materialized inside the cage and coiled around Michael's wrist. An invisible force pushed Michael down to his knees. Seeing Michael in this state lightened Alicia's mood.

Mutrad flicked his wrist as a chair appeared before Michael. Mutrad sat down and leaned forward toward Michael.

"Did you change your mind?" asked Mutrad.

"You are going to be here for a long, long time. So do yourself a favor and tell us what we want. In return, I will make sure your life gets easier in here," said Mutrad.

"You don't have to worry about me, Mutrad. If I were you, I'd worry about everyone here," Michael calmly answered Mutrad.

"Come on Ghost. Open your eyes and look around. You cannot escape this cage," Mutrad rolled his eyes.

"Let me get the answers from him," Alicia growled.

Michael chuckled.

"It's cute,"

Mutrad frowned,

"What is?"

"The two of you," Michael gawked between them.

"One tries to play the good one, and the other is trying to be the bad one. This is the problem with this whole thing. You can break a stone with a chisel but not a mountain,"

"But we can break your other arm," Alicia coldly said.

"And I'd bet you would. Engrave these moments in your mind deeply. Because soon, you're going to regret everything," said Michael. He did not hide his killing intent. Mutrad became silent, hoping this cage would hold him forever. Because if he escaped the cage, there was no doubt he would slaughter everyone in the castle. He could only imagine what he would do to everyone who guards the castle.

Alicia punched Michael in the face. Blood and spit sprayed out from Michael's mouth. Michael spat out the remaining blood in his mouth. He cracked his neck. But did not show any signs of anger on his face.

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"Tell us about the portal, Ghost? We know you can open the portal. You are a god, aren't you?" asked Mutrad.

"Tell me why exactly I would tell you anything," Michael snickered.

"You know I believe him. He can't open the portal. In fact, I don't even think he knows where it is. I mean, look at him. You told me he is a god. But he doesn't look like a god to me," Alicia coldly laughed at Michael.

She wanted to make him mad. Ever since he was captured, Alicia wanted to mess with his mind. She tried to assault him physically, ridicule him and even threaten the people in River town. However, nothing brought out the anger inside Michael. Instead, Michael remained as calm as ever. Only he knew what he was planning to do to Alicia.

"If you don't know about the portal. What do you know about the higher realms?" Mutrad asked Michael. Unlike Alicia, Mutrad restrained himself from crossing any limit with the Dark Lord.

"Nothing," Michael shrugged.

"If you want to know more about the higher realms, you should ask Noah Winston,"

As soon as Michael uttered his name, Alicia punched Michael yet again. This time, several times harder than before.

"Do not speak his name," Alicia growled.

"He is a god, isn't he? Plus, he has a wise old grandpa with him,"

Michael saw a strange uneasiness in Mutrad's eyes.

"He doesn't know about all this, does he?" Michael grinned.

"I am not surprised. I know he is easy to manipulate, but he is not stupid enough to do this," Michael turned his gaze to Alicia.

"When I kill everyone here, all that blood will be on your hands. I promise you, Noah wouldn't take your side,"

Alicia punched Michael again, but Michael did not stop talking.

"Why do you think Noah fell in love with every beauty he meets on his path? Because you are not good enough for him. If you love two people at the same time, choose the second. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn't have fallen for the second,"

The temperature around them dropped by several degrees. Alicia's eyes glimmered with rage. She grabbed Michael's hair and raised her fist in the air.

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"Alicia, restrain yourself," Mutrad warned Alicia. But he couldn't stop her from repeatedly punching Michael. He became an outlet for Alicia's rage. Michael laughed as she kept punching.

"Five more days," Mutrad heard these words escape Michael's mouth.

"Alicia, stop!" Mutrad grabbed Alicia's hand, stopping her.

"What did you say?" asked Mutrad.

Michael breathed heavily. He could barely keep his eyes open. Blood oozed out from his mouth. But the grin remained still on his face. Mutrad lifted Michael's head up.

"Five more days," Michael mumbled.

"What five more days?"

"Enjoy this while it lasts," Michael slowly said.

"I am going to slaughter every single one here. It's gonna be a real blood bath,"

Mutrad looked into Michael's eyes and saw no signs of lying. He was pretty serious. Mutrad panicked. The Dark Lord seemed so sure about escaping. His track record proved the Dark Lord has several trump cards up his sleeves.

"He is bluffing in pain," Alicia growled.

"Am I?" asked Michael.

"And I have something special planned for you, Alicia. But I will give you a clue, you're going to beg me to kill you,"

She was about to punch Michael when Mutrad stopped her.

"We are leaving," Mutrad dragged Alicia out of the cage. When they stepped out, the golden chains disappeared, releasing Michael. The glass closed.

After leaving the cage, Mutrad did not even turn back to see the Dark Lord. Eventually, Mutrad and Alicia reached a brightly lit room with several tables. Every single table had a mound of scrolls and parchment.

"Don't tell me you believed his bluff," Alicia rolled her eyes.

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"He is not bluffing," said Mutrad.

"I've lived long enough to tell the difference between a bluff and truth. He is not kidding,"

"He is not going anywhere. He would have escaped by now if he could," said Alicia.

"Besides, the elders of the Skyhall gave us this cage,"

"But where the hell are they? If the Dark Lord poses such a threat to the world, why aren't they here?" Mutrad questioned Alicia. Ever since Mutrad met the representatives of the Skyhall, he had been asking this question himself. They described what the Dark Lord would do in great detail. Simply put, he would end the world they knew and put the world into eternal darkness. At first, Mutrad believed them. But with time, they seemed to have less interest in the Dark Lord. Mutrad's gut instinct told him that Skyhall had more problems than the Dark Lord. His instincts proved to be right when the SKyhall elders ordered Mutrad to interrogate the Dark Lord about a portal to ascend to higher realms. Instead of finding a way to kill the Dark Lord and end the threat, they were focused on getting information about this strange portal to higher realms.

They had been asking the Dark Lord about this portal for two weeks. They tried to ask him nicely, tortured him, waterboarded him, and even broke his arm. Yet, they got nothing from the Dark Lord. Unlike Alicia, Mutrad believed the Dark Lord when he said he knew nothing about a portal or how to open one.

"And why didn't they want Noah to know about everything? If Noah knew about this, then his sister Rowena would too. Why don't the Skyhall want their Holy Maiden to know about the Dark Lord's capture? There is something really shady going on between the Dark Lord and the Skyhall. We shouldn't get involved in this,"

Alicia sensed a tinge of fear in Mutrad's voice.

"Are you hearing yourself right now, Mutrad? You came from your homeworld to capture the Dark Lord,"

"My people are more important to me than the Dark Lord, Alicia. We both saw what happened to Itholan. I don't want my homeworld to become the next Itholan,"

"Then nothing is stopping you from leaving this place. I can handle myself,"

Mutrad failed to find words. He remained silent for a while.

"We need to bolster the defense. If he isn't bluffing, we need to be on our guard," said Mutrad.

"Very well. I'll request Skyhall to send us some backup. While I am gone, please get your shit together, Mutrad," Alicia said before leaving the room. Mutrad collapsed down on the couch behind him. He took a few deep breaths.

"What did I get myself into?" Mutrad regretted his decision to come to the land from his homeworld. Deep down, Mutrad even thought about cutting a secret deal with the Dark Lord.

"In the game of kings, only pawns will be sacrificed," Mutrad recalled the Dark Lord's words.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Mutrad said to himself. He didn't even after receiving backup from the Skyhall, he would be able to relax. There was a reason why Noah didn't want to make a move against the Dark Lord. Although Mutrad knew only little about Noah, one thing was sure, Noah was searching for something.

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By chance, this thing went south, Mutrad didn't think Noah would take lightly to Alicia's actions. As far as Mutrad could tell, Noah wasn't the same person he had met a year ago.

"What's gonna happen in five days?" Mutrad asked himself. He took a scroll and decided to write a letter to his elders regarding the Dark Lord's words. He hoped this letter would change the elders' mind.