The Devil’s Cage

Kieran was stunned as he watched her rush out.

When she had suggested diversion and attack as a strategy, Kieran had secretly thought that she would ask him to be the live bait.

Against all his expectations, it was she that took on the high-risk part of the plan and rushed out there bravely.

“Hahaha… Look what have we here!”

The lady’s scream and the shooter’’s laughter snapped Kieran out of it.

His strong morals did not allow him to try to escape, but that did not mean that he would let this opportunity pass either.

Kieran leaped out from his hiding spot, holding the dagger tightly in his hand.

The two shooters walked in his line of sight.

The two of them stood in a front to back formation. The one in front looked completely distracted by the lady’s screaming, but the one in the back was keeping an eye out on their surroundings.

When Kieran jumped out from his hiding spot, the one in the back saw him and pointed a gun at him, ready to fire.

“Sh*t!“

At the sight of the gun, Kieran felt his heart freeze.

He knew very well that he was not bulletproof, and the man stood barely three meters away from him. The distance was short, but still long enough to make it impossible for Kieran to stop him from firing.

It was checkmate.

Kieran could smell his own fear.

The cold sent chills down his spine, but he felt a warm sensation burning up in his body, rising up like boiling water.

It was his will to survive.

It was that will that kept him alive in the real world, working hard to pay his medical bills, and not giving up in the face of the harsh reality.

He was not going to give up now either.

Kieran did not stop. He opened his eyes wide and looked at the two armed men.

His heart beat faster and faster, fighting to give him a chance at survival.

One of the men laughed.

His laugh was full of contempt and irony.

He had seen too many people fighting for their lives, had even killed a bunch of them.

The number was starting to get so big that he had lost count of how many people exactly he had killed.

But never mind that. He was going to add that guy in front of him to that number.

The man stuck out his tongue and licked his lips in excitement, looking completely disgusting as he prepared to pull the trigger.

However, in that very moment, Kieran took a big leap to the right.

The thug instinctively followed his movement, but his partner was blocking his line of sight.

The thug was caught off guard.

“NOW!”

Kieran dashed out with exploding speed. He lunged towards the first thug, whose attention was focused on the lady.

The dagger in his hand flew, avoiding the target’s rib bones and stabbing him right in the heart.

[Stabbing: Lethal Attack, Inflicts 100 Damage to HP (50 Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic) X2), Target dies...]

Phew...

When he removed the dagger, hot bright red blood flowed out.

The blood splattered on his face once more, but after his previous experience, this time he was smart enough to close his eyes while removing the dagger.

Kieran did not stop when the man was down.

He was well aware that the real enemy was the one behind him.

“Arggggh!”

Kieran let out a loud scream and used all his strength to grab the dead body in front of him. Using it as a human shield, he lifted it and rushed towards the remaining enemy.

Bam!

With a deafening sound, Kieran, his human shield and the remaining thug fell to the ground.

The human shield landed on the thug and pressed down on him, while Kieran fell to the side.

Kieran quickly got back up and lunged towards his enemy.

When the thug sensed the approaching danger, he struggled to get up.

However, the dead body on top of him was heavier than he’d expected, and Kieran had already reached him before he could push it off.

Kieran showed no mercy. He added his own weight on top of the dead body, pressing down on the thug even more and making him struggle even harder. He used the dagger in his palm to stab the thug’s right hand.

The gun.

The thug’s biggest weapon and Kieran’s greatest concern.

Bam!

The tip of the blade penetrated the thug’s right wrist, plunging the whole way through.

“Arggggh!”

While he screamed, the thug let go of his gun and slided it aside. Kieran did not stop, though. He turned and aimed his dagger towards the man’s upper body and neck.

Considering his chest was currently covered by a dead body, his neck was the only other viable option.

Bam!

The dagger pierced through the man’s throat, silencing him in the process.

[Tackling: Inflicts 2 Damage to HP, stuns for 1 second…]

[Stabbing: Inflicts 12 Damage to HP, cripples target...]

[Stabbing: Lethal Attack, Inflicts 86 damage to HP (43 Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic) X2). Target dies…]

When the battle log popped up, Kieran squatted down on the ground and took several deep breaths.

The whole battle had not lasted longer than five seconds, but it had consumed a great amount of Kieran’s energy and concentration.

He had taken advantage of their formation and killed them both, one after the other. Kieran had done his best every time, and as a result both of the thugs were dead.

Kieran starting seeing stars, and his vision darkened. A fainting sensation came over him and made him lie down on the ground.

Despite the stinging smell of blood, he did not move.

Besides, he was beginning to get used to the smell.

“It’s a scary thing to get used to!”

Kieran laughed ironically.

He had no choice. It was a life-and-death situation.

He kept smiling as he looked at the attributes window.

[Stamina: 20]

His stamina had dropped from a hundred to twenty during the battle.

However, as he kept taking deep breaths, he was recovering by one percentage point per second.

After a short rest, Kieran was be able to stand up again.

He quickly searched the body in front of him for potential loot.

[Name: M1905]

[Type: Gun]

[Rarity: Damaged]

[Attack: Normal]

[Magazine: 7 rounds]

[Attributes: None]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring outside of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a 11mm handgun that has not been maintained well. Beware of jamming bullets!]

……

[Name: Bullet]

[Type: Ammunition]

[Rarity: Common]

[Attributes: None]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring outside of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: Rounds for a 11mm handgun. Potent handgun bullets.]

…….

Two M1905 handguns and six rounds of bullets was the best that Kieran could find.

Apart from those, there was nothing else worth carrying.

Holding the M1905 in his hand, Kieran felt an increased sense of security.

He turned and looked back.

“It’s clear!” he said.

He rushed towards the lady, who had not been far behind him, to let her know that the coast was clear.

The lady, however, did not come forward to meet him.

Surviving four months in the war hadn’t just made her vigilant, but also very smart.

When she had taken on the task of diverting the enemy, she’d had more reasons than the ones she’d shared with him. She was aware that if she had asked Kieran to create a diversion, the barely-formed alliance between them would have broken and they would both have been killed by the thugs.

Kieran understood her reasoning.

That was why he wanted to talk to her and, if possible, work with her as a team.

He liked to work with smart people.

Of course, he would have to be honest in order to persuade her.

“You know, we’ve come across each other twice and we’ve teamed up both times. I think we can work together to survive the gloomy days that lie ahead!”

When the lady hesitated to let her guard down, Kieran holstered both of the guns on his waist and put his hands up.

He wanted to show her that he meant no harm.

His words also helped move the lady a little.

After a few seconds, she came over.

“I did my part too. I want a share of the loot!” she said.

“Sure, of course,” Kieran nodded, acknowledging her contribution.

She did deserve most of the credit after all. If it hadn’t been for her diversion, which had distracted one of the thugs, no matter how hard Kieran had tried, he would not have been able to escape both of the men.

Therefore, Kieran did not mind sharing the loot with her.

He was planning on handing her one of the M1905 handguns when, out of the blue, she ran over to the headless body.

Kieran was startled, but came back to his senses quick.

That confrontation had definitely not been a coincidence.

There must have been a reason behind it.

Kieran fought his curiosity. He had promised that he would share the loot with her, and he would keep that promise.

Standing in place, he kept an eye out for danger while he waited for the lady to finish her search.

After a while, she returned with a backpack.

“I think we need a hiding place, it’s not safe here!” Kieran said.

The gunshots must certainly have attracted unwanted attention.

To be honest, Kieran already felt eyes trained on him and his belongings.

Despite the gunshots, people would still come over to check, and it would definitely not be harmless civilians.

He might have two handguns on him, but he only had six rounds of bullets, and he did not feel like facing an unknown number of enemies just yet.

“Follow me!” the lady said, signaling to Kieran.

Considering she had lived around the city for four months, she was much more familiar with the terrain than he was, and she knew a lot better what were they facing up against.

The battles themselves were not that frightening, but it was the idea of the unwanted, continuous, endless fighting that seemed downright terrifying.

In order to avoid that, he would have to end each battle as soon as possible, and leave the scene fast once the fighting was over.

Trailing behind the lady, Kieran ran in zig zag despite the blisters on his foot. He did not stop for a second.

After running for about twenty minutes, they reached another pile of ruins.

As the lady came to a stop, so did Kieran, instinctively looking around him.

He could not see anything alarming.

The ruins before them looked almost identical to the ones they had just left.

Collapsed walls, stone debris, broken wood...

But Kieran was sure of one thing.

While they had been running, the sounds behind them had gotten further and further away. They had shaken off the people who had been watching them.

He was safe.

For now.