The Devil’s Cage

As soon as the gold had burst out from the wall, Kieran had intended to grab some for himself. He was sure Guntherson would not mind as long as he did not take too much.

However, Altilly’s appearance and the abrupt end of the Main Mission had interfered with his original plan.

He had only five minutes to bring whatever he could before leaving the dungeon.

He was left without a plan.

He wanted to curse the person who had thought up this ”Bring whatever you can” rule.

The existence of the jewels had turned around a desperate situation.

Compared to the heavy bars of gold, the jewels were much smaller in size and a lot lighter, thus more suitable for him to take.

His previous blacksmithing job had helped him understand the importance and value of jewels embedded on equipment, not to mention the extra effects and attributes those jewels could grant.

He had made up his mind.

There was another wave of a heavy, fierce growl, the huge figure becoming clearer and clearer. The others could see it approaching as well.

Everyone started to back off. Only Kieran was left standing there.

”Let’s go!” John pulled Kieran, who was still standing there blankly.

”You go ahead, I’ll cover you! Someone has to distract the monster, otherwise none of us will be able to make it out alive! We can’t outrun it!” Kieran said quickly.

Within mere seconds, the monster had crawled out of the deep hole that had been holding the treasure and reached the hall entrance, displaying its incredible speed.

No one could match it, except for Kieran and Guntherson. However, after Guntherson had unleashed his powerful attack, he had worn out his body and looked darker than ever. He could not even stand by himself.

The earlier attack had drained most of his energy, turning Kieran’s strongest ally into nothing more than a prop.

Therefore, the only one who could hold up the monster was Kieran.

The situation coincidentally fit Kieran’s plan perfectly.

”I’ll do it!” John said immediately.

”You’re wounded! Besides, I’m faster than you!” Kieran shook his head as he walked towards Carl, taking back the box with his weapons.

After he took out his weapons, he looked at Guntherson and said with a smile, ”I would like to learn that if I get the chance!”

”Definitely!” Guntherson said in an affirmative tone.

However, Kieran knew that he would not get the chance. When he left the dungeon, the two of them would not be in contact anymore.

That was why he had replied with a smile.

”Help you teacher out and ask your father to give the rest of my salary to Carl!” Kieran asked the tall, slim girl with the red hair. ”Can’t be penniless when you have a girl you like, my friend!”

Although he had wanted to repay Carl for his assistance throughout the dungeon in a different way, it seemed like he had to go for the more direct way.

Kieran had to cut his farewell short as the monster was getting closer and closer. The golden wave, which had momentarily subsided, suddenly bulked up as the monster lurked beneath it like a whale swimming towards them.

”Carl! Take John and get back where you came from!”

Kieran turned around and rushed back into the hall.

”Kieran! Sir Kieran!”

As he heard his name being called, Kieran raised his right hand and waved goodbye.

His left hand was holding the [U-II] grenade as he rolled to the side.

The monster was very close.

Like a whale surfacing from the sea, it splashed gold all over the place and jumped out towards Kieran, only scathing him a little as it revealed itself.

It was a colossal crocodile.

It was almost 15 meters long and 4-5 meters wide with pearl white scaling all over its body.

Just the head alone was 3 meters long, and those scarlet eyes located its prey with a vicious, beastly gaze.

The crocodile could have probably swallowed a whole car as it opened its mouth wide and leapt towards Kieran.

BOOM!

The [U-II] grenade Kieran threw exploded inside its mouth. That particular grenade could blast a human into pieces, but it had barely hurt the beast, causing only some minor scratches on its skin.

[Explosion: Inflicts 200 Damage to Target, Target has High Tensile Armor and High Iron Skin Skill, Resisted 180 Damage, 20 Damage Inflicted to Target HP]

The notification that popped up annoyed Kieran immensely. He had tried his hardest not to underestimate the beast, but reality had proven him wrong.

The system battlelog allowed Kieran to understand the danger he was facing.

The colossal crocodile was the last protective measure for the Church of Dawn treasure.

Since the Church of Dawn was able to have a skill like the [Knights of Dawn Body Tempering Arts], it would not be unheard of for it to have other special skills too.

Maybe creating abnormal monsters through alchemy was also possible. The abnormality could be explained by the extra skills.

Other than that, Kieran had also confirmed that the colossal crocodile had definitely more than 100 to 200 points HP. Its huge body meant that it probably had a unique constitution.

If it had 500 to 600 HP or more, it would still come as no surprise.

Kieran had hoped that he would get lucky and somehow be able to kill it off, but after witnessing its insane defensive power, he let go of his intention to kill it.

The only good thing was that the monster had its attention focused solely on Kieran.

”NOW! RUN!” Kieran shouted at his friends from far away. After seeing the vicious beast and hearing Kieran’s shouts, they finally snapped out of it.

”Let’s go!” Guntherson, who had had a long experience in the battlefield, said right away. The Last Knight knew what was best under the current situation, even though he was unwilling to face the facts.

”But… But…” Carl stuttered, trying to to speak. John was exactly like him. He just stood there, not wanting to leave his friend behind.

There were two clear sounds as the two police officers were given a chop on the back of their necks by ”Blackhand” Jimmy. He had knocked them out cold.

”Now!” Jimmy said in a stern voice. He had been raised in a gang, so he also knew what was best under the circumstances. Jimmy quickly gathered everyone and swiftly headed back the way they had come from.

The colossal crocodile had dashed toward Kieran once again. Kieran was relieved to see that everyone had left. His plan might have been hard to carry out with everyone looking.

After all, he had to dodge the attack of the monster and gather the jewels. This would have made everyone else suspicious. No matter how greedy someone was, they would still not do something like that. Plus, his identity in the dungeon was not some greedy, money-hungry bastard.

With everyone gone though, he could openly grab all the jewels that he could.

Of course, he had to watch for that colossal crocodile as well.

The crocodile had immense strength and abnormal speed, not to mention its size and unbreakable skin. It was a real monster of destruction.

If Kieran had to face the monster head on, he would not stand a chance. Even Guntherson was no match for it.

However, the huge size of the crocodile made it less nimble and flexible.

All Kieran had to do was evade its attacks. With his E Rank Agility, plus his ant-like size compared to the crocodile, Kieran was tiny and nimble, which gave him an advantage in confronting the beast.

The leg of the crocodile was as thick as a water tank, and its tail was 6-7 meters long. Suddenly, it swiped through a pile of gold beside it.

Kieran quickly rolled to the side to avoid it. Although the wind from the movement made him extremely uneasy, using enough strength, he was able to roll away and avoid the attack.

He rolled away again, grabbing a handful of jewels in the process.

The crocodile swiped its tail at Kieran again while he moved out of the way. Once again, Kieran grabbed a handful of jewels while he avoided the swipe.

The crocodile stood up on its hind legs. Using its enormous body, it was planning on body slamming Kieran, like dropping a mountain on him.

The impact of the slam was like a ton of explosives being detonated. Countless gold and jewels flew all over the place as Kieran managed to dodge the slam. Watching all the jewels and gold fly in mid air, Kieran quickly grabbed it with his hands, his shadow trailing his movements. The speed of his hands was at the maximum limit of his E Rank Agility.

Like Kieran had said before, if he was given a hundred kilos of rocks, he would throw it away; but if he was given a hundred kilos of union coins, he would grab all of it and run faster than anyone.

The jewels were the same as union coins in terms of value, so Kieran used his abilities and survival instinct to the fullest. After all, to him, that wealth was his life, so he was fighting for his life in that moment.

Kieran’s struggle provoked the colossal crocodile, who felt that its pride was being hurt. The crocodile unleashed its full strength against its prey.

The tail swipe, the claw scratch and the crunch of its enormous mouth; each attack it unleashed could have shaken mountains.

However, every single attack missed its target. Kieran was as nimble as a cat, circling the colossal crocodile with jumps and rolls, and picking up every jewel he came across in the process.

As the crocodile missed its target once more, it got even more irritated and grew even more vicious.

Its scarlet red eyes lit up like two hundred watt light bulbs as it unleashed a deafening roar, louder and stronger than all the ones before it.

Suddenly, an enormous suction force was unleashed from its colossal mouth. Every treasure within a thirty-meter radius was sucked into it like it was a black hole. Kieran was also caught in the suction force, falling quickly into the crocodile’s mouth.