The Devil’s Cage

Bones!

Although the body before Kieran was badly mutilated, there were still the remainings of some meat, fat and organs on it. However, the hardest component of the body was tougher to find. Other than the half-eaten skull, there was not a single complete bone to be found.

Had the bones been crunched? Or did the beast prefer bones over meat?

Neither speculation was valid.

The second one was easier to reject. Even if the beast had munched on all the bones, there should have been some bone residue left behind, but Kieran couldn’t find any.

The first one was pretty obvious. Considering that the skull was half-eaten, it was safe to say that the beast disliked bones, which meant that the victims’ bones had been taken by someone else before the beast had eaten them.

”What does Sphendix want with the bones? Does the magic circle require bones as a medium?”

Kieran quickly speculated on his new findings, but that minimal information and his low level of [Mystical Knowledge] led him nowhere.

To be precise, Kieran had made no further discoveries on the mystical aspect of the attacks, but he had still found something on another matter. It was something about the third victim, Paul.

Unlike the rest of the victims, what had been left of Paul had only been an arm, which had led Kieran to believe that the beast was not picky about its food. By the look of the current victim and what was left of her, the beast had to have quite the appetite, and it did not know how to cover its tracks well either.

Using his [Tracking] vision, he saw the beast’s tracks clearly. The paw prints left behind were covered in fresh blood. They looked thick and strong, certainly not something belonging to a man. Was it a bear? Kieran was not really sure, because he had not encountered such an animal before.

Although Kieran was clear on where the beast had gone, he kept following the paw prints, walking along the trail.

”You want to track down the beast? We’ve tried it before, but we failed every single time!”

Kent was not particularly in favor of Kieran’s idea.

”That was because you weren’t using the right method,” Kieran said as he turned into another alley.

The bloody paw prints almost faded when they reached the alley, but Kieran was still able to see the white tracks. They were still clear to him.

He even discovered another set of footprints, which seemed to have belonged to the beast’s feeder or tamer.

That person must have been very vigilant. As they’d placed down the ”food” and removed the bones, they must have waited for their pet to finish the meal so they could leave together.

Kieran was turning left and right through the alleys, following the two sets of prints. After walking for around five minutes, he reached a busy street filled with cars.

The beast’s paw prints disappeared there, the tracks turning into two tire marks.

Adding the tamer’s footprints to the equation, Kieran came up with a scenario in his head.

The fully fed beast must have been led there under its tamer’s command and boarded a vehicle that had been waiting for it.

As Kieran looked at the tire marks that blended into the busy road, he turned around and told Kent, ”I need a car and a driver!”

The tire marks blended into the road, but they did not disappear. Kieran was not going to give up just like that.

The tracks might lead Kieran’s car to Spehndix HQ, or to some other place that would provide him with more clues.

Kent furrowed his brows, frowning at Kieran, but he had orders to cooperate with him.

Following Mr. Big’s orders, Kent waved at his men. After a while, the black MPV pulled up before Kieran.

Kieran shook his head, looking at Kent as the man opened the back door for him.

”I want to ride shotgun!”

”Don’t push it, son! Remember who you are!” Kent warned him in a stern voice, speaking very close to Kieran’s face.

Mr. Big’s men had started to look at Kieran with an unfriendly expression. They had gotten tired of following him around while he looked like he was doing nothing. If Kent had not been around, they would have taught this young man a lesson.

Kieran looked at Kent, and then at the men around him. He could not help but let out a laugh.

”Of course I do, I’m Mr. Big’s collaborator!” he said in a clear tone, emphasizing each word.

If Kieran disclosed his discoveries to the man before him, he knew that he would comply easily, but obviously Kent had no right to know. Kieran wanted to have a face-to-face conversation with Mr. Big, not talk to him through his men.

As for why Kieran wanted that?

Since he had discovered the existence of the huge Reverse Pentagram, he had been thinking about why a third time dungeon would seem harder than a fourth time one.

He had not understood at first, but as he investigated the body and followed the tracks, he took note of Mr. Big’s men following behind him. Now he understood why he’d felt that way. Kieran had a lot of helpers on his side, even though he had subconsciously thought that he was alone.

Unlike the dead guards at Alcatraz, the dungeon Kieran was in now had granted him a lot of helpers to aide him in facing a behemoth like Sphendix.

He was not alone after all.

If Kieran gave the dungeon Main Mission flow some thought, he would realize that if he had not helped Larry and gone straight to Leonard’s hiding place, he would have discovered Leonard’s body and the key item taken away. Following the fourth and fifth beast attacks, the player would have definitely been on the case as they followed the Main Mission.

Eventually, the player would enter Mr. Big’s radar because of the Main Mission, and when they displayed formidable strength, Mr. Big would gladly add another capable fighter to his ranks. In the end, the player would finish the Main Mission unhindered with the help of Mr. Big.

Other than the part where the player needed to display formidable strength in front of Mr. Big and the potential war with Sphendix, which might be a little hard, the rest of the Main Mission was quite easy in Kieran’s opinion. It was quite fitting for a third time difficulty dungeon, but that did not mean that Kieran would follow that path.

His goal was to finish the Main Mission, Title Mission, and every Sub Mission possible with good results. Only that way would he be able to gain more advantages in future dungeons. Kieran did not forget his goal every time he entered a new dungeon. Since anything was possible, he did not just want to clear the dungeon at hand.

Truth be told, staying behind Mr. Big and finishing the Main Mission would be easy, but what about the next dungeon? And the dungeon after that?

As his dungeon entry times increased, so did the difficulty, and such a happy-go-lucky attitude in clearing a dungeon would eventually lead him to death.

That was not what Kieran wanted.

He had no intention of finishing the Main Mission through Mr. Big. He wanted to be in an equal position with him. Only then would he reap the biggest benefits. However, making that goal a reality would not be an easy task.

Although Kieran had just met Mr. Big for the first time, the memory of Mr. Big’s invasive, arrogant attitude and his cold stare were still fresh in his mind. Still, Mr. Big was not someone who ignore everyone before him. How seriously he took Sphendix was proof enough of that.

This had made Kieran understand that, in order to make his goal a reality and carry out his plan, he would need to present himself as a force to be reckoned with.

He wanted Mr. Big to take him seriously as a collaborator, and not treat him like a higher status person who did not spare a glance for someone that far beneath him.

Of course, it would take a certain formidable strength to achieve such a result. Fortunately, Kieran had that kind of strength, otherwise his actions would have already led to his demise.

The situation at hand had presented him with an opportunity to show off that strength.

”Collaborator? Who do you think you are? Since you don’t seem to be able to distinguish the good from the bad, I’ll let you know what attitude you should have before Mr. Big!”

After laughing coldly, Kent punched Kieran in the face.

Kieran stood still as a stick, as if he had been stunned by the unexpected punch. Mr. Big’s men around them seemed to expect a good show from the two of them. They knew what Kent could do. He was certainly not someone to mess around with, considering that he had been able to become Mr. Big’s right-hand man. Kent’s formidable strength made him rank in the top three fighters among Mr. Big’s men.

Kent was far more ruthless than the other top two, and his loyalty to Mr. Big had helped him get promoted to where he was.

If Kieran got on his bad side, he would meet a bad end.

A number of Mr. Big’s men with fierce, aggressive personalities started to smile at Kieran’s misfortune.

They even began guessing what state Kieran would be in after the fight.

Broken ribs? Broken arm? Maybe two broken legs?

The guesses were so many that they actually wanted to punch Kieran themselves.

They focused their evil gazes on Kieran like wolves hunting down their prey in a circle.

Despite everything that was going on around him, Kieran simply moved his right index finger a little, and the ring on his finger with the beautiful embedded ruby immediately emitted a terrible glow.

It was as if it was telling the world its name.

[Half-Dead’s Gaze]!

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

Early chapter today