The Devil’s Cage

Kieran yelled loudly as the round edge of [Arrogant Word] slashed at the man’s giant palms.

The seemingly giant palms were cut off in an instant, blood gushing out and flowing like a river.

The bowman, who was hiding behind his palms, yelled in an incredulous tone, ”A Legendary weapon!? How is this possible? You are just a newbie!”

His voice was full of despair as he looked at Kieran.

He would never have thought that the dark red greatsword, which he had thought was just a high-tier Magical Rank weapon, was actually a Legendary weapon.

How could a newbie acquire a Legendary weapon?

A rumor that had been circulating among the veterans suddenly emerged in the bowman’s mind. It turned out that it had been true.

”You are the Witch’s…”

His voice trailed off. Before he could finish, Kieran decapitated him.

From Kieran’s perspective, anything the bowman said would be just a groundless statement used to stall him. He had no reason to believe him.

[Player Killed: Blood Monkey!]

[Kill treated as self-defense through authentication]

[Categorized as an Honor Kill]

[You will receive all the Points and Skill Points of the player…]

[Total: 20,000 Points and 5 Skill Points]

[Received the player’s house key]

[Granted the right to use the player’s house]

[All the player’s belongings have been returned to their house]

[Honor Kills: 17]

...

An Honor Kill notification popped up again.

After a quick glance at it, Kieran turned his attention to his Points and Skill Points tab.

[Points: 190,000; Skill Points: 35; Golden Skill Points: 3; Golden Attribute Points: 3]

”So this is what people get when they kill others?” Kieran couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw his remaining Points. His 17,500 Points and 7 Skill Points had skyrocketed to almost 200,000 Points.

Now he understood the killer players better.

An ambush could grant a player with scrumptious rewards without the risk of entering a dungeon. It was definitely tempting!

After killing a total of 13 assassins and being rewarded in Points and Skill Points, Kieran’s earnings were as high as three Z dungeon ratings.

The feeling was unexpectedly stimulating!

It felt like coming across a gold brick during an evening stroll.

The killer player’s equipment and items were enough to compensate Kieran.

It was only a pity that he hadn’t gotten any Golden Skill Points or Golden Attribute Points.

The [Fusion Heart] inside Kieran’s chest, which had been beating calmly and rhythmically, started beating fiercely at the thought.

As temptation whispered in Kieran’s ears, the Creature of Desire started to take form.

”Get off!” Kieran shouted.

The whisper and the creature disappeared with a loud shout, but the fierce beating of the [Fusion Heart] made Kieran pant heavily and cover his chest with his hand.

A suffocating pain started to spread inside his body.

It lasted for half a minute before it dissipated.

When it was gone, Kieran was soaked in sweat. He felt weak and feeble as he lay on the ground, looking like a drowning victim that had escaped the grip of death.

”No notifications…” Kieran checked the tab, wanting to know why such a thing had occurred. He unconsciously looked at the [Fusion Heart]’s remarks again.

”This is an organ fused with the heart of a human, the Demon Lord, and the Creature of Desire. Its power is indisputable, but so is its backlash. As the owner of this organ, you will need both a powerful body and a powerful will! It will grow stronger after each battle, but if you do not grow with it, you will become a puppet of flesh and blood!”

”A powerful body and a powerful will…”

Kieran’s attention lingered on those two things, especially on the latter, as he recalled the greed that had emerged in his heart moments ago.

”I already gained huge rewards, but I am still not satisfied. Is that why the Creature of Desire took over?” Kieran guessed as he took a couple of deep breaths.

”This is trouble!” he muttered.

If his theory was correct, then he would be in huge trouble.

Considering his personality, even the slightest misstep would allow the Creature of Desire to take over his consciousness.

This would be fine under normal circumstances, but what if it happened during a battle? Or what if he encountered an enemy in that condition? What would happen then?

A sense of danger lingered in Kieran’s heart, but he couldn’t resolve this within such a short period of time.

”I need to solve the problems at hand first!”

Other matters had priority. Kieran knew what he had to do at the moment.

He grabbed [Arrogant Word] and leapt on the chains, heading towards the fifth floor. The moment he reached the stairs, he entered [Undercover] mode.

He might not have the unique skills of the killer players, but he was not lacking in vigilance.

Kieran slowed down his breathing and focused as he approached step by step. When he was close to the entrance, he heard a heavy sound that got clearer and clearer.

The sound was very familiar.

It was the sound of someone punching a body!

Based on the frequency of the punches, Kieran concluded that the person getting punched would collapse at any second.

He unconsciously hastened his steps. It had to be Lawless. Who else could be getting punched?

After going up another flight of stairs, Kieran could see the fifth floor clearly.

Just like the lower floors, the fifth floor ceiling had been knocked off, fusing the fifth and sixth floor into one.

The bowman had obviously lied. Kieran was not surprised though. He never believed what his enemies said. He liked to confirm the facts with his own eyes. What he saw now made him squint though.

Lawless was hanging in mid-air, tied up with two thick chains. Before him was the huge killer who had thrown Coll off the building. The man was punching Lawless as if he was a sandbag.

Bang!

The killer punched Lawless’ abdomen hard, the powerful impact sending Lawless swinging backwards.

His body slammed hard against the wall behind him, making dust and dirt fall.

Just as Lawless was about to bounce back, the killer got ready to strike again.

Kieran was quicker though.

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

This is the start of the backlash of the heart and much more to come until he completely get rids of the Backlash.

And daaaaaamn, i am really looking forward to the Title Dungeon! It is going to be bad ass i assure you!