The Devil’s Cage

Wuuu!

The coffin lid was sent flying after being blasted off from the inside, giving out a whistle as it glided through the air.

The vile stench of the corpse spread across the area within seconds. Lander and his bodyguards stepped backwards while covering their noses. Their terrified eyes were looking at the corpse that stood up from the coffin.

The corpse was missing almost half of its body; its left arm, one side of its ribs and even its skull were also in half.

The flesh and skin looked like it was glued onto the other half of the broke body.

Lander and his bodyguards gulped unconsciously; their hands holding the flintlock pistols were already trembling.

The eerie scene before their eyes had exceeded their wildest imaginations. Lander who was in the middle of the group was even paler than others.

The great businessman and once a noble in Herl City never thought he would come across something like this.

Even though he had a monster encounter at his own house, it was not as thrilling as seeing a dead person come back to life with his own eyes.

Of course, it was not just Lander hand his men who were frightened.

Those bounty hunters and mercenaries who trailed the wagon and stayed hidden in the dark also held their breath when the saw the scene.

They might have much more experience than Lander and his men, but at the same time, they had never come across such an encounter before.

Some vigilant ones decided to retreat after seeing the eerie scene.

The scene before their eyes made them understand; the things that were about to unfold were not something they were qualified to participate in.

Maybe they were after the bounty rewards, but nothing was more rewardful than their own life.

However, just as the bounty hunters and mercenaries started to move away, the broken corpse started to move as well.

It dashed into the darkness, followed by agonized screams and cries.

After a while, it walked back out from the darkness.

The half remaining teeth on the skull were dyed with blood, the leftover flesh and intestines that hung over its body were enough to tell the ones present what it did.

Ouuu!

Lander couldn’t hold it anymore and bent down to vomit. The bodyguards’ faces turned pale as paper as well.

As for those remaining bounty hunters and mercenaries who were still in cover, their breaths became rushed after what the corpse did, but none of them dared to make any reckless move.

The actions of the corpse earlier were a good warning for them; none of them wanted to be served as the corpse’s meal.

”2567, you will be skinned and have your tendon ripped off, then disemboweled and gutted! Your skin will be hung on our walls as decoration, your tendon will be the best thread for our clothes. Your organs will be devoured as our best meal!”

The leader of the bunch of Night monsters roared loudly.

Under the dark night, it seemed exceptionally ferocious.

”What a bad taste!” Kieran said calmly. He was not a bit frightened by the empty threats.

He had witnessed too many bodies; those who could rise from the dead were also not the first time.

A dead body that could devour humans was a first, but he had seen too many from books.

Ghoul, Night Walker, Moon Stalker and many more; all of them were cannibals.

The only difference was the way they ate humans. Whether it was eaten alive or eaten after they killed it, from Kieran’s perspective, the broken corpse’s actions were considered normal.

Perhaps, the only thing that caught Kieran’s attention was the corpse’s identity.

Bartos!

The moment the body appeared, Kieran knew it was him.

The Night race leader that should have been dead in that explosion, with his body blasted to pieces.

Keiran wasn’t sure how Bartos was resurrected, but he was sure the process was incomplete. Not only did it lose the memories of the past, but its strength was far from what he had before.

Otherwise, the corpse would have thrown itself towards Kieran, the foe that killed him.

At the same time, Kieran realized what he had missed out.

The Philosopher’s Tablet!

The tablet that Bartos mentioned before. The tablet was destroyed in the explosion, but the contents were carved into Herbert’s mind.

”So they came for the Philosopher’s Tablet?”

Kieran looked at the team formed up entirely of Night monsters.

It was the only explanation for them to ditch the beneficial idea of overwhelming Kieran with numbers; they didn’t want to bring up unnecessary ramifications.

Of course, it didn’t mean the monsters had no preparations beforehand.

In fact, they had prepared themselves quite adequately.

Other than Bartos’s body, they had something else behind their back. The way the leader of the bunch displayed his calm and steady manner revealed this information to Kieran.

”Being stubborn and not admitting defeat on the verge of dying is not a good habit! This will only make me want to torture you even more!”

The leader said with a ferocious laugh, causing his heavily burnt face to look even more frightening. Then, a square plate appeared in his hand as he laughed.

The plate was made out of wood, almost 7 to 8 cm in length. The side that Kieran could lay his eyes on had dozens of complicated patterns.

When Kieran’s gaze locked on the wooden plate, the dozens of patterns wiggled in unison.

Similar to dancing snakes or vines blowing under a violent wind. The lines intertwined swiftly in a messy order that didn’t seem to break.

Suddenly, a line appeared from the plate like a sprouting plant, followed by dozens more in unison, intertwining in the space above it.

An eyeball formed from the braiding. The eye was red, emitting a rainbow radiance, instantly capturing everyone’s attention. Beneath the eye were layers of sharp teeth and ferocious fangs, seemingly ready to devour anything that fell into its grasp.

The Eye of Chimeras!?

Kieran was shocked.

Although the way the monster displayed it was different, the eye should be something similar to the Eye of Chimeras, or was it a derived product?

Kieran couldn’t put it into words because the moment the eye appeared, his [Fusion Heart] gave out a sense of extreme rejection, as if it has met its arch nemesis, repulsing it from birth.

Kieran had the utmost assurance that the feeling was from Eye of Chimeras, and he had a general idea of the reason for the rejection.

The same kind repelled each other!

Similar to two extremely beautiful girls that came together. There would be a slim chance for both of them to be friends, but mostly, they would end up being enemies. It was because they had a similar level of beauty with one another, similar to the situation with Eye of Chimeras, or even more intense.

The Eye of Chimeras that possessed all sorts of devilish traits would end in only one result in the situation at hand.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

A heavy growl sounded in Kieran’s ear, but regardless of how agitating and provoking the voice was, it couldn’t move Kieran’s will.

Kieran’s S rank Spirit granted him a powerful resistance towards the temptation.

Even so, he could use such resistance to clearly read the thoughts of the Eye of Chimeras.

The thoughts! The thoughts formed by emotions. A simple thought yet it exceeded instinct itself.

”It really is a living being!”

Kieran squinted his eyes since he had similar feeling before; he wanted to probe for more details from the Eye of Chimeras, but it seemed like the eye had a mind of its own. When it realized Kieran’s intentions, it disappeared instantly, or more precisely, went back into Kieran’s heart.

A rash act frightened it away!

Kieran raised a brow. Then his eyes unconsciously locked at the wooden plate on the Night monster’s hand.

Maybe he could…

A sudden thought bloomed in Kieran’s mind.

However, the gaze from Kieran made the Night monster who was holding the wooden plate mistake his intentions. It gave out a cruel laugh and said, ”How is it? Feeling regret yet? Can’t move your body anymore, right? Don’t worry, this is just the beginning! I said it before, you will be skinned and ripped off, disemboweled and gutted!”

The Night monster’s voice sounded loudly under the night sky, yet no one thought it was an arrogant, nonsensical claim because Lander and his men, including the bounty hunters and mercenaries, couldn’t move a muscle like the monster said. They became lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

The Night monsters’ cruel face became even crueler when they saw the reactions of the others.

Aside from that, they were certain. They believed with all their heart that Kieran couldn’t move as well.