The Devil’s Cage

Under the night breeze, the cruel words revealed the ferocious side of the Night monsters.

All of them were waiting for their leader to give the order.

Then, they would feast!

Tasting the blood and flesh of their foe was even more delightful than a gourmet itself.

Not only did the the Night monster goons think so, the leader of the bunch shared the same thought as well. His burnt and rotten face was giving out an eerie smile.

”Go, Kill…”

It was giving orders to the corpse, Bartos.

However, before his order could be completed, he was stopped abruptly.

A powerful and impactful kick suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stomped on his face.

The strength that he took pride in crumbled in an instant under the powerful kick.

Bang!

The leader was stomped to the ground forcibly by the kick; his head and upper body completely plunged into the ground. The bones cracked like jumping beans repeatedly, and the wooden plate was tossed up high before landing in Kieran’s hand.

Wuuu!

Kieran didn’t inspect the wooden plate right away and kept it in his clothes. Then, [Arrogant Word] was drawn and smashed down towards Bartos’ corpse running towards him.

[Arrogant Word] didn’t slash but smash!

Kieran used the two-handed greatsword like a hammer, smashing down the corpse into the ground.

He naturally categorized such a resurrected being into ghostly beings based on its looks.

With the mystical knowledge that he had mastered, when dealing against such ghostly beings, only holy water or weapons of blessing would work against them. Otherwise, one could destroy it completely, robbing away its resurrecting abilities.

Kieran did just that. [Arrogant Word] was smashed on the broken corpse of Bartos with a violent, howling wind.

Bang!

With an immense, loud bang, the corpse that was causing fear to the others a moment ago was smashed into bits by the thick blade body of the greatsword.

Everyone else felt unbelievable at the scene.

They widened their eyes at Kieran who was wielding the sword; their jaws dropped unconsciously.

However, Kieran was cool as ice because everything was within his expectations.

Was Bartos powerful?

Two dungeons ago, the Night race leader possessed power that could grind him to pieces, suppressing his every move. If it wasn’t for the pre-planted explosives, it was hard to tell who would emerge victorious.

No doubt, Bartos was once a powerhouse, but that was when he was alive!

Now, Bartos was nothing more than a running corpse. Compared to when he was alive, his abilities and strength were like heaven and earth. Not only was his strange power absent, his strength and agility were decreased by more than half.

As for Kieran?

After two more dungeons, his strength and abilities had skyrocketed.

Let alone Bartos the corpse, even if he was still alive, Bartos would still be outmatched by Kieran, excluding the existence of Eye of Chimeras based on Kieran’s own calculations.

One was standing on the same spot, somehow even going backwards; the other was moving forward with full force.

The ending was decided long ago, whether it was about who emerged victorious or Bartos’ destiny to end up dead.

A smash from the greatsword turned its skull into bone shards. There was no way he could be resurrected again.

Whuuuu!

The night breeze was blowing even more violently.

The vile stench of corpses was swiftly blown out. Similar to the leader, Bartos’s corpse started to dissolve into a mushy, green goo.

The remaining Night monsters were stunned; their brains couldn’t react to such a contrast within an instant. They obviously had the advantage moments ago, but how could the situation end up like this?

Still, their survival instinct told them what to do. The remaining Night monsters started to run without a second though.

However, why did the path turn into an endless sprint? Why did the ground beneath them turn into cliffs?

The bunch started to panic as the land beneath their feet was shrinking by the seconds. Some started pushing their comrades down the cliffs in order to survive, even though they had quite a bond between them.

Still, in desperate times, bonds couldn’t outweigh life itself. Each of the Night monsters fell off the cliff one after another, until there was only one left.

Fear then surrounded the only monster. Since it came up first among its comrades, it suddenly realized that the ground beneath its feet had shrunk to the point that he had to tip-toe to hold itself firmly above the cliff.

Though, that only spot kept on shrinking until it completely disappeared.

”Aaaaaaaa!”

The Night monters cried out an agonized scream as he fell off the cliff and was swallowed by darkness.

The little fiasco seemed to have happened for quite while. At least, it was for the Night monters that were induced with [Fear Illusions] from [Dead-man’s Gaze].

To everyone else, it was just a breath’s time.

All the others saw was Kieran glancing over at the monsters with a focused gaze before the monsters fell to the ground with dying cries. After that, each and every one of the monsters dissolved into green goo like their leader.

Sweat broke out from their forehead, soaking the back of their shirts wet.

When the night breeze blew over, everyone quivered, feeling a chill.

None of them knew what happened, the fear of the unknown assaulting their heart.

The bounty hunters and mercenaries instinctively started to retreat on seeing Kieran’s back.

They started to hate themselves for their greed. Why had they been tempted by the bounty rewards and gone after Herbert in this freaky place?

The things they saw were not something they could deal with.

Especially the young man before them who had a common teenager’s face but was actually even scarier than the monsters.

All the young man did was gaze, and he could determine the life and death of someone!

Tales and legends they had read in books and nurseries really happened before their eyes.

If they had a choice, they would rather not be involved.

Especially when Kieran turned to them; these men, who were known as vultures and coyotes by others that gathered around corpses, felt their body instantly stiffen. They were panic-stricken and couldn’t even move a muscle.

The cowards of the bunch even started to beg for their lives.

”My respectful dear sir! We don’t mean it! Let us live!”

”We don’t mean any harm, neither to you nor Sir Herbert!”

”We’re just reckless for a moment and followed you here! Please don’t kill us! Forgive us!”

A few cowards started to plead, before the whole bunch followed as well.

Each of them telling how innocent they were, how reckless they were, hoping Kieran would spare their lives.

On the side, Lander frowned hard at these men; he instinctively drew distance between them.

Then, the gaze Lander showed towards Kieran had an unusual element to it; he seemed to have deduced the truth behind some of the matters.

However, the strength Kieran displayed made him hesitate.

Kieran knew what Lander was thinking after seeing his expression. He knew he owed Lander an explanation. It was not a sudden thought that bloomed after this, but the moment he started the lie, he was prepared for it.

Though it was still not the time.

Kieran glanced over Lander and turned his attention to the bounty hunters and mercenaries that were still begging for their lives.

A thought that had sprouted in his mind a while ago evolved into a plan that he had to execute right away.