The Devil’s Cage

Allen’s laugh didn’t stop even after he did a side roll into the shadow behind him.

The most satisfying moments for those who hold hatred in their heart was none other than the moment that they could get revenge.

Although the one died wasn’t Broker, anyone related to Broker, especially those who could hurt Broker’s bottom line was satisfying enough for Allen.

Allen’s laugh sounded like a delighted baby. The attackers didn’t back off when they heard him laugh, instead, they moved in, just like Kieran moved out of the shadows slowly.

Though the moment the attackers saw Kieran, they were stunned.

”It’s 2567!” Some of them cried.

”Block your eyes quick!” Some of the quicker ones warned the others but still, they were one step slower.

Anyone who made eye contact with Kieran during [Deadman’s Gaze] will fall into his [Fear Illusions] effect.

The scared and frightened attackers fell to the ground, spitting out mouthfuls of blood but some of those who covered their eyes were fine.

Was [Half-Dead’s Gaze] powerful?

Kieran’s SSS+ Spirit attribute has made it very powerful indeed but following its formidable power, its weakness was obvious as well.

All his targets needed to do was cover their eyes, no tools or equipment were required.

While facing against those who covered their eyes, Kieran has no reason to hold back. Since they were his enemies, mercy wasn’t an option.

Bang Bang Bang!

[Python-W2] was fired repeatedly, its muzzle flash was like the presence of the grim reaper. Each of the attackers became puddles of blood and disintegrated into white light, a handful of them escaped.

Kieran’s attention wasn’t placed on the ones that escaped or to be more precise, he was never concerned about those men from the start.

Firing his revolver was an act of involuntary actions, like one would close the door after going through it: a natural act.

Instead, Kieran’s attention was placed on that particular player that could stop his bullets, but that player has quite a considerable hiding technique, far superior to his own [Undercover].

Almost out of instinct, Kieran thought of the killer players and when the sense of danger flashed in his heart, he instinctively dashed forward.

Souu!

A dagger which was supposed to slice Kieran’s neck missed its target, slicing only the empty space and whipped up a fierce strong wind, rattling Kieran’s feathered mantle.

The feathers were fluttering even more when the strong wind made a sudden rotation as Kieran turned his body around swiftly with the swing of his left kick.

Bang!

A heavy bang sounded in the air, followed by a barrage of similar noises.

The kick shadows and afterimages that could fill the sky spread out like a blooming flower, drowning the player behind Kieran like bursting from a dam.

The defensive barrier on the player was flashing, but it only lasted for a while. His barrier didn’t even earn him enough time to escape.

Grand Master level of [Hundred Violent Kicks] had a boosted attack speed of 225%, far exceeding the player’s imagination and with Grand Master level [Barsical Kick]’s effect, [Bide], the decreased attack from the barrage of kicks was compensated to a minimal level.

Even more so when Kieran launched [Blade Kick] as his fifth attack.

Souuu!

The half moon qi energy blade wave cut through the player’s torso.

The player stood still at the spot for a full second before his guts spilled out from the sliced body.

His body fell to the ground, turning into particles of light.

[Player Killed: Lizard]

[Treated as self-defense through authentication]

[Categorized as an Honor Kill]

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

[Total: 100,000 Points and 20 Skill Points]

[Received the player’s house key]

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

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

[Honor Kill: 61]

...

The notification that came made Kieran frowned.

”That many points?” Kieran was in awe of the numbers.

Getting more Points and Skill Points was definitely good but Kieran couldn’t overlook the peculiarity behind the acquisition.

If this was an ambush targeted specifically at Allen, why didn’t the ambush attackers convert their Points and Skill Points into real strength and instead decided to keep that much of amount?

”Even if the attackers had absolute confidence in killing Allen, they wouldn’t have done so, it doesn’t make sense! Unless…”

Kieran glanced over the heavy-duty trucks when the thoughts filled his mind, he quickly went over to the trucks.

As he lifted the rain cloth from the truck’s cart, he clearly saw some rounded pallets residue marks, seemingly small pallets of some hardened minerals.

”Iron ore?” Kieran’s heart skipped a beat after identifying the pallets.

Broker’s men were transporting his trades and the transport items were iron ores!

Iron ores were used for smelting and eventually used for forging weapons and equipment.

For reasons unknown, it reminded Kieran of that iron robot beside Broker, Jason.

”Seems like Broker’s industrial property in the big city is even bigger than I expected!” Kieran exclaimed.

His heart felt heavy out of a sudden, even killing off 14 attackers and gaining nearly 200K points and 30 Skill Points couldn’t lift his heart.

Kieran clearly knew how gigantic his opponent was.

Perhaps Kieran had quite a decent power level even among the veterans but he hadn’t really reached the point that he could ignore the advantages of numbers.

Even more so, Broker didn’t just own the quantities but the qualities of attackers as well. He might not even need to utilize his own forces, all he needed to do was to provide enough bounties and there would be a line of people that would serve him willingly.

Coincidentally, it was what Broker was good at as well.

If Broker really did put up a substantial amount of bounty on him, Kieran was afraid that he might not be able to advance anymore.

After all, many of those lone wolf players were in desperate need of Points and Skill Points.

If that really happened, he couldn’t trust anyone else other than Lawless.

The thoughts that came to his mind turned Kieran’s breath heavier.

”Hey, you scared now? What if I tell you that the transportation trading here you see here is only the tip of an iceberg of Broker’s business? Will you piss your pants then? These forces are far beyond anything that you can imagine!”

Allen laughed softly as he came out from the shadow.

Even though Kieran couldn’t really see Allen’s face, he could tell that Allen’s smile was filled with sneering intent.

”Scared? Hmm, a little.” Kieran looked at Allen, trying to reevaluate the cowboy before him.

Allen’s ability to grasp information was definitely far better than Kieran had imagined and also how Allen worked. It seemed like there were some differences between what Kieran remembered.

Of course, none of them affected Kieran’s point of view. He nodded slightly at first and before Allen could utter a word, he continued, ”But even if I am scared, something needed to be done, or you can say, it is because that I am scared, things must be done!”

”I am a person who dislikes trouble, I prefer to live a carefree life! So I’d never change my plans and I hope you won’t regret your decisions!” Allen said coldly to Kieran after some soft grunting.

”The moment I decided to show up, there wasn’t any room for regret!”

Kieran said and shifted his eyes to the river.

The flowing river was reflecting the sunlight brightly and was glittering brilliantly. It was a peaceful scene compared to what happened above the bridge.

BUT!

A sudden cloud of mist rose up in the area, bringing a chilly presence with it, similar to the freezing arctic wind or the breath of the winter God.

Crask Tsk! Crask Tsk!

A thick layer of ice started to form on top of Reeder Irla bridge with exponential speed, even visible to the naked eye!