The Devil’s Cage

Kieran’s body fell to the ground.

Delightful laughs came from Herbert right away.

“Hahahahaha! 2567! The idiot that was affected by his own bloodline power! It is too easy to deal with this kind of idiot!”

Herbert’s original simple and honest voice turned sharp and his face even became twisted.

Although he still looked like Herbert, the feeling he gave others was very different, the elderly man had a vicious temperament that the original Herbert didn’t have.

Contly, Rayhart, Retsu, and the other three riders looked at “Herbert” with unbelievable gazes.

“Herbert” laughed even more delightedly when he noticed the gazes from the others.

“Until now, don’t tell me you people still think I am Herbert eh?”

“Herbert” glanced over the crowd that he controlled and showed immense contempt from his eyes.

Men in long robes started to appear from the shadowy spots in the castle one after another, staring down at the group with cold gazes but they didn’t make a move on them.

Obviously, “Herbert” was their leader and they were waiting for his orders.

Though “Herbert” didn’t rush it at all because he had confidence in victory!

He didn’t mind to enjoy the feeling of victory for a little while longer.

“How is this possible? I was the first one to wake up from when we fainted and you’ve never left my sight…” Contly’s words suffered a halt, she suddenly thought of a possible explanation for the situation at hand.

“That’s right! That’s right! It is exactly what you think! After you people passed out from the fight with Edgar, I’d already replaced the real Herbert since then! From the moment Carderweld abducted us, I’ve been playing the role of Herbert to fool that idiot and you bunch of ignorant idiots! Every one of you believed me! Originally, I thought 2567 might be a problem because the Emperor’s bloodline allowed his abilities to easily see through my disguise but never would I thought that idiot Carderweld would go along with my plans, forcing me to drink the poison and implanting a hearing device in my body.”

“Everything became perfect since then. Even 2567 couldn’t notice my disguise but I was very suspicious of him after overly utilizing his bloodline power, how much of “him” truly remained when he saw me? Besides, when I said Sutherlin Castle was the location of the Emperor’s Legacy, he was bewitched even further!”

“Herbert” couldn’t hold back his laughs when he spoke of his delight.

“So, the so-called witches were also the traps you set up?”

Contly threw her infuriated gaze at “Herbert” since her body couldn’t move because she recalled what he said along the way.

During the conversation, it might look like “Herbert” was simply worried about Kieran but now that she came to think of it, he was using her to probe for information from Kieran.

“Of course! It was so hard for 2567 to ask me about the archenemy of the Neegor Dynasty, if I don’t go along with the arrangement, I might feel sorry for him. Well then, since you people got to know what you wanted to know, you can die without regrets.”

“Herbert” then raised his hand up, his fingers were moving in an agile way.

Immediately, the controlled group pointed their weapons at each other.

The group saw each other’s weapons in their hands with fright, they tried their best to regain control of their bodies but similar to the attack on Kieran, they couldn’t resist at all.

“As I said, your arrangements are full of flaws.”

Just as “Herbert” wanted to complete his last action, a sudden voice emanated from behind him.

The familiar voice shocked “Herbert” but before he could react, an immense force struck at his waist.

After a series of bone cracking noises, “Herbert” fell beside “Kieran” who was lying on the ground like a corpse. “Herbert” watched “Kieran” who should be dead and before he vanished, he glared “Herbert” with an extremely arrogant gaze.

The disdain in his eyes felt like it was real!”

“You…You..”

Watching “Kieran” vanish before him, “Herbert” spent his effort in twisting his neck behind, trying to see what happened.

Behind him, was another Kieran, looking exactly like the “Kieran” that vanished.

Whether was it his looks or presence, the only difference was the Kieran behind “Herbert” had a more vigorous presence.

His wicked aura felt very realistic that it started to distort the space around him but it didn’t stop the long-robed men charging at him.

In fact, when “Herbert” was kicked away by Kieran, the men already jumped on Kieran.

However, at the next moment, their dashing steps halted abruptly.

A fearsome monster started to emerge from the distorted space above Kieran. It had hundreds and thousands of arms and intertwining legs, colliding into each other violently.

Eyeballs radiating in rainbow-like colors appeared from the point of collision, mouths of ferocious teeth opened up one after another under the colorful brilliance and were spinning around rapidly like a saw.

There wasn’t any resistance from the long-robed men or rather, they couldn’t resist at all.

When thousands of burning rays showered down on them like a storm, the group of men that were known as elites vanished on the spot.

The Creature of Desire would never mind what was it eating.

“The King Beast!?””Herbert” moaned in pain.

The moment “Herbert” saw the monster with thousands of eyes above him, he knew he was finished since he was familiar with the Neegor Dynasty as well.

It was a kind of power he could never compete with. Yet the heavy doubts in his heart didn’t fade away with the pain from his punctured organs that his shattered bones caused.

He felt extremely doubtful. How did his perfect plan get seen through just like that?

“Why? How? When did you realize that I was a fake?””Herbert” asked out of unwillingness.

He thought his disguise ability could fool everyone, not only in terms of looks but also his knowledge. The things that he studied were very identical to the real Herbert and if he had Herbert’s face, he could be Herbert himself.

So he believed but Kieran didn’t have the habit of answering his enemies’ doubts.

Kieran stepped up, lifted his feet and stomped it down on “Herbert”‘s temple.

Pak!

“Herbert”‘s head cracked like a watermelon, bursting out red and white all over the place.

While Contly and the others who were being controlled regained their bodies following the head burst. Lines and lines of nearly invisible thread, as thin as hair itself fell off from their bodies in an orange glow only visible to Kieran.

[Name: Puppet’s Cord]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: Strong]

[Defense: Powerful]

[Attribute: Puppet Control]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Strength B+, Agility B+, Puppet Control (Master)]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is the favorite of a certain puppet master, but in order to use it, you have to possess a special set of skills]

[Puppet Control: Puppet control difficulty -1]

It seemed like it was the cord that was controlling Contly and the others.

Kieran picked it up and loaded it into his backpack.

Although he couldn’t use it, he didn’t mind reaping his spoils of war.

Then, Kieran ventured into the deeper parts of the castle without being concerned about Contly’s gaze.

The faint aura of thirst from the Creature of Desire told Kieran there should be some decent items inside the castle but Contly caught up to him right away.

“When did you realize he was a fake?” Contly followed behind Kieran, pressing the question that baffled her.

Kieran replied without turning his head around, “Do you believe in coincidences?”