The Devil’s Cage

“Don’t let your instincts control you!”

“We are at the most crucial point now!”

Sloth rolled his eyes upon hearing Gluttony’s straight words, he also didn’t forget to remind his own little ‘brother.’

He wasn’t being euphemistic or soft, though, Sloth spoke right to the point because, based on their relationship, all kinds of sweet words were unnecessary. It would be better for Sloth to be direct.

Of course, Sloth was also afraid that his words were too hard for Gluttony to understand because Gluttony’s focus was unlike the others, just like what just happened.

All the Origin Forces in Kieran’s body were activated as the external energy gushed in. Sloth was being extra careful as he meticulously divided the ‘energy’ to each and every Origin Force, allowing the Devil Force, Dawn Force, Plague Force, and Saint Thorn Force to grow in their own unique ways.

The process itself wasn’t complicated, the complicated thing was that Sloth had to make sure the sudden surge of energy wouldn’t overload Kieran’s body while still maintaining a steady, powerful flow to empower the Origin Forces, hence creating a perfect balance between all elements. Only after the balance was achieved could they could move onto the next stage, the most crucial stage yet.

All the energy conversion was processed in Kieran’s body.

Kieran’s powerful Constitution made it possible for all of them to continue growing, but should something happened in the process and damage the body, all the sins would be rootless duckweed, flowing away with the current.

Under such circumstances, not only Sloth, even his elder brother, the devil, and the knight, which were in Kieran’s heart, tended to be extra careful. Despite the grueling process, Gluttony still wanted to eat more.

Once Sloth thought about what his little brother could do, an instant headache struck.

Instinct wasn’t something one could easily control.

Sloth and his elder brother, Pride, were still somehow affected by their instinct, but unlike the others, they gave their best efforts in minimizing the effect to its lowest point.

As for his little brother, based on previous experiences, Sloth didn’t have the slightest hope, he already started to think about how he should deal with the Gluttony’s recklessness.

However, to his surprise, his little brother tried to suppress the urge to eat, although it was barely adequate, the final outcome ought to be different.

“Go, there are some guys in the forest you can have as snacks.”

“But pick your snacks, will ya? Don’t overeat again.”

Sloth told Gluttony after the decision was made.

Fuaa!

A violent wind blew, and Gluttony vanished.

Sloth curled his lip into a smile when Gluttony vanished from sight. He wasn’t afraid of anything happening to Gluttony because, from his point of view, those so-called ‘Gods’ in the dungeon world were nothing but clowns created by the environment with a different set of rules.

It was actually an insult to the title by addressing those clowns as Gods.

But…

The gigantic fella under Sloth’s feet was different. This big black snake did exist with the divine might and presence.

Had the Devourer been in its complete form, he would drag his host and run as far as possible, but now?

He agreed 110% to his host’s thoughts: all spoils of war are mine!

A deep breath later, Sloth accelerated the process and contacted the devil and the knight through his mind.

The chaotic darkness gushed towards the little fire like a violent wave.

The little fire burned fiercely as the red flaming beheader sword was swung in front of it.

The devil’s large body stood in front of the fire and blocked the wave of darkness like a sturdy wall.

Tssssssss!

Each time the flames clashed with the darkness, sizzling sounds came as if something was being corroded by acid. Sharp air-breaking noises were mixed into the irritating noise as well.

The knight in armor looked stern with his sword and shield. He agilely moved around the little fire, swinging his sword at the darkness that escaped the devilish flames.

Despite missing a helper, both of them still skillfully cleaved through the darkness with ease. A voice was giving them precise orders at the perfect moment, allowing them to fend off the waves of attacks that could pierce through the smallest holes with the least amount of effort.

However, when a new set of orders came through, it shocked the knight.

“A mad man,” the knight muttered.

“Good! Good! Kill! Kill!

The devil roared loudly, expressing its praise and excitement that words could barely describe.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” the knight asked for confirmation again.

An affirmative answer came from Sloth right away.

Without a second thought, the knight adjusted his sword and placed it on top of his shield. He then flew off into the darkness like an arrow let loose.

The devil roared loudly once more, opened its large flaming wings, and slightly arched its colossal body to cover the little fire under its wings.

Without the presence of another critical helper, the darkness, like violent waves, rumbled fiercely as if it saw the chance to destroy the little fire. The darkness unleashed furious attacks at the devil’s body; its bright magma body instantly turned gloomy amid the hits, and its flaming wings suffered myriads of puncture wounds.

However, despite the ferocious attacks, the darkness didn’t reach the little fire because the devil used its arms as the second line of defense.

As a matter of fact, it wasn’t just a simple defense because there was no such thing as ‘purely defense’ in the devil’s nature. The devil widened its mouth and spat out a line of blazing red flames. With its back arched, the devil looked like a ferocious fire-breathing dragon.

The fiery breath burned away at the darkness, and when the darkness around the devil was fended off, its gloomy magma body grew bright again, its flames burned hot still, stronger and fiercer than before. Its massive body even became bigger.

The dark tides were angered and unwilling to submit to the sudden change.

Karkrooom!

Amid the chaos, more and more darkness gathered before the devil and formed a tidal wave, trying to crush the devil with sheer force, together with the little fire that it was protecting.

The dark tidal wave was getting nearer.

“Come on! COME ON!”

The devil roared its provocation and showed disdain toward the dark tidal waves, it even showed a ferocious smile on its blazing mouth, hence driving the dark tidal waves in a frenzy.

On the other hand, the provocation also allowed the knight to have an easier time carrying out his task.

Although there was still darkness around the knight, attacking him ceaselessly, the devil had attracted most of the darkness’ attention; hence, the knight’s job got easier.

But the knight didn’t dare to lower his guard, he knew what he must do.

Fast! Faster! He flew forward faster than ever.

From the very first faith that he had in his host, the knight became a furious gale and flew towards the coordinates that Sloth sent him.

When he finally reached the specific spot, he plunged his sword deep into the darkness beneath his feet.

One second!

Two seconds!

Three seconds!

The time stopped.

Just when the knight wondered whether he did do something wrong, an unknown force exploded from the chaos like an erupting volcano.

The Devourer’s energy from Kieran’s body, organs, bones, and bloody that hadn’t been digested by Gluttony exploded into the chaos!

Almost instantaneously, the Devourer’s energy messed up the chaos and caught the dark tides off guard. The darkness was dispersed by the explosive power within an instant, and almost one-tenth of the whole darkness was melted away.

Although right away, the endless dark tides gushed forward again, the Devourer’s energy didn’t step back either, it clashed with the darkness ceaselessly.

Both energies clashed fiercely and were in a stalemate.

The clash lasted until the Devourer’s energy was almost depleted. The devil, the knight, and Pride appeared before the little fire after the fierce encounter, and everything went back to normal.

The dark tides slowly went away.

Kieran quickly sensed that almost one-third of the darkness was gone in the clash. Despite his body suffering severe damage, he couldn’t hold back his smile.

“Not a bad result.”

When he saw the chain of notifications, his smile grew brighter.