The Devil’s Cage

Slurp, Slurp.

Noises of slurping noodles entered his ear, the man feeling the power of Dark Gold slipping away fast. Subconsciously, the man turned around.

He saw the clone of Glutton Emperor.

“You! How are you here?” the man shouted.

He was certain he was alone in his secret hideout. It was impossible that a clone was beside him, since this particular clone should be in the hall right now.

Could it be…

Glutton Emperor really moved through ground?

Just when the thought rose in his mind, a kick quietly came out from the shadows and landed on his neck fiercely.

Kak!

A bone-cracking noise later, the man’s head tilted to one side softly, his body falling to the ground.

Even after death, the man who thought he was hiding behind the scene widened his eyes in disbelief.

He was hiding in the deepest part of the underground and released many smoke screens to mislead people, so how did the Glutton Emperor locate him?

He couldn’t even counterattack!

The Glutton Emperor’s strength did not match the intel he gathered. Someone must have deceived him!

The realization hit him a moment before his death, his body losing every sign of life.

Kieran glanced over the body and picked up the golden item that came afloat. He, of course, wouldn’t tell the man the intel he gathered was outdated.

Similarly, he had no intention to spare the other hidden guy.

Fuuua!

Devil Flame burned on his left hand and was fired to the fallen body, but a moment before the flames touched the body, it suddenly moved.

The neck was still broken to the side but the body moved nimbly, like a monkey. A backflip later, the body retreated to a safe distance.

The body’s look then changed.

Although it still maintained the shape of a human, its skin started to turn red, sharp fangs popping out of its mouth and its eyes a morbid yellow with a muddy glint.

“Never thought the rumours are true! There is a descendant of the Devil here!”

The surprising words didn’t have any enchantments to it but when the body spoke, a wicked, bewitching feeling occurred. As it spoke, two little black horns appeared on its forehead. It wasn’t real though, it was just an illusory image.

Despite the unreal state, the moment the two horns appeared, the temperature in the underground room started to surge.

Soon, the temperature rose to the point that it became hard for a normal man to breath, but neither the body nor Kieran had trouble adapting to the intense temperature.

“Ahahahaha, I really miss the heat. Too bad… I can’t go back,” the body exclaimed out of reminiscence.

The body lifted its head up and sized up Kieran.

“Your appearance is really beyond my expectation. Can you tell me who your parents are?” it asked.

“I myself would like to know, if it’s possible. Likewise, I also want to know how many more like you there are?” Kieran had no intention to reply to the freaky body.

Even if he really knew the answer, would he be honest to a demon?

Not even a common man would do so, let alone the ever suspicious Kieran.

“How many more are there? You are trying to estimate the distance between us? Don’t worry, the numbers will surely exceed your imagination! We are the victors of the last war after all,” the red person smiled.

“Is that so, then I’m relieved,” Kieran too showed a smile.

“Relieved?” The man in red jolted.

“Because your kind represents my gains! A substantial and yet easy-to-obtain gain. As long as I kill you, your kind will surely come to me like an endless flow of water!” Kieran’s smile was pleasant and filled with anticipation.

What was more exciting than a harvest?

A bigger harvest!

Kieran had originally thought of giving up Printon City and stationing himself in defending Alkender City, meaning a big portion of his potential gains would be lost. Who would’ve known these demons who appeared in the ancient times would make a comeback?

More enemies meant more troubles, but as long as the rewards could cover the loss, Kieran didn’t mind getting his hands dirty.

The soul of a stingy ghost was erupting at this particular moment.

However, his unique way of thinking was not something a common man could understand, including the demon before his eyes.

It looked at Kieran in utmost surprise.

The confusion in its eyes was obvious, as if it wanted to probe for more information regarding Kieran’s true thoughts, hence the bewitching words were stuck in its mouth.

The situation at hand was totally different from what it expected.

Other than it being discovered prematurely, the Devil descendant before its eyes was not as reckless as the others that it remembered. Quite the opposite, he was quite calm.

Such calmness would only exist in some Devil Overlord that reigned through history.

As for the common ones, they were all selfish, messy, and always changing!

Most importantly, the strength! This Devil descendant was much more powerful than what it predicted.

‘A higher bloodline than my expectation?’ the demon grinded its gears in its mind.

Compared to that weightless rumour, a Devil descendant with a higher bloodline power was much more valuable.

Maybe…

Just when it was ready to do something, the demon realized it was caught.

A giant magma arm caught its body, lifted it up, and a towering body shadowed it with a dominating presence.

“What a nostalgic scene. I was caught by your kind countless times before. They were strong, but had muscles, not brains. They were easily manipulated and when they finally realized what happened, they’d always grab me out of frustration. Too bad they did not understand my strength, or rather, my ability. So I escaped everytime without failure and emerged a final victor. And you? You are no different than… HUH?!”

The reminiscences of the past made the demon smile, joyfully.

As though it was some high ranking person sipping its wine as it looked down on the lower ranks searching for food in the dumpster. But no matter how interesting it was, it would grow tired one day.

The demon shrugged, ready to leave the body, but when it activated its ability, it realized something wasn’t right.

The body that it possessed should be an unlocked vessel, it should be able to come and go as it pleased, but after being grabbed, it noticed the body was locked. It could not leave and was locked down in the body.

No! Wrong! It wasn’t trapped, it was…

Pain!

Excruciating pain came from its legs. It tilted its head down to find out what happened and was stunned by what it saw.

It was being bitten! The other clone of the Devil descendant had somehow appeared beneath it and was biting its legs, not the legs of the body it possessed, but its true body, which was hidden inside the vessel!

“Tearing my soul through the body? How is this possible? What kind of monster is this?”

The failed attempt in escaping defied its expectation and bloodline ability, causing it to shout in disbelief.

It was also obvious that its questions would never get answers from Kieran.

In fact, from a certain aspect, even Kieran himself no longer knew what the cardinal sins that were born from his desires and the Eye of Chimeras truly were.

As he grew stronger, the cardinal sins changed in a special way and through multiple growth, even the original Eye of Chimeras could no longer tell what were they were.

The birth of the cardinal sins was a coincidence after all, likewise the Devil Force in his heart.

The Devil’s image was so real, the magma on its body burning hot. As it faced its mortal enemy, the demon kind, the devil was emanating its own domineering pressure subconsciously.

Under the pressuring grab, the demon’s bloodline memories flashed in its mind again and it plead uncontrollably, but useless.

“Pay blood with blood!”

The Devil magma’s hand squeezed hard.

Bang!

Together with the body the demon possessed, the demon inside was crushed to bits.

The possessed body burst into a mist of blood.

Devil Flame continued to burn the demon soul and ultimately transformed it into the best nutrients for Devil Force.

Kieran clearly felt the pleasant feeling from Devil Force.

Prepared, Kieran carefully adjusted the balance of the Origin Forces in his body.

The energy that Gluttony got from the supernatural darkness after consuming it was temporarily put on halt by Kieran so it didn’t get distributed to the Origin Forces.

The nutrients from the demon soul were on par with the energy Gluttony converted.

The divine flame in Kieran’s mind jumped again, the darkness and chaos around it very eager. They wanted to jump on the fire and extinguish the threatening existence.

Fortunately, all 5 of the Origin Forces, Devil, Cardinal Sins, Dawn, Plague, and Saint Thorns grew stronger by the day. The darkness and chaos was weakened from an absolute position to a slight advantage, unable to jump on the divine fire when the 5 Origin Forces stood in between.

After multiple failed attempts, the darkness and chaos retreated.

Kieran heaved a breath of relief as he felt the scene in his mind.

No one liked something unknown in their body, especially in the area around the brain.

If he could, Kieran would eagerly wipe out the darkness and chaos once and for all, but he knew how difficult it was due to the relentless regeneration.

As long as the darkness and chaos had enough time, they’d regenerate to their original density. Although the core area was occupied by the divine flame, the surrounding area would be theirs.

Kieran knew what he must do: try his best in wiping away the chaotic darkness, stop them from regenerating, and burn the divine flame brighter.

The divine flame did grow from a little spark to a fist of flame; it would grow to a ball of blazing flame in the future and eventually the grand flames would scorch the sea of chaotic darkness.

Kieran was looking forward to the changes that might happen when it occurred.

Of course, that was something to look forward to in the future. Right now, Kieran looked down at the loot in his hand.

It was only as big as a thumb, dark but not black, and emanating glimmers of gold around it.

[Name: Dark Gold Stone (Small)]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: Powerful]

[Attribute: Conjure the supernatural darkness, able to defend or attack at will, 3 times per day]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Spirit A+]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: Dark Gold Stone is very magical, but you must be careful when you use it.]

…

“Requires Spirit authentication? If it fails, does that mean the user would be consumed?”

Kieran glanced over the Prerequisite and Remark before he recalled the previous scene, squinting his eyes in thoughts.

He felt like he was gazing into some secrets of the world and the key point of all this was the so-called Dark Gold.

Though, he’d need more intel on this.

As for the words of that demon?

Who would believe the words of a demon? Some delusional person who thought they had a gold mine in their house?

Kieran was used to finding answers on his own.

Fuuu!

A weak Devil Flame appeared beside Kieran, sheding light over the secret underground hideout.

Although mere darkness could not block his sights anymore with his current level of Intuition, he didn’t mind having light over his head.

When light shone, some things hidden in the darkness would get exposed, but that was not the case with this secret hideout.

He found two more broken Magic rank items, some food, and an oxygen generator but nothing else despite his effort.

In the end, he snapped his finger.

Pak!

“Boss.”

Bloody Mary appeared right away.

Although Kieran could use [The Land’s Favor, Protection of the Land] to move through ground and leave, the usage counter of twice per day limited his options.

“It’s a pleasure serving you but… please leave the unnecessary things behind, it’ll increase my load.”

Bloody Mary saw Kieran holding the two broken Magic rank items, the oxygen generator, and the food, showing a bitter smile.

Bringing a person into ghost form was not an easy task for Bloody Mary, even more so when the person was as strong as Kieran.

If Kieran didn’t hold back his powers, Bloody Mary would not be able to bring him away.

Bloody Mary’s words made sense, so he left behind the oxygen generator after some thought.

“It’s still a little full,” Bloody Mary’s bitter smile remained.

Two more seconds of serious thinking later, the two broken Magic rank items were left behind as well.

Bloody Mary was shocked.

“You leave the items behind for these fast food…”

“No! I did not leave them behind. I think you can make two trips,” Kieran said righteously.

“…”

Bloody Mary was rendered speechless. It started to miss West Coast again.