The Devil’s Cage

‘Switched off the tv?

‘That’s it?’

Amy looked at Kieran in disbelief.

Wasn’t this a little too simple?

What about the powerful and strange? The nervous and the fearsome?

Amy wasn’t nervous or scared at all, even wanting to laugh.

“It’s ov—”

Before ‘over’ could escape her mouth, Amy saw the tv switch on by itself and this time, it wasn’t the hand in the screen anymore, but a greenish-purple face with messy hair; it was unknown as to whether it was a man or woman.

The figure stood in the tv and stared at Kieran with its scary eyes.

Step by step, it walked closer to the screen.

Under Amy’s horrified gaze, one of its hands came out of the screen as if the screen wasn’t even there.

The tv was like a tunnel—after its hand came out, it latched on the edge of the counter and pulled its body out.

Watching its body squeezing out of that tiny tv screen, Amy was frozen solid at the scene.

The urge to laugh disappeared, and she was left with the fear of her dead.

Starbeck was scared too, he was scared of almost everything, but with Kieran beside him, he mustered enough courage to overcome his fear.

In short, Starbeck believed that as long as he was around Kieran, he would never be harmed, and it was true.

Just as the dead spirit struggled to crawl out of the tv screen, Kieran pulled the plug on the tv.

Pak!

The tv was switched off again.

Its hand and half of its face immediately got stuck in the tv screen; as if it was frozen by some spell, it couldn’t move anymore.

“What in the world?!”

Amy looked at the plug in Kieran’s hand, her world view toppled upside down once more.

She had just been thinking about what Kieran would do to dispose of this dead spirit that was coming out of the tv. Some grand spells? Or some fierce attack?

Her guesses were all wrong, as all Kieran did was pull the plug.

Wasn’t it the same as switching off the tv?

Dealing with the dead was that easy?

It was rather unbelievable to Amy, but what she saw with her own eyes told her differently.

She watched as that frozen hand and face that got stuck in the screen slowly disintegrated, and she fell into heavy doubts.

There were no secret spells, no magic, and no techniques involved. Kieran just… um… improvised?

Did all the Demon Hunters work like that?”

“You bought this mini tv to prevent this kind of situation?” Amy asked out of curiosity.

“No, it was to save money,” Kieran replied but his eyes were glued to the tv.

His hardened battle instinct told him that the battle wasn’t over just yet, and it turned out to be true.

The next moment, the tv without a power supply turned on once again.

The hand and half a face that seemingly vanished previously appeared again, crawling out of the screen quicker than before, but Kieran’s sword was even quicker.

A sharp glare flashed over the restaurant.

The dead spirit who tried so hard to climb out of the tv was slashed in half.

Its upper body fell to the floor of the restaurant, disintegrating into nothing; the lower body that was still stuck in the tv promptly vanished as well.

The tv returned to its normal black and white scene.

Huuu Huuu!

Amy breathed heavily, her heart racing fast. She had thought everything was over once Kieran pulled the plug, but never did she expect that the scene would continue.

If the scene wasn’t too fast for her to react, she would have screamed.

“I-Is it over now?” Amy asked carefully.

As she asked, her eyes stared at the tv.

She was afraid that something would happen once she asked.

“Em.” Kieran nodded and turned to Starbeck.

Starbeck smiled to answer that he was fine, also not asking why such things happened.

Both of thems tacit knowledge had transcended beyond words, all they needed was a glance to deliver their thoughts to each other, but this did not apply to Amy.

She looked at Kieran and then Starbeck.

“What in the world happened? Can someone tell me why this kind of thing happened?” Amy believed that everything had a cause and effect, including the supernatural ones.

“Something happened here earlier. Although I’ve dealt with it, the tight pace of the incident made this place look like a spotlight, hence this kind of thing occurance in the restaurant,” Kieran explained.

Since Amy agreed to help Kieran in the information gathering, some things must be made clear to hear.

“Which means this place is also dangerous?” Amy looked around nervously.

“If you compare it to most of the regular places out there, it is,” Kieran nodded.

“I suddenly remember I still have things to do!” Amy stood up, wanting to leave.

“Wait. As my assistant, you have to investigate this,” Kieran called Amy back and pointed at the tv.

“I got it. I’ll try to come after business hours if I get anything.” Amy knew what Kieran was referring to, as she wasn’t stupid, but she didn’t want to come to this restaurant at night.

“You may come after 3 p.m.,” Kieran emphasized.

Kieran was fine with any time, but not Starbeck. The latter was as weak as a normal person, so he must rest regularly.

Amy waved at him and ran outside in a hurry.

The door shook a couple of times before closing, for Amy pushed it too hard as she left.

However, as the night breeze seized the window and came in, Kieran clearly felt Starbeck’s body shivering in the face of the wind.

He frowned at the door and reminded himself to warn Amy about it next time.

Kieran then took out an electrical heater from under the counter.

John Dickson left it behind, and Kieran found it while cleaning. After making sure it could still be used, he cleaned it up and placed it under the counter.

After plugging it in, warm air came out right away and made Starbeck slightly flush.

“Better buy some essence oil tomorrow. This heater may be warm, but it’s dry,” Kieran said.

“Em.” Starbeck nodded.

He would listen to whatever Kieran said.

Although he could avoid the cold inside the kitchen, if he could stay longer at the counter, it was also a good thing for him.

He was used to the silence around Kieran, knowing he wasn’t much of a talker.

He sat by and quietly watched him turn on the tv again before going back to his newspaper. Starbeck curled his lips into a smile.

The warm air from the heater expelled the coldness and warmed his heart as though it was melting.

A cold night was supposed to be long, but staying beside Kieran made it feel faster than usual.

Unknowingly, they were near closing time.

Starbeck stood up and stretched, wanting to prepare breakfast for Kieran in the kitchen.

Starbeck didn’t want to eat anything before bed, but Kieran was different.

Only with sufficient food and energy could he afford burning his stamina and keeping his brain moving at all times.

A soup mixed with a herbal smell was served.

“It’s beef soup. I’ve added some herbs to replenish your energy.”

While Starbeck introduced the dish, Kieran picked up the bowl and drained the soup dry, swallowing the beef and herbs without being concerned about the heat.

The clear soup reflected the light beautifully, tasting even better.

The beef was tender and melted in his mouth.

Those herbs that Kieran thought would be bitter were sourish and sweet; it was unusually delicious.

Seemingly normal, yet unexpected.

This was what Starbeck was good at, and Kieran was never disappointed.

“Is there more of this? I think I need more,” Kieran said.

“Of course!” Starbeck went back into the kitchen and brought the whole pot out.

Kieran smiled.

Nothing was comparable to someone who understood you.

Kieran grabbed the whole pot and gobbled it down. Starbeck watched him drain the soup until the very last drop, like always.

After the soup was finished, Kieran brought the pot and bowl into the kitchen while Starbeck stood up and tidied up the counter, arranging the magazines and newspaper in an orderly fashion.

Suddenly, the restaurant’s door opened.

A middle-aged man in casual wear walked in.

“I’m sorry, we are closed,” Starbeck said apologetically.

“I’m not here to eat. I’m here for someone,” the middle-aged man said.

He shifted his gaze from Starbeck to Kieran, who had just come out of the kitchen.

“Royan?” the middle-aged man asked.

“You are?” Kieran subtly pulled Starbeck behind him and walked forward.

While he asked, his right hand was already on the hilt of his sword, leaving only the counter between them.

“I’m a Herder, an acquaintance of Ed Wong.” The man introduced himself.

The introduction, however, did not lower Kieran’s guard. He looked at the man quietly, waiting for more explanations to come.

This man wouldn’t have come without a reason, especially after he claimed to be Ed Wong’s acquaintance.

“Relax, I mean you no harm. My identity is genuine, and you should know by now that if I really wanted to do something to you, you wouldn’t be able to do anything to me. A real Herder isn’t someone a Weirest could oppose.” The man smiled.

As if trying to prove himself, he reached his hand out to grab Kieran, even with the counter in between.

His hand wasn’t just fast, but there was some kind of technique involved as well, as his palm switched places repeatedly in mid-air. A second ago, he was going for the neck, but the next moment, he went for the shoulder or chest; his deceptive movements made it hard for one to tell what was his real target.

Kieran did not care about the fancy techniques used. He twisted his wrist and thrusted [Sharp Standard-Issued Blade] at the man.

Compared to the myriads of movements, Kieran’s attack was much simpler and he went for the man’s throat, the simplest and most fatal point.

More importantly, Kieran’s thrusting speed seemed to have exceeded the man’s expectation.

“Huh?!”

A cry of shock later, the man retracted his hand suddenly. His grab changed to a tap on the blade in Kieran’s hand, but just as his palm was about to touch the blade, he was forced back once more because Kieran twisted his wrist again, turning the edge to palm.

Kieran seized the window. Not waiting for the man to perform his technique, he swung his blade upwards by moving his wrist up.

The sword performed a vertical upward slash with its edge aimed at the man.

The man quickly stepped back, and the blade grazed the tip of his nose.

However, never did the man expect that another invisible force would lash on his defenseless back.

Bash!

The physical hit on the man’s strong back was nothing serious, but what followed was the tremble of his soul, forcing a heavy grunt from him.

The stinging pain from his soul slowed his movements down for a split second.

Kieran jumped over the counter like an agile monkey and put his sword over the man’s neck.

The slightest push would perforate the man’s throat.

The pain from his neck made him raise his hands up in the air wisely. At the same time, his heart was cursing Ed Wong.

‘What bullsh*t is this? What son of a friend who came from the mountains that sought protection?

‘This kind of skill set requires protection? What the hell, Ed Wong! He might even be on par with you!

‘And that invisible lash on my back…’

The man’s eyes were examining Kieran’s wrist, but Kieran wisely covered [Gordor’s Chain] with his long sleeve, rendering the man unable to see it.

However, guesses still popped up in the man’s mind.

“An Eckertist?” the man said.

The term wasn’t new to Kieran, as Ed Wong mentioned it before.

Weireist, a new recruit of the Herders.

Harstarty, a soldier after a certain level of training.

Bringepeist, a veteran.

Toriari, an experienced commander in charge of a sector. Ed Wong was a Toriari.

Other than the mentioned, there was also a special rank—Eckertist, someone with special skills or tools.

Or in other words, a knight.

“I really mean you no harm! What I did was just a little test. A harmless test, I swear!”

The man scolded Ed Wong for his unreliable info in his heart as he tried to dissuade Kieran with his mouth.

The killer intent from Kieran was as keen as the blade on his neck.

It seemed like he would have to leave his head here if he did not provide an explanation.

“Prove it,” Kieran said.

“In my coat pocket, there’s an ID that proves that I am a Herder,” the man said.

“Not enough. Call Ed Wong out and ask him to prove your identity,” Kieran said.

The middle-aged man immediately smiled bitterly.

“Well, you see, the reason why I came here is to search for Ed Wong or anything related to him. He’s missing.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Kieran nodded and pushed the blade further.