The Devil’s Cage

The importance of equipment and items to a player was self-explanatory.

Some players, who chose the extreme paths, had equipment that would occupy half of their total strength or more.

Kieran wasn’t an extreme player.

His vigilant personality had decided his path to a more well-rounded build.

Given that he could expand his powers in all directions, Kieran wouldn’t mind at all but it didn’t mean he would give up on equipment and items.

You never knew what you would come across in a dungeon world.

When in crisis, equipment would be a timely assistance; when flourishing, it would be icing on the cake.

This was Kieran’s understanding towards equipment. Since the abrupt start of the last dungeon world then extended to this one, Kieran temporarily lost all of his original equipment. He got some earnings during the last dungeon world through great efforts but only a few.

Among them, [Box of Trickery], as its remark suggested, was merely a toy.

[Hound Ring] was a decent Legendary rank item. Regardless of casual or critical timing, it could be effective either way.

[Twine Stinger], an item that could be used offensively and defensively, was an indispensable item for his current state.

Similar to [Twine Stinger], [Sight of Light] and [Ghost Skin], the two items from the three king’s secret treasure vault, were his very important items.

As for [Question Staff] and [Dark Shining Musket], the items matched his identity as Snake Sect Demon Hunter.

[Lord of Mist]? This dazzling crystal was Kieran’s most important gain in this dungeon, he strongly believed in that.

The listed equipment was all Kieran had at the moment.

He was still very far away from his prime, where he would have armed himself to the teeth.

Therefore, when 4 Legendary rank items dropped from Kurtzargert at the same time, Kieran was overjoyed.

He picked up the narrow, short knife and long stinger.

[Name: Winkerton Short Fang]

[Type: Weapon]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack: Powerful]

[Attribute: 1. Silent Strike; 2. Night Cover; 3. Enslave Soul]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Constitution A+]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: Winkerton is a monster found in the south only at night. It can silently sneak up to its prey and use its fangs to worry its prey’s neck. It also has the ability to control the soul of the prey it hunted.]

[Silent: Strike: Enable the wielder to wield Winkerton Short Fang silently]

[Night Cover: During the night or in shadow, Undercover +1]

[Enslave Soul: When Short Fang and Long Fang is dual-wielded, this effect is activated: the soul of the prey will serve the wielder even after death (depending on how strong the prey is before death, it will come back as a ghost, spectre or a demon to help. Automatically dissipates when come in contact with sunlight)]

[Name: Winkerton Long Fang]

[Type: Weapon]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack: Average]

[Defense: Extreme]

[Attribute: 1. Block; 2. Long Fang Guard; 3; Soul Guard]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Constitution A+]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: Winkerton is an excellent hunter and possesses outstanding combat capabilities. It is not afraid of a sudden encounter for its long fang would protect it.]

[Block: When blocking using the Long Fang, Blocking skill +1, 3 times per day]

[Long Fang Guard: After a flawless block, grant the wielder a Powerful rank shield barrier, last 5 seconds]

[Soul Guard: Control the enslaved souls to charge the shield barrier (the time is prolonged depending on the quality of souls offered)]

Kieran looked at the short knife and stinger in his hands in surprise.

He never thought these two weapons were a set and the attributes were remarkably strong. The offensive and defensive capabilities compensated each other’s shortcomings.

As long as this pair of blades were put into good use, their true power would surely shine.

Skipping the generosity, Kiean hung the two blades at his waist.

He then looked at the leather armor and boots.

[Name: Govorson Remnant]

[Type: Leather Armor]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Defense: Extreme]

[Attribute: 1. Govorson’s Cunning; 2. Govorson’s Cruelty]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Consume a grown man whole (including organs)]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: Govorson was a pagan that lurks outside Edatine Castle before the Black Cataclysm. Back then, pagans were uncommon and would stray away from crowded human gathering places. Govorson was different though, it was cunning and cruel, it hunted humans non-stop until it ignorantly massacred a group of Silent Night Secret Society convoy…]

[Govorson’s Cunning: Each successful dodge of enemy’s attack will increase Strength and Agility by 1, able to stack up 3 times.]

[Govorson’s Cruelty: Each successful kill of an enemy and smeared its blood on the leather armor, grand the next attack a +1 attack buff (cannot exceed rank II)]

[Name: Great Thief Boots]

[Type: Boots]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Defense: Powerful]

[Attribute: 1. Mute; 2. Conceal]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This pair of boots were once the favourite of a notorious thief. After that thief had his eyes on the garage of Silent Night Secret Society, the owner of these boots switched.

[Mute: When you stand or stroll, mute all possible noise; when you walk at normal speed, reduce the noise produced by 50%; when you stride, reduce the noise produced by 20%; when you sprint, unable to reduce noise produced (it can only mute your own noise, does not include backpack and other items)]

[Conceal: Standing or walking in shadow grants Undercover +1]

Kieran simply glanced over [Great Thief Boots] for his attention was captivated by [Govorson’s Remnant].

After “reading” a part of Kurtzargert’s memories, Kieran had a better understanding of these ‘remnants’.

After a pagan died, a part of it would be left behind and these items, or remnants, had special powers to them, similar to an equipment that a player acquired from drops.

The difference was that the requisite to use these ‘remnants’ were too stringent and many, one had to satisfy a particular or multiple conditions before using. The stronger the ‘remnant’, the more requisites it had, like [Govorson’s Remnant]!

Judging it from an objective perspective, it was a very powerful item, but the requisite was something Kieran couldn’t accept.

He liked to eat, but humans were definitely not on his menu.

Though the leather armor [Govorson’s Remnant] looked rather tasty itself.

Noises of saliva gulping came from Gluttony from Kiearn’s heart.

“B-B-Brother,” Gluttony stuttered.

The stutter wasn’t a flaw in his character, neither was it fear towards Kieran, it was because he was gulping his saliva while speaking, hence the weird voice.

Kieran knew why Gluttony was calling him for, so he nodded.

Right away, the energy from Cardinal Sins Force appeared in his hand and enveloped the leather armor whole.

As though a catastrophic fate had befallen it, a faint image of a figure appeared floated above [Govorson’s Remnant], wailing fiercely.

The figure looked like a tiger with the head of a monkey. With each wail from its mouth, its sharp fangs were shown.

They were vicious and scary. Any normal man who saw those fangs would surely go limp on the ground.

However, there were no normal men in the room.

Kieran, a player who had been tempered by countless dungeon runs. Coupled with his powerful Spirit attribute, it allowed him to maintain a clear mind around anything.

Bloody Mary the Superior Demon, relying on its undying trait and ability to transform into anyone. Coupled with its award-worthy level acting, even if the sky cracked open, it wouldn’t surprise Bloody Mary at all.

Gluttony?

Hmm…

In his mind, all that mattered were the things his brother allowed him to eat, plus the things he wasn’t allowed to eat.

Things that he was allowed to eat, tasty.

Things that he was not allowed to eat, not tasty.

In accordance with the simple ideal in its mind, Gluttony widened his mouth at Govorson’s image and ate it.

The substantial energy that Gluttony had gotten from consuming Govorson was converted into nutrients for the 5 Origin Forces and acted as fuel to burn away the darkness and chaos deep in Kieran’s soul.

A certain portion of the energy was absorbed by the [Lord of Mist] in accordance with the special trait of the dungeon world.

Soon, new changes occurred in [Lord of Mist], but Kieran didn’t go through it at the very first moment.

He was savouring the chocolate taste on his tongue.

The rich cocoa flavour coupled with sugar and cream was delicious.

Right after Gluttony ate Govorson’s image, the chocolate taste spread on his tongue and it lasted for half a minute before it started to fade.

“Not too shabby,” Kieran commented with a smile.

Kieran then turned to Bloody Mary with a new order, “Use your three acquired identities to gather more fo-…I mean remnants.”

“Yes, boss. What do I need to pay attention to in the upcoming step?” asked Bloody Mary after a nod.

“Nothing. Just believe in yourself, you are the best actor on the stage,” Kieran said surely.

Who else had the ability to transform into anyone and skillfully imitate its target?

Other than Bloody Mary, Kieran couldn’t think of anyone.

Kieran walked to the study table and sat down.

He glanced over the changes on [Lord of Mist]. The basic attributes didn’t change, only [Blessing] and [Deceive Contract] had something more.

[Bless: Within Land of Sicar and Edatine Castle, when your believers pray to you, you can consume stamina to bless them with the Blessing of Mist (Blessing of Mist: provide resistance against poison, ice, acid) wherever mist is visible, or provide a blessing to your teammates (communicate with flora and fauna in a short period of time); you can also bless them with Blessing of Ironwall Bloodthirsty (depends on how devoted the believer is during the short period of time), the blessed will be enhanced with 105% Strength, damage received decreased 60%, able to absorb the blood of enemy to replenish own life. Able to grant Blessing of Conceal (depends on how devoted the believer is, Undercover level will be increased by 1 to 2 levels.]

[Deceive Contract: You’ve been treated as the God of Mist, you can use the Lord of Mist to accept a great amount of worship from the worshippers and then give them some rewards (rewards are not limited to actual items. When you choose an actual item, you can +1 to a defensive attribute permanently, requires a great amount of stamina)]

In the [Blessing] attribute, Blessing of Bloodthirsty became Blessing of Ironwall Bloodthirsty, Strength buff blessed to the target increased from 100% to 105%, damage received reduction also increased from 50% to 60%.

It may only be a 5% and 10% increase for this time but Kieran would never underestimate the percentage increment.

He knew if his base stats were high enough, the percentage increase would be a powerful, probably scary, enhancement.

However, if he would come across a powerful believer, his stamina consumption would be drained drastically.

“I have to be careful with my choice,” Kieran told himself.

Then, he shifted his attention to [Deceive Contract]. It was a much easier read.

Having a huge amount of stamina consumption as a requisite, it was sufficient for Kieran to understand the message in it.

As for blessing a defensive level of 1 to an actual reward?

It was just to exchange for more gains and rewards.

Where would the rewards be without incentives?

Winning big with the least amount of effort, Kieran understood such a method well enough.

“Maybe I can give it a try.”

Thoughts formed in Kieran’s mind after some careful thoughts.

While he was at it, the first light shone from the horizon.

The sun rose up as usual and breakfast was a must.

Although the tea was cold, the food on the table was tasty enough; likewise dawn at the moment, it wasn’t the warmest but was more comfortable as it represented the start of a day.

Think about it. Sleeping through the night and waking up in the morning, bathing yourself under the soothing light of dawn with a bowl of soya milk in your hand and two fried dough in the other, coupled with some pickled vegetables.

Comfortable.

Of course, swapping anyone of them out for mutton soup and fried biscuits, or douhua and wanton, was also a viable option,

The important thing was the feeling.

Kieran quietly savoured the feeling.

Bloody Mary had left quietly, knowing its boss didn’t like to be interrupted during a meal. More so, it had matters to attend to.

Walking down the stairs with Ludus’ face, it told the attendants “Do not go up and disturb the V.I.P.”

The attendants nodded one after another.

They knew who the important figure upstairs was: Kurtzargert, a councilman similar to the lord they served.

Bloody Mary walked out of the building, shuttled through the streets of Central Third Ring, and transformed into Kurtzargert’s face after it went through a shadowy alley.

Using Kurtzargert’s face, Bloody Mary easily got access to the Lower Fourth Ring, the shop that once belonged to the late councilman.

The workers at the shops were obviously members of Silent Night Secret Society.

They bowed en masse after they saw Kurtzargert.

Bloody Mary replied to the workers using Kurtzargert’s tone and temperament before it returned to the councilman’s bedroom.

Inside the bedroom was a letter whose contents stated that Kurtzargert had agreed to hold the Council Meeting.

A member of Silent Night Secret Society in the shop was tasked to bringing the letter to Silent Night Town. After the member left with his assignment, Bloody Mary started to summon its own army.

A while later, Clairehore the Undying walked in.

The Undying was in utter shock when he saw Kurtzargert inside the room.

He had just received a message from his teacher, telling him to come to Kurtzargert’s shop.

Although heavily doubtful about the validity, Horlaika still came because of the trust he had in his teacher.

However, when he did not see his teacher and instead saw Kurtzargert, Horlaika raised his guard to the peak.

Did something happen to the teacher?

As the thought came into his mind, killer intents filled Horlaika’s eyes.

To Horlaika, Bloody Mary was his teacher in life, the light in the darkness and where his beliefs laid.

Had someone harmed Bloody Mary, he would get to the bottom of it even if it kills him.

Looking at Horlaika’s reaction, Bloody Mary waved its hand with a chuckle.

“Relax, it’s me, Horlaika,” Bloody Mary changed its look to Simon from the Mist religious sect.

“Teacher!”

Horlaika looked at Bloody Mary in surprise.

A moment later, Bloody Mary transformed back to Kurtzargert and said, “I have agreed to hold the Council Meeting. I want someone to ring the bell during midnight. Clairehore, are you willing to bear this responsibility?”

“It will be my pleasure.”

Horlaika reacted quickly and bowed.

Deep down in his heart, he was utterly aroused and excited.

‘We Snake Sect are finally making a comeback!’