The Devil’s Cage

Leave the game?!

Kieran stopped when he heard the words that came out from Darde’s mouth.

No doubt it had exceeded Kieran’s wildest imaginations.

He did wonder what the “crown” was used for but he didn’t think it would allow players to leave the game.

Kieran was staring at Darde who was in a chaotic state with his judgemental gaze.

He needed to find out whether was Darde telling the truth.

Looking at Darde’s dilated pupils and the astonishment, the perplexed expression left on his face told Kieran that if Darde wasn’t mumbling gibberish, it must be the truth.

“Broker used this to hook Darde and Extremus into the dungeon, then… a Unique Title and the possibility of leaving the dungeon, why did Broker give up on it? What plans did he prepare as contingencies?”

Kieran’s heart uncontrollably skipped a beat when he formed theories based on these circumstances.

If the value of the Unique Title dungeon and the Witch’s Legacy were substantial before, now with the chance of leaving the game in the dungeon, the dungeon’s value would outweigh the legacy yet Broker didn’t show himself at all, as if he had completely given up on the benefits of this title dungeon.

However, Kieran believed all this was just an illusion that Broker created.

The cunning merchant must have arrangements in some unexpected place that could allow him to turn the tides of the situation.

Of course, another possibility was that the “Witch’s Legacy” has more value than the “Unique Title” and “game leaving chance” combined.

“Witch’s Legacy?”

Kieran muttered it in his heart before turning his eyes to Darde.

Darde had activated his defensive energy shield and released himself from the terrorizing aura from Kieran; he was looking up at Kieran as well.

“See! I know a lot of things! All you need to do is sign a contract with me in this dungeon, stating that both of us will not harm each other and I’ll tell you everything I know!”

“Including the reason why Broker didn’t appear in this title dungeon himself! I bet you are quite baffled about that right? You even had many theories in your mind but I can tell you, no matter what theories you have in your mind, they are all wrong! Only I know the truth! Not even Ansecord and Extremus know!”

After escaping from the “Fear” state, Darde didn’t look sorry at all as he stood inside the defensive energy field that made him feel safe. Right after that, he used the keywords that escaped his mouth as bargaining chips to negotiate with Kieran.

Darde had quite the confidence in his little act, he didn’t think any player had the guts to resist the temptation to leave the game.

It was indeed true.

If there was a chance to leave the game, Kieran would do his best to contend for it but…

Not under conditions set up but others!

As Darde felt the aura change on Kieran, his face turned bad.

“You want to break this defensive energy shield and threaten me directly? You can try though, it doesn’t just block physical attacks, it has quite the effect in resisting Spirit type skills as well. Whether it’s your illusion attacks or the lethal mental impacts, it can resist and block everything!”

“Of course, another way is you can wait for the duration to run out, but… in the meantime, I bet Ansecord and Extremus will be doing their best to eliminate another rival! This is a specialized signal flare and it will transmit everything here to the night sky.”

As he spoke, a black round ball appeared in Darde’s hand but it didn’t stop Kieran.

Bang!

Without holding back, Kieran kicked on the defensive energy shield heavily.

The translucent shield did not even budge from the impact though.

Darde’s face showed a sneerful expression at the kick but the sneers froze on his face right away.

A greatsword glimmering in bewitching purplish light appeared in Kieran’s hand.

The aura from [Arrogant Word] made Darde feel uneasy and when Kieran activated [Sword Skill, Dragon Force], the uneasy feeling was turned into a rising tide, drowning Darde’s mind.

Darde was very confused about Kieran’s action.

It should have been a win-win situation but why had Kieran to forced it to a destructive end?

Could Kieran oppose Ansecord and Extremus both at the same time?

Darde did not believe it because not even he could do what.

However, looking at the determination from Kieran’s action, Darde has no viable options left.

He certainly did not want to get killed in a place like this, even if he really did…

He would drag one down with him to ease the anguish!

“You forced my hand!”

Darde clenched his teeth as he was trying to crush the black ball but when he tried to exert strength through his fingers, he realized that his body had become weak and powerless without him knowing.

It didn’t feel like the helplessness of the spell repulsion, more like… sickness?

“What kind of joke is this?”

“How is this possible?”

“How the hell can I fall sick?”

A chain of confusion popped up in Darde’s mind.

He then felt his body temperature rising and his sight starting to become blurry.

However, even if his sight went blurry, he could see Kieran putting away his outstanding greatsword after pretending to slash his shield.

“It’s you?!”

While the high temperature was assaulting his brain, Darde’s mind allowed him to only utter simple and obvious words before he passed out on the ground.

Pak!

As he fell back onto the ground, the extremely sturdy energy shield collapsed without being attacked.

Kieran didn’t pause whatsoever, he quickly took everything that seemed like equipment on Darde.

Musou [Knights of Plague Body Tempering Art] started to operate again but was changed from [Release Plague] to [Absorb Plague].

Although Kieran thought that Darde must have suffered some serious injuries from the battle with Burning Marquis, his vigilant attitude had decided that he would give his best effort and use the utmost carefulness even if he was hunting a wounded rabbit.

Therefore, the moment he came into the underground cave, [Knights of Plague Body Tempering Art, Release Plague] had been triggered.

Darde could have easily neglected the odorless, colorless plague infection during his prime condition with his powerful Constitution but his current condition did not grant him any resistance against it.

Perhaps in his condition, Darde was still slightly stronger than a common man, but it was just slightly and Kieran had to spend a little bit more time agitating his emotions to allow the plague to kick in faster.

[Absorb Plague] woke up Darde.

Darde opened his eyes and saw Kieran standing in front of him, looking down in an intimidating manner. In the end, he roared heavily, “I won’t tell you…”

Pak!

KaChak!

Before he could finish, Darde’s right hand was crushed by Kieran’s stomp, followed by the left.

Losing both his hands in succession changed his roaring into an agonizing cry but Kieran didn’t want to stop.

He moved his feet over to Darde’s left ankle.

…

Just as Kieran was interrogating Darde, the secret agents from all sorts of forces and factions in Dawn City were searching for Starbeck’s location.

However, none of the searches bore fruit.

Time was running out as it was almost dawn.

The secret agents were getting more anxious. Driven by their anxiety, it made them more reckless and disregard consequences.

They discarded the rules and codes of searching and started to ram over any places they felt suspicious.

Dawn City fell into a mess again thanks to them.

Just as the civilians’ complaints were everywhere, the secret agents got a huge discovery.

It wasn’t Starbeck but… the son of the missing Grand Duke of Dawn.