The Devil’s Cage

“You know about Mordin’s sculptures?”

Kieran maintained his smile as he looked at the sudden changes on Drexton’s face.

As one of the city’s top extraordinary individuals, it wasn’t strange for Drexton to know about the peculiar item, Mordin’s sculptures; it would be strange if he didn’t know.

“Of course!”

Drexton’s face changed to a never before seen seriousness.

Then, he spat out each and every word seriously, “Mordin’s sculpture is magical, but it’s more terrifying.”

“It will not just bewitch people’s heart, causing one to lose their personality, it will convert one into the sculpture’s puppet. I’ve seen a few bewitched guys fall into the grasp of the sculpture and all of them ended…badly.”

“Don’t even think that being an extraordinary individual will make you immune to the bewitchment. Extraordinary individuals indeed can resist the bewitchment at first but the influence of the sculpture will eventually get to you, like water piercing a rock over time.”

“If it’s possible, I hope that you stay away from Mordin’s sculptures!” Drexton tried to dissuade Kieran.

However, such dissuasion wasn’t effective on Kieran. He knew the threats of the sculptures but he also knew their value.

Aside from the potential changes after gathering all eight sculptures, each of the sculpture rarity was enough for Kieran to never give up on them.

Out of the eight, one would at least be Legendary, one would at least be in the higher order or perhaps even higher; no players would give up on them, Kieran was no exception.

“I know, but I have my own reasons,” Kieran said.

“Fine then, I understand. I’ll try my best to assist you.”

Drexton eventually nodded his head when he saw how stern Kieran was with his decision.

After that, both of them didn’t linger on the topic anymore, instead, they shifted to other things.

Naturally, Drexton was speaking most of the time and Kieran was listening. It wasn’t until Hoss served them dinner that the conversation between them finally ended.

“Have a taste of my specialty, Spicy Hell!” Hoss smiled as he removed the lid on the plate.

When the lid was removed, steam rose up instantly and the spiciness 10 times stronger than before rushed into Kieran’s nose but the aroma that came with the spiciness was at least 20 times stronger.

Kieran’s mouth unconsciously secreted saliva, his eyes were locked at the food on the plate: a big piece of steak filled with gravy.

The steak was garnished with some broccoli, tomato, and corn.

Kieran instinctively extended his fork and knife, quickly cutting a piece of the steak and delivered it into his mouth.

BOOM!

When his tongue touched the steak, it felt like an explosion went off in Kieran’s mind.

Spicy!

Spicy! Spicy!

The burning spiciness made Kieran feel like he was eating a piece of burning coal yet he had no intention to spit it out.

The aroma and the juicy beef made him chew the piece uncontrollably, then…

Kieran was stunned!

He was able to distinguish a dash of bean texture amidst the spiciness on his tongue.

“Is this tofu?”

Staring at the piece of steak that looked and felt like real “beef”, Kieran munched even faster.

More and more of the tofu taste started to appear but it didn’t wash away the spiciness, instead, it set off the spiciness, making it more obvious and independent.

However, if that was really the case, it would be nothing but spiciness. It might cause one to be stimulated and excited but it wouldn’t cause one to indulge in pleasure without stop.

“Is it the gravy? The gravy has real beef juice mixed with it! And… the vegetables!”

Kieran quickly stuffed the broccoli, tomato, and corn into his mouth.

The broccoli was actually steamed with cabbage juice and fish broth.

The tomato was actually chicken meat cooked with tomato juice and served in that particular shape.

The most interesting part was the corn…

Crack Crack!

Crack Crack!

Crunchy noise came out from his mouth.

“Deep fried cartilage!” Kieran’s eyes shone.

His eating speed got even faster, especially when a bowl of rice was served, he ate 10 times faster.

Even though he was drenched with sweat, he never stopped for a moment.

Bowl after bowl of rice was gobbled down, it wasn’t until the rice cooker was empty that Kieran was forced to stop.

“Thank you!”

Kieran thanked Drexton with a sincere tone. He thanked Drexton for bringing him to taste such a special, meticulously prepared meal.

He then looked at Hoss, the chef. His calm eyes carrying the frantic passion behind made Hoss shudder uncontrollably.

“I want three more servings of the exact standard!”

Kieran said while feeling the burning sensation circulating his body and the joyous scream of Gluttony.

“Why do I feel like what I did for you before was even more useless than bringing you to a meal?” Drexton talked to himself with a bitter smile.

“Because food is always special..”

Kieran said as he glanced over the newly added attribute on his vision.

[Consumed Spicy Hell, triggered attribute in a small chance: Fiery Hot]

[Fiery Hot: You are closer to fire, every authentication regarding the Fire element will be increased by 1, lasts for 1 hour.]

…

Kieran didn’t feel any clear effects of [Lucky Card] in other aspects but after the meal, he clearly felt it.

“Fiery Hot eh? This point alone was worth it!” Kieran thought quietly.

Fire was special to Kieran. It was so special that any kind of changes in the element would change the tides of war.

That’s right, the war! Not battle!

When the scorching heat in his hand reached a higher level, Kieran was fearless against any kind of enemy, quantitative qualitatively speaking.

All his enemies would be burned to ashes under his fiery rage.

Roar!

The devil’s roar echoed in his ears.

The burning blood flowed across his body from his heart. The branded runes of the basic skills were lit up instantly one after another.

The chaos and darkness in his body were dispersed faster than before.

Although it was just a little faster, it was enough for Kieran to make changes to his decision.

“Hoss, I want 10 servings!” Kieran said.

Gluttony cheered in joy, he kept urging Kieran but Kieran wasn’t moved.

“Power! I can give you more power! So eat! Let me eat!” Gluttony promised.

His promise, however, wasn’t an empty one because Gluttony made his move.

He brought his own persistence, his own conviction and transformed into a unique Cardinal Sins Force, circulating around Kieran’s body behind Devil Force.

“Scram! Get off! Get the hell away! I want to eat! Whoever dares stand in my way, I’ll eat them!”

Gluttony was roaring at the chaos and darkness in Kieran’s body and was “fighting” them with unprecedented power.

The chaos and darkness dispersed even faster after that.

Kieran took it all in with a calm face but his heart had even more anticipation towards the scene.

There shouldn’t be just a single spot like Spicy Hot Kitchen in Alkender City right?

There must be more similar places.

Well, of course, if Kieran wanted to taste all kinds of similar foods, he would have to spend a fortune, but was Kieran lacking the current dungeon world’s currency after cleaning up Mr. Ghost’s lair?

Gluttony clearly caught on Kieran’s line of thinking at this particular moment.

Gluttony was boiling! He was in a frenzy, he had forgotten himself!

All he had left was a single thought: EAT!

EAT! EAT! EAT