The Devil’s Cage

This figure was moving very carefully.

Each time he moved, his movements merged perfectly with the light and shadows, even the footsteps converged with the sounds wind blowing.

Dik, Dik, Dik, Dak.

The second hand of the clock tower on top of the dome was ticking second after second. After a full rotation, the minute hand moved.

Dik, Dak.

The ticks of the minute hand weren’t that much different than the second hand but the approaching figure staggered backward uglily as if he was struck by thunder.

The figure covered his right hand and suppressed the agonizing cry in his throat. It wasn’t until he entered an empty alleyway that the loud growls exploded.

“You’ve “won” again! But I don’t believe you will win every time!”

The figure took another glance at the dome clock tower before sprinting off towards Harvest Inn.

When the figure got close to Harvest Inn, he returned to his “normal” condition.

He was humming a joyous melody as he moved forward and when he walked into the inn, there were already familiar acquaintances greeting him.”

“Hey Borl, want a drink?”

“No thanks, my points are not enough to allow me to drink freely here.”

The player named Borl walked towards the bar counter.

Coincidentally, when Borl walked passed the drunk Lawless, Lawless almost fell off the chair he was in; Borl caught Lawless.

“Are you an idiot?”

Borl who had lingered in the inn for a few days obviously knew who Lawless was and what condition he was in. He shook his head and commented on the drunk state before he settled Lawless down in the chair again.

Then, Borl spoke to Rachel behind the bar, “I want the cheapest honey water, thank you! If the cheapest is plain water, I don’t mind that either.”

“Lemon ice tea, on the house.” Rachel served the beverage in front of Borl.

Borl held the glass in his hand as if he was holding an heirloom while expressing his gratitude repeatedly, “Thanks!”

Looking at how Borl behaved, Rachel frowned a little but ultimately shook her head.

She muttered softly to herself, “The similarity is uncanny… How is this possible?”

After that, Rachel continued cleaning her glassware.

The lone wolf player, Borl held the glass, taking sip after sip off the sweet and sour drink. He was enjoying the glass of lemon ice tea with utmost pleasure as if the drink was the best part of his life.

When the last drop was finished, Borl politely passed the glass back to Rachel. He then squinted his eyes and fell into deep thought silently.

The looks and the actions Borl displayed made Lawless who was still groggy after waking up mutter, “2-2567?”

…

Kieran spent the next few days in isolation inside of his own room.

He isolated himself from everything related to the big city, including communications.

Other than the necessary time off to take care of his matters in real life, he spent every day in the game room, seizing every moment to practice with all of his Origin Forces. He utilized all of his Origin Forces to light up the secret runes carved in his body and expel the darkness and chaos.

Under normal circumstances, the five Origin Forces, Dawn Force, Plague Force, Devil Force, Cardinal Sins Force, and Saint Thorn Force really worked at a slow and infuriating speed.

Fortunately, Kieran was patient.

Bit by bit, little by little, the Origin Forces expelled the irregularities in his body.

He was looking forward to the day that he could completely cleanse himself of the darkness and chaos and hoped it would arrive sooner rather than later.

A week flew by just like that.

When the dungeon cooldown was reset, Kieran entered the special dungeon after the necessary preparations were made and double checking everything.

[Entering Special Dungeon!]

[Dungeon Difficulty: 7th dungeon]

[Background: Perforation Sting is ever more vicious than the rumors had it. After you accidentally disrupted their plans, you were treated as a thorn in their side. A hunt specifically targeted at you has begun…]

[Main Mission: Survive for 28 days under Perforation Sting’s hunt; 0/28]

[Temporary language pack, Disappears upon exiting the dungeon.]

[Clothing, backpack, weapons, and other items remain unchanged, Temporarily altered appearance, Returns to normal upon exiting the dungeon]

[Note: This is a special dungeon. You can fail the Main Mission, but you will have to pay 700 Points as a penalty and your highest attributes will drop by 2 ranks. If your points are insufficient, the system will deduct from your equipment. If your equipment is insufficient, you will fail.]

…

The familiar words appeared before his eyes again.

When everything went away and returned to normal, he was in a room.

[Crimson Ghost Stomach] was beside his feet. He picked it up and strapped it onto his back before sizing up his new environment.

Bed, bedside drawer, carpet… everything inside the room was old.

The sheets on the bed were lifted while warmth lingered on it.

On top of the bedside drawer was a map and there were two scattered sandals on the carpet.

The room wasn’t that big as Kieran could grasp everything within his sight.

After checking under the bed, the carpet, and the drawer, he took the map.

It was a map of No.12 Highway.

One side of the highway was still connected to the Flame City that Kieran knew of and the other was an unfamiliar city named Forest City.

Looking up, Kieran saw a sign beside the road through the only window in the room.

The big “12” written on the sign was telling him his actual location.

“Am I on the run?” Kieran laughed lightly.

He then carefully checked the map, however, he wasn’t checking the way towards Forest City but he wanted to return to Flame City.

Correct! Return to Flame City!

As his strength grew, his attitude towards Perforation Sting had drastically changed. From the initial shock to the current calm.

Kieran even had some unusual ideas about the organization.

Of course, the necessary vigilance and caution were still in his mind. Kieran understood what drove him to his current power level.

Therefore, Kieran didn’t send out the Fire Raven at the very first moment.

In other dungeon worlds, Fire Raven was a very competent scout, acting as his eyes in the sky but that was because the natives in the other dungeon worlds didn’t understand Fire Raven.

However, [City of Fiends II] was different. Fire Raven originated from this world.

Anyone with better knowledge knew what a Fire Raven was and what it could achieve; Frost Wolf pup shared a similar fate as well.

Even though the pup wasn’t really from this world, the understanding of the dungeon’s natives towards fiends and half-fiends would cause an alarm if they saw the pup running around.

Therefore, Kieran kept both his companions near him.

Fire Raven stood on his right shoulder, looking left and right while it savored the familiar presence of home. It also excitingly shook its black-red feathers.

The hybrid Frost Wolf pup was tumbling around Kieran’s feet, sniffing here and there and would wag its tail in front of Kieran.

However, at the very next moment, the shaking Fire Raven paused its excited actions as its sharper-than-eagle eyes were locked on to the direction of the door.

The Frost Wolf pup bent down on its limbs as it entered its attacking stance while baring its sharp teeth.

Dok, Dok, Dok.

“Hello, room servi…”

After the knocks, a sweet voice was heard before the voice could finish its words, Kieran pointed the [Winchester Hunting Rifle] at the spyhole and pulled the trigger.

KABOOM!