The Devil’s Cage

“T-The Devil!”

The first fallen assassin stammered weakly, his fading gaze indicating that he wouldn’t be surviving this.

“I…”

The third assassin, whose chest was stabbed yet didn’t seem to mind, spoke.

But the moment he spoke, Kieran, who was at the entrance, vanished.

Instinctively, the second assassin was fully on guard.

Then…

Grak!

A clear noise came from behind him.

Without even inspecting, the second assassin could tell it was the noise of a human’s neck being snapped.

He had heard it too many times, to the point that he could tell how many bones had been broken in that one snap.

Then another snap!

Gark!

The second assassin fell to the ground, his eyes opened wide until the very last moment. That fearful face of his wore a heavy sense of disbelief. He couldn’t believe he had died just like that without any resistance.

How! How is this possible?!

The question popped up in the second assassin’s heart a moment before his death.

The same question also appeared in the third assassin.

A moment ago, he was able to laugh even though his chest was stabbed, but a moment later, his forehead was drenched in cold sweat.

Even more so when he saw Kieran appear in front of his eyes without any signs. He instinctively took two steps backwards.

Kieran glanced over at the assassin with disappointment.

It wasn’t because of the assassin’s courage but because of Kieran’s own miscalculation.

When Kieran had seen the man’s chest get stabbed yet still able to move his body around freely, he thought it was some kind of Viper Sect secret technique, but now he realized it was nothing but a trick; underneath the assassin’ big robe, his body was twisting like a snake.

In simpler words, that knife that seemingly pierced his chest only perforated his robe.

Of course, this was also a part of Viper Sect’s secret techniques, but compared to the secret technique of defying death against a direct stab to the heart, this kind of tricky technique was useless to Kieran.

What should he do about such a useless enemy?

“Hold on! I can tell you everything you want to know! I…”

Bang!

The third assassin spoke quickly, as he felt Kieran’s killing intent but what Kieran replied to him in turn was a kick to the face.

Fast and precise.

Before the assassin could react, his head was crushed.

Three orange glows appeared on the three bodies, and despite the glowing, the forms of books were made quite obvious.

[Discovered skill book, Thousand Viper Kick, detecting…]

[Learning prerequisite met!]

[Learn? Yes/No]

…

[Discovered skill book, Soundless Trick, detecting…]

[Learning prerequisite met!]

[Learn? Yes/No]

…

[Discovered skill book, Viper Body, detecting…]

[Learning prerequisite met!]

[Learn? Yes/No]

…

Kieran got the learning notifications when he picked up the skill books.

Without thinking, Kieran learned all of them.

The three books immediately disintegrated into light, new notifications then following.

[Detected Viper Kick at Transcendence level, Thousand Viper Kick automatically set as Grand Master level]

[Name: Thousand Viper Kick (Grand Master)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: Your leg muscles and joints could be altered greatly in an unimaginable way, increasing your kicking attack range and causing a small air stream that could tear skin. (Air stream attack is Feeble; range is a 2-meter radius from you)]

[Special effect: Viper Hiss (Whenever you launch a kick, your muscles will produce snake hissing sounds. Targets who get struck will be forced to go through a Spirit authentication no lower than B-, Fear will be induced when failed)]

[Transcendence: Spirit authentication of foe increase by 1]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Hand-to-Hand Combat, Kick Combats (Transcendence), Viper Kick (Master), Strength B, Agility B, Constitution B]

[Remark: Catching your enemy off guard with your freaky kicking techniques.]

…

[Name: Silent Trick (Basic)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effect: When walking, control your muscles to produce silent steps.]

[Special effect: None]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Undercover (Grand Master), Strength C+, Agility C+. Constitution C+]

[Remark: This isn’t one of the Viper Sect’s techniques but it is extremely suitable for its skillsets.]

…

[Name: Viper Body (Basic)]

[Related Attribute: Constitution, Spirit]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effect: Control your muscles throughout your body and move like a viper]

[Special Effect: None]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Dormant Viper (Basic), Strength C+, Agility C+, Constitution C+]

[Remark: It is interconnected with Dormant Viper]

……

Kieran looked at [Viper Body]’s remark in surprise.

“It’s interconnected with Dormant Viper?”

At first, Kieran learned [Viper Body] only because he didn’t want to waste a Rare rank skill book, but now it gave him a reminder.

“The knowledge and techniques in the sects are all interconnected. Skill to skill, they are linked together.”

Kieran took a deep breath and touched Frost Wolf pup without minding the dirt on it.

“Nicely done!” Kieran wasn’t stingy with his compliments because he knew that without Frost Wolf pup, it would have been hard for him to know what was going on in the place.

However, Kieran didn’t give the pup any further rewards. Instead, he tapped on its head and told it to leave for the time being.

The smart and sharp-instinct pup softly groaned before diving into the shadows beside Kieran.

“What a smart puppy! I bet it will taste exceptionally tasty if I grill it.”

A grudgeful voice came from the other end of the street.

A tall, thin man that shared a similar outfit to the three dead assassins appeared there.

His right arm that was exposed had a tattoo of a viper.

Kieran had seen similar tattoos on Perry Kaner and the other three dead assassins.

Perry Kaner’s one was a five-headed viper.

The three dead assassins had a six-headed viper.

But the man before Kieran’s eyes was different, as he had an eight-headed viper tattoo on his arm.

Each of the viper heads was looking up high, their eyes ferocious as they stuck out their forked tongues, but compared to the ferocious tattoo, the man himself was scarier.

Not only the malicious intent that filled his eyes, but even his presence was also terrifying. That cold, dark aura felt so real, to the point that a giant viper mirage could be faintly seen behind him.

At the same time, more system notifications appeared in Kieran’s vision.

[Sub-mission: Remaining Viper Sect (Complete)]

[Triggered special event: Hidden Viper]

[Hidden Viper: After you decided to help Perry Kaner, you slowly realized that the so-called remaining Viper Sect wasn’t the remains, after all. They were not only intact, but they were also hiding in the shadows all along, like a real poisonous viper ready to eat its foe. You are the one they had their eyes on…]

…

“As expected.”

Kieran muttered softly when he saw the description of the special event, [Hidden Viper].

Further ahead, the man with the eight-headed tattoo vanished.

The battles of assassins were never in open means or about clashing face to face.