The Devil’s Cage

“You saw my death? What kind of death?” Kieran asked with an interested tone.

There was no panic, no fear between the lines.

Wu obviously mistook Kieran’s reaction to her words.

“Please believe me!” said Wu.

Then a stack of cards appeared in her hand, similar to when Kieran saw Wu do her divination for the first time.

The cards were laid down in three rows: five cards in the first, four cards in the second and three cards in the third.

Then, when the cards had been flipped over, Lawless jumped up from the sofa and almost crawled on the table.

The cards were changing and no matter which card, all of them changed into a picture of a…

skull! A broken skull with its lower jaw opened wide!

A black stream of energy was swirling above the skull.

Lawless could even hear the wails from the dead in his ears.

“What’s going on?” Lawless asked in a heavy tone.

“This is my divination!”

Wu then opened her skill tab and displayed one of her skill to Kieran and Lawless.

[Destiny Divination: Consume 10,000 Points and 12 Destiny Cards to perform a divination to the person or incident before you. Same person or incident can only be foretold 3 times per week. The results of the divination isn’t a true fact but extremely close to it. 3 times per day.]

…

After looking through [Destiny Divination]’s attribute, Lawless clutched his fist hard.

“Do it again, I’ll pay,” said Lawless.

He obviously did not believe in the results.

“I don’t need your payment.”

Wu shook her head and started another round of divination. However, the results were the same, 12 Destiny Cards all showing nothing but skulls.

The atmosphere in the small living room instantly became heavy. Lawless’ heavy breathing could be heard clearly.

“Again!” Lawless almost shouted at Wu.

Wu tried the third time.

And the results?

Same.

12 skull cards were placed on the tables. Their lower jaws were wide open, and together with their dark eye sockets, it looked like the skulls were laughing sinisterly, showing off endless sneers and malicious intent.

Bang!

Lawless kicked the table away and stepped on the cards that had fallen on the floor.

“Laugh! Laugh your as*! I’ll make your f*cking skull laugh!”

Lawless stomped on the cards as he cursed, unable to accept what he had seen.

He hated the fact, to be honest, and it was only natural that he couldn’t accept it with an open heart.

It was similar to that time that his best friend died in front of him and he was helpless against it.

Two of his friends died before.

He couldn’t accept a third one dying, so he wanted to change that.

“Tell me, what should I do?”

Lawless’ eyes were red as he laid there and stared at Wu sitting there in her chair.

Dashes of killing intent slowly leaked out, following Lawless’ heavy breaths.

The temperature in the living room rapidly plummeted.

Wu saw her breath turn white, her body even feeling frozen, at one point.

Just as she did in the first meeting, Wu thoroughly sized up the man who behaved differently from normal.

“So this is your true nature?” Wu whispered to herself and shook her head.

“What do you mean, don’t tell me you can see it but you can’t change it? If that’s the case…”

Lawless’ words rapidly turned cold, his materialized killing intent turning into a gale and rumbling in the living room.

The tables and sofa chairs were all toppled over. A faint beastly grumble could even be heard.

It was a… tiger’s roar!

A striped tiger mirage started to faintly appear, its eyes being very real to the point that Wu thought she had really run into a man-eating tiger.

“I…”

“Enough.”

Just as Wu had started to say something, Kieran spoke. He didn’t just interrupted Wu, he also placed his hand on Lawless’ shoulder.

Lawless instinctively turned around to his friend.

Even with the system blur, Lawless’ sharp senses could tell that his friend was smiling.

Smiling?

Smiling in the face of death?

The familiar situation made Lawless even more anxious.

“2567, we can’t give up. I’ll try to think of a way to turn this damn destiny sh*t around!” said Lawless anxiously.

The scene he had worried about the most had happened.

Damn it!

What should I do!?

Lawless was ever anxious, his brain spinning as fast as it could, but soon enough, Lawless’ attention was captured by Kieran’s reply.

“Give up? Since when have I ever given up? I won’t submit to life. If I really did submit, I’d have been dead since long ago!” Kieran said calmly.

“Then what about the calmness just now?” Lawless was not expecting this.

“Do you really think that I will die honestly? Stop joking! No one can push me over a cliff just like that! Not even destiny or fate!” Kieran emphasized each and every word.

“I can help you! Tell me about everything regarding death in your last dungeon run, and I’ll try my best to help you!” said Wu.

Kieran, at the moment, in Wu’s eyes, even with that blurred out face, was rapidly merging with the person of her memories.

Not even before death shall he falter.

No, not only death, he would be strong against anything!

Others might see it as despair, but him?

Strong and full of hope.

Amid her absent-minded state, Wu seemed to hear what the person in her memories said before.

‘In the soil of despair, only the seed of hope can grow.’

When Wu came back from her blank state, she realized Kieran was striding outside the corridor.

“Wait! 2567, you…”

“I am not just familiar with the teasing of fate, I’m used to it as well… and also used to fighting it alone!” said Kieran.

Kieran then walked out of the living room without pause.

His calm tone rendered Lawless and Wu, back in the living room, quiet. They couldn’t find words to argue with him.

When facing the sudden illness that had befallen him, Kieran was scared before, he feared it before, he’d even cried in the night before, but… was it all useful?

No.

Other than plunging deeper into despair, the venting of emotions didn’t do him any good.

Since feeling despair was useless, why not search for hope?

A wounded animal learned to be strong by licking its own wounds and also learning to never give up.

Lawless and Wu didn’t know what Kieran had been through before in real life but they could tell it was his reality.

The fact caught them off guard, rendering them helpless against all actions.

They watched Kieran’s figure walk out the living room, and they didn’t know what to do, how to react.

As Wu was staring blankly into the air and Lawless was falling weak on the sofa, Kieran’s voice suddenly came through the corridor.

“Lawless? What are you doing? Hurry up, I’m buying drinks for today’s auction.”

A smile instantly landed on Lawless’ blurred out face. He jumped up and gave chase to Kieran.

Wu, who was stunned, also regained her senses.

She couldn’t help but cry out loudly.