The Devil’s Cage

The cone object was not far away from Kieran.

However, its floating speed wasn’t that fast; it used two seconds to approach Kieran. The blinding red light started to cumulate. A red dagger took form in mid-air and threw itself towards Kieran’s neck.

But just as the tip of the dagger touched Kieran’s neck, it stopped.

“Detected target has lost its danger level.”

“Detected target has great potential.”

“Target might be able to become a replacement.”

After the dull mechanical voice, light shone again on the cone.

It wasn’t an alarming red light anymore, but the white light that it had first shown.

That dull mechanical voice also changed to a more lively one following the switch in light.

“Are you willing to be my follower?” the mechanical composite voice asked.

As its voice faded, Kieran regained the ability to speak but not the mobility of his body.

While everything had stopped in the past few seconds, Kieran didn’t lose his consciousness or sight, so he was aware of everything.

Kieran coldly smiled at the question.

“Follower? I will not become anybody’s follower, let alone a weird bastard who isn’t even a living being,” Kieran said firmly.

“I am not a weird bastard. You need to be corrected,” the cone emphasized.

Then…

The red dagger switched its target to Kieran’s elbow, where his joint was located. Following the cone’s will, the dagger thrust into his elbow.

The red dagger was exceptionally sharp; it stabbed into Kieran’s elbow without any resistance.

“Understand?” the cone asked.

“Understand what, you freak?” Kieran asked as if he didn’t know. After his mocking, the dagger in his elbow started to twist.

His flesh and bones crushed instantly. Kieran’s face turned pale, and he clenched his teeth in pain.

“Understand?” the cone asked a second time.

“UNDERSTAND WHAT, YOU FREAK!” Kieran repeated the same thing.

Tsk!

The red dagger moved again, the edge sliding downwards towards Kieran’s palm. His arm, from the elbow to the palm, was sliced in half by the dagger, splitting the ring finger and little finger on one side, and the middle finger, index finger and thumb on the other. His hand was like an eel cut in half, wobbling and bleeding gruesomely.

“Understand?” the cone asked again.

“UNDERSTAND WHAT, YOU F*CK!” The same reply again.

The red dagger then moved on to Kieran’s left elbow, thrusting in and turning it into a gruesome state similar to his right arm.

The questions kept coming, but the replies were still the same.

Soon, Kieran was covered in blood and severely mutilated.

After all four of his limbs were cut in half, his left eye, ears and nose followed the same fate. Even his teeth were pulled out, leaving only a few intact; his tongue was left alone though, along with his right eye because the cone wanted Kieran to still be able to see it and say the answer that it sought.

However, Kieran was much more stubborn and stronger than the cone had expected.

Even though his scalp was getting peeled off bit by bit, Kieran didn’t give in; instead, he bared his mouth into a vicious, gruesome smile.

He had confirmed one thing; the thing that he worried about the most and also the key factor became proven in the process.

It allowed Kieran to heave a breath of relief.

“As expected,” Kieran said in a wavering tone.

“What did you expect?” The cone was intrigued by Kieran’s sudden words.

“You did not control me or affect my mental state directly, rather… You don’t have the confidence to do so.” Kieran looked at the cone with his one good eye.

“Affirmative. You and the others are not the same. Your mental spirit is so powerful that I don’t have the confidence to grasp it.” The cone didn’t hide this and admitted its shortcomings.

In the cone’s mind, there was no need to hide this kind of thing; at least it didn’t have to hide before Kieran while he was in his current bloody state.

Further, it didn’t believe that Kieran could still change anything.

“But being strong in mental spirit is not enough. You are still too far away. Not only do you not possess an intact bloodline, but you also don’t have the heart to read the situation.”

The cone’s mechanical composite voice sounded high on top, despising Kieran and his entirety.

It was bizarre for an object to sound like that, also very twisted, but somehow, it felt natural in the end, as if it originally towered the clouds.

“A heart to read the situation? Like those idiots that got affected by you without the slightest idea?” Kieran coldly smiled again.

“You are referring to Erbus. K? That is its problem, not mine. I did not tell it to do what it did,” the cone denied.

“What about before Erbus. K? Don’t tell me that ass was the first one?” Kieran asked.

This time, the cone didn’t reply because Erbus. K was indeed not the first one affected.

There were many more before the Blood Kin; there were humans and inhumans both, but none ended up better than Erbus. K.

Death was in line at the end.

Kieran knew without any need for more evidence. He knew because of the cone’s objection.

This hall, the underground laboratory, didn’t just come out of thin air. Kieran believed that there must have been someone who built it a long time ago.

Why was the lab built? Kieran didn’t know the initial goal, but now, the lab was being used to store this sentient cone.

Why the lab, though?

Maybe it was special, maybe it was secluded enough, but the details were not made known to Kieran.

All he knew was that this sentient cone was the mastermind behind all these events.

Erbus. K?

A fool pushed to the front stage.

And Kieran believed that Wu wouldn’t have fallen under Erbus. K’s power without giving it a fight. The Blood Kin might have looked strong, but it was apparent to see that he had also been affected by an outside source of power. It was from this cone.

Had Wu been fully prepared, it wouldn’t have been impossible for her to turn the tides around. She wouldn’t have gotten abducted in the first place.

Because of this particular point regarding Wu and Erbus. K, it struck more suspicions in Kieran’s heart.

After this sentient cone object displayed its different… intellect, everything made sense.

Let’s put it this way in the meantime—Kieran still couldn’t relate wisdom and intellect to an inanimate object.

However, this sentient cone was something that could render Wu defenseless.

It was powerful and also strange.

Like its ability to stop time, there was sufficient evidence to prove its strength.

But even if this sentient cone was strong, so what?

Give up? It was non-existent in Kieran’s dictionary.

He gazed at the cone in front of his only eye and smiled.

“You smile because you think there is still hope. I am afraid that this is an illusion because you do not understand the differences between you and me. I think you should calm down.”

A spine chilling aura started to spread over the cone’s body as it spoke.

From the neck down, Kieran’s body instantly encased in ice.

The ice continued to spread, but unlike the physical pain in his body, the pain from the ice felt like it was coming from his very soul!

Kieran felt like his sold was almost frozen.

His mind was about to stop, his memories starting to drift, his spirit slowly crumbling.

“Understand?” the cone asked.

“Understand what, you f*cking freak?” Kieran mocked the cone with a smile.

“Too bad, wrong answer. If it is possible, I do not wish to do this. It is decent that you alone came to this extent, but your choice is ultimately wrong.”

The ice spread even faster as it spoke.

Immediately, Kieran was covered in ice from top to bottom.

An ice statue appeared in the hall of the lab.

His presence of life was swiftly fading away, but even after being turned into an ice statue, Kieran’s mocking smile didn’t disappear.

He mocked his opponent.

He mocked his opponent for his arrogance and self-righteousness.

He may have gotten used to working alone, but this time, he entered this dungeon with another person.

Wu was still out there!