The Devil’s Cage

Sloth had been calculating over 10 thousand times in his mind, his stamina quickly depleting, thus causing him to slow down his steps, especially when he entered the temple district.

All sorts of beings that lurked in the temple district forced him to keep away all his powers. His host could easily kill all of them, even Pride could if he brought out his best, but Sloth himself?

Well, Sloth had always been a pacifist.

If he could lie down, he would never stand: if he could sleep, he would never open his eyes.

So, Sloth was wriggling on the ground, his eyes half-open as he slowly made his way to Lightning Temple. He wasn’t wriggling like a maggot though, because a maggot was faster than him.

Holding back his urge to yawn, Sloth crawled along the shadows, sneaking past monster patrols and heavily guarded outposts, one after another.

The presence of patrols and outposts told Sloth that these monsters possessed a certain level of intellect, but definitely not too smart, at most around a common man’s level.

After two more hours of crawling on the ground, Sloth finally got close to Lightning Temple.

When he sensed the terrifying presence from inside the temple, which was 10 times scarier than the rest, Sloth became more careful. If he was wriggling before, he was now moving muscle by muscle.

However, no matter how long the journey, there would always be an end.

After five tedious hours, Sloth finally got through the outer area of Lightning Temple and made his way into the grand hall.

But the moment he arrived at the grand hall, he was shaken.

Unlike the terrifying presence he felt outside, there was nothing scary inside. Nothing at all, not even a single monster, which should have swarmed the place.

Sloth then circled the temple, carefully checking the place and making sure it was monster-free.

His lazy, tired face then showed an interest, but was quickly replaced by a yawn.

Searching was quite fascinating, but not as fascinating as taking a good nap.

A moment later, Sloth vanished.

…

Amid the rough waves, Bloody Mary the High demon was gliding above the water as fast as a sailfish.

Bang!

A loud splash later, a tentacle as wide as two grown men sprung out from the waters but Bloody Mary dodged it as though it had foresaw the attack.

After the dodge, Bloody Mary dived into the ocean and swam towards the ocean bed.

Bang Bang Bang!

The moment Bloody Mary dived into the ocean, ten more tentacles of the same size threw themselves at the High Demon, over its head, as if they were a big net trying to catch a fish.

Unfortunately, Bloody Mary’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

“Do you think the same attack will work on me twice?”

Bloody Mary curled its lips into a disdainful grin as it traveled rapidly underwater.

With the cost of dying over a hundred times, it had made itself very familiar to this sea area.

The memories of death were the scariest, leaving a heavy impression.

Anyone who died a hundred times in the same place would have a fresh memory of the place, even an idiot. More so, Bloody Mary was no idiot.

It gazed into the muddy waters.

Monster after monster appeared in its sight.

Some were sharp as blades, some were huge, some were colorful, and a lot more of them were in various, weird shapes and sizes.

Bloody Mary effectively dodged the monsters based on their usual attacking pattern, knowledge that it had gained by dying over a hundred times.

Whenever Bloody Mary couldn’t dodge in time, it would turn into its illusory form, trying its best to hide its presence and slowing its speed.

Bloody Mary had never seen this many monsters.

Even though it had followed Kieran into many dungeon worlds and been on many adventures, witnessing this many monsters was a first.

The kingdom of monsters!

It was the name Bloody Mary gave to the sea area.

This time around, Bloody Mary was going towards the deepest part of this monstrous kingdom: the most chaotic part within the darkness.

However, before it truly got near, its body was pressured heavily to the point where it started to distort by the pressure emanated from the deepest part.

Had Bloody Mary stayed in material form, the pressuring presence alone would have crushed every organ or maybe even take its life in an instant.

It was really fortunate to not die for once!

Bloody Mary heaved a long breath and continued forward.

But at the next moment…

Sssss!

Snake hisses suddenly echoed in his ears.

It wasn’t just loud, it was also threatening.

The myriad of monsters that swam around the area scattered away like frightened rabbits, but not Bloody Mary. It stayed behind, despite its crying face.

What could it do?

This was the task that its contractor had assigned to it.

What would become of it should he fail to deliver the results?

Locked away on the shelf or even thrown into the trash.

In most cases, the two possible outcomes would be the end but Bloody Mary knew it would not belong in either one because it knew its contractor and how stingy he was. Its contractor would make the best use of everything.

“I don’t want to become nutrients for the other bastards! And I will not become some fertilizer in the backyard!”

With this stern belief in its mind, Bloody Mary moved forward again. It then truly arrived before the darkness and swam inside easily.

Then…

Bloody Mary widened its eyes!

What did it see?

The Devourer!!

The Devourer that was feared by the Gods of Naveya!

The Devourer whose body was cut in half by Kieran!

But now, its body seemed to have recovered from the cut!

Amid the dark ocean, the Devourer was curled up on the ocean bed, towering like a pillar that could pierce the surface. One would unconsciously feel petty and their body would shiver out of discomfort.

The moment Bloody Mary saw the Devourer, it shut its eyes.

Bloody Mary knew the power of the Devourer very well; even its contractor had to give his fullest to engage the gigantic snake!

Therefore, Bloody Mary would never be a match!

It chose death right away, but after closing its eyes, the death that it anticipated didn’t arrive.

A second later, Bloody Mary opened one of its eyes into a small seam, peeking at the Devourer. It ought to know what had happened, but what it saw made it widen both its eyes right away.

The Devourer curling up was ridiculously gigantic, its presence surely terrifying.

It may be even more powerful than how Bloody Mary remembered but despite the sheer size, it didn’t move.

It wasn’t asleep and certainly wasn’t sealed up, but something more profound had happened, something stranger!

As if the Devourer had… no soul!

Bloody Mary swam out of the darkness without a second thought and when it reached optimal distances, it reported to Kieran through the special link they shared.

‘Big discovery! Biggest discovery of the ages! If I am right… Oh wait, tsk! Why am I deducing all this, it’s his job! I’ll leave everything to him. I’m just some pitiful demon who gets exploited and never gets paid, never gets any bonus or holiday. But… damn, it’s good to be alive!’

Bloody Mary closed its eyes, opening its arms as if it wanted to hug the world. It didn’t notice a monster as big as a whale behind it, looking at it with a doubtful gaze.

The monstrous whale-like monster seemed to not understand how could a person be this deep in the ocean.

Its doubts didn’t stop it from opening its large mouth, however, sucking everything in front of its mouth into its stomach.