The Devil’s Cage

Maye was striding across E block.

He had spent almost 6 months trying to remember every detail about this block that he hated.

The complicated streets and building structures, without any order, felt like a maze overlaid on another maze. Even if you had a map, without a guide, you’d be lost.

Fortunately for Maye, he was about to leave soon.

He wanted to leave this cruel school.

He wanted to leave these cold people.

He wanted to leave the humid and freezing environment.

He wanted to leave this place, but before that, he had to get close to that Proper Meal class food first.

It was the ‘price’ he had to pay those greedy bastards before he could truly leave.

Maye wasn’t surprised though.

There was no such thing as free food in the world, even more so in this context.

Although his target was the food which was near a Proper Meal class , what was it compared to the outside world?

With the abilities granted by the Fast Food that matched his nature well, once he was outside, he would triumph over the commoners! It was his initial reason for coming to his school anyway.

Why not reach the 5th year and graduate?

Had he not witness the casualty rate of 3rd years, Maye would definitely have choosen to stay.

But now?

He made up his mind to leave early.

“Hey Maye, here to see the freshmen?”

“Yeah. It’s only once a year you know, we have to seize the opportunity. The others haven’t arrived?”

“Nope, you are the earliest.”

“Great!”

“All the best.”

After greeting the familiar guard, Maye entered E5 teaching building. He finally saw his target on a cart under a glass lid: Little Rainbow Cake.

Little Rainbow Cake wasn’t the real Rainbow Cake, it was just an imitation.

Despite the fact that it wasn’t the real thing, the cake was emanating a rainbow glow under the glass lid, as if it was a real natural phenomenon.

Maye gulped his saliva to suppress the hunger in his stomach, putting his hand over the glass lid.

A sweet breeze swept across the welcoming hall.

Maye then vanished out of sight, the cart holding the Little Rainbow Cake shaking slightly, but nothing happened.

Maye then appeared outside the corridor with the real cart in his hand, carefully pushing it out of the building.

The guard outside the hall acted like he couldn’t see Maye at all.

A dozen meters away from the hall later, the nervous Maye finally smiled in delight.

Sweet Wind! It was the ability that he got from eating the Fast Food that matched his body. It allowed him to create an utterly real phantasmal illusion in a certain range. Although he had been training his ability for two semesters now, all he achieved was level 2, but it was enough to handle the situation.

Before this, he was afraid that the guard might be able to spot him, but reality told him he was overthinking.

Maye pushed the cart further away from the guard as he maintained Sweet Wind. He hastened his steps because he knew keeping his ability up and running would strain his stamina considerably. He had to reach the optimal location before his stamina reached its limit.

Therefore, when he saw a black figure appearing at the end of the corridor, Maye didn’t dodge.

Since the black figure had no school badge or uniform on him, based on looks alone, Maye knew the person in black was a freshman.

Despite the fact that he was quite shocked how fast the freshman had cleared the second exam, Maye didn’t think a freshman could cause any trouble to his plans, he’d even fooled the guard!

As he pushed the cart past the freshman, the black figure not even flinching, Maye showed a sneering laugh.

“Go, go enjoy your food! Try not to get hasty or you’ll bite your tongue!”

Maye’s smile got brighter as though he was thinking about something happy.

His smile did not diminish at all until he reached his destination and met with his receiver.

“Seems like everything went well,” the receiver said in a muffled voice.

“Of course! But why did you pick this place? It was so hard to locate!”

Maye once again voiced his dissatisfaction of E block.

The location was less than 50 meters away in a straight line from the E5 teaching building and yet Maye had to circulate around for almost 15 minutes to reach the place.

If he was lost, he couldn’t even find the place for another few hours.

“It was the most suitable place,” said the receiver.

The receiver then walked towards the cart, seeing the rainbow glow underneath the glass lid, his eyes shining in a profound glimmer.

Maye didn’t stop him from looking, but when the receiver wanted to remove the lid from the cake, Maye reminded him again.

“Don’t forget what you promised me,” he said.

“I did not, my friend,” said the receiver with a smiley face.

He then walked up to Maye, whispering to him, “You must remember to keep this a secret, no matter what you hear.”

As he spoke, the receiver passed a black cloth to Maye.

Maye frowned a little but eventually put the cloth over his eyes to block his sight.

When the darkness blocked his eyes, Maye felt weak and fell down on the ground unconscious.

The receiver couldn’t hold back his cold laughter as he looked at Maye, unconcious because of his Numbing Touch.

“Idiot!” the receiver said.

Every year, the receiver would run into these kinds of people, who had lost their courage and were bewitched by greed and fear.

Somes years had more, some years had less, but regardless of the number, the receiver wasn’t unhappy because all these people were his ‘income’. He’d even secure himself a bonus this year.

“You asked me why I chose this place? Like I said, it was the most suitable.”

The receiver talked to himself before he walked towards a wooden door. When he pushed it open, a big pot was revealed.

“What else is better to destroy a body?” the receiver laughed.

“There is, you just haven’t thought of it.”

A calm voice came from behind the receiver, surprising him. He’d never expected someone to reply to him, so he instinctively raised his hand and tried to grab the person behind him.

The air was instantly filled with the spicy scent of prickly ash, as if it was being fried in hot oil.

However, before his palm could touch Kieran, a foot landed on his back.

Krak!

Amid the spine-breaking noise, the receiver was folded in half as he crashed into the opposite wall.

Bang!

A heavy clatter latter, the receiver tumbled to the ground without any sign of life.

Kieran walked towards the unconscious Maye, raising his feet over the neck and pressing down slightly; his eyes looked towards a big area of shadow beside him.

He didn’t say anything; his gaze wasn’t that sharp but it was enough to strike fear into the heart of the person hiding in the shadows.

The person in the shadow wanted to retreat without a second thought, but it was too late.

Fuaaa!

A heavy, ruthless roar later, Devil Flame engulfed the person in the shadow.

A loud explosion sent the flames tumbling around.

Under the bright light of the flames, the glass lid was tainted red, offsetting the rainbow glow and making it brighter and more vibrant, like a gemstone emanating its beautiful shine.