The Devil’s Cage

The moment the tax officer’s voice subsided, everything went quiet.

Kieran stood there in silence. He did not have any intentions to pay Points and enter. The tax officer continued to smile.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds.

The tax officer started to sweat under Kieran’s gaze.

Despite his gaze being calm and dull, it brought pressure to the tax officer.

The tax officer felt like he was standing in front of a boiling pot. He saw shrimps, scallions, carrots and red dates inside the pot; all that was missing was the mutton—he was a piece of mutton and Kieran was the person who was trying to eat him with a pair of chopsticks.

He was going to be boiled alive!

The moment the thought rose up in his mind, the tax officer bowed right away.

“But of course, for a precious VIP like you, dear sir, everything is free. This is your hot towel, it can ease your aches from the journey here. Please enter, and if you run into any problems at all, please tell me right away. I will be right here waiting to serve you with all my heart.”

The tax officer presented Kieran with a hot towel he grabbed from behind him.

“Mm,” Kieran didn’t take the towel, he nodded and pulled White Jack with the reins inside.

Both of them went through the castle gate.

What welcomed Kieran was a street from the medieval ages.

The attire people wore was a little different but they were mainly very wide in cutting.

Women wore one-piece blouses; men wore robes.

The attire would change according to social status and position, the materials used were different and some even had gold, silve,r or gemstones as garnish.

When a man in a long long robe and a golden belt embedded with gemstones walked over, everyone else bowed to him.

The man saw Kieran but he turned a blind eye, despite Kieran pulling White Jack around, as if Kieran did not exist.

Kieran, however, sized him up with an interested gaze and the man walked even faster under the watch.

“Follow up,” Kieran shook the reins in his hand and White Jack immediately followed the man.

Soon, Kieran followed the man to a certain shop.

The erected fork and knife at the signage outside the shop stated what kind of business it was running.

Kieran nodded and White Jack pushed open the door.

Much clattering came from inside after the door was opened.

Forks hitting on plates, chatter, and music were all around the restaurant.

The man in grand attire sat at the deepest table.

Kieran released White Jack and walked over.

“I’m looking for a friend, J.Pearlman. You seem to know something.”

Kieran pulled the chair opposite the man, sat down, and asked.

“You are not welcome here and I don’t know any J.Pearlman,” the man said coldly.

“Oh? Then can you tell me why a castle appeared in Huke Alley? Don’t tell me the robots recently finished building the place,” Kieran prolonged his tone.

“That is something you are not qualified to know. My advice is to beat it, as far as possible, it’s for your own good. Or else…”

The man’s voice grew colder, the merry atmosphere in the restaurant instantly going away.

The customers stood up and looked at Kieran with unfriendly gazes.

“Or else? Owner, do you have any special dishes here?”

Kieran chuckled and looked at the owner who looked very lost, not even sparing a glance at the angry customers.

His arrogance infuriated the man and the others around him.

“GET HIM!” the man shouted.

…

Inside a hall clouded by shadows, two men were sitting opposite each other and between them was a big, glowing chess board.

The chessboard had 64 black and white boxes; each box had a chess piece of the same color.

Above the chessboard and the 64 chess pieces were three more floating chess pieces: two silver and one gold piece.

The chess pieces were moving as one of the men was controlling them.

The man was in utmost concentration but the one opposite him was different.

“Damn it! Why is the Flaming Devil here? This is what we talked about!”

A loud shout echoed throughout the shadow.

“Accidents may happen in any plan,” the chessmaker said with unusual calmness.

“Accidents? This is considered an accident? Are you not afraid of dying in the so-called accident?”

The man’s voice got louder and had a sense of fear.

Of course he felt fear, how would he be fine?

The one who barged in was the Flaming Devil!

Even though Kieran had many titles, his Blade of the Daybreaker was a Unique Title in the game, a lot more players were used to call him the Flaming Devil.

In the eyes of these malicious men, Kieran was an executioner from the bones.

Ruthless, full of rage, merciless, and killing without blinking.

In the current state of the game, the Flaming Devil had surpassed the Broker as the most revered man, no one should ever step on his tail.

The angry man undoubtedly believed the rumours, or rather, he knew it wasn’t just rumours.

“Fret not. If we ran into the Flaming Devil in other places, I might be even more nervous than you but don’t forget, this is my ‘board’, not even the Flaming Devil can act as he pleases,” the chessmaker’s voice sounded delightful.

However, before the delight faded off from his dark face, one of the chess pieces on the chessboard cracked.

The crack spread rapidly around the small chess piece, the cracks intertwined with each other and eventually shattering the chess piece.

The cowardly man felt even more afraid when he saw the chess piece shatter.

“It has begun! It has begun! The Flaming Devil starts to kill again!” the man cried.

“It’s just one piece, I have a total of 64 on my chessboard…”

Kak!

Kak! Kak!

Kak! Kak! Kak!

The chessmaker tried to calm his collaborator but before he finished, more cracks sounded. The majority of the black and white chess pieces had cracks all over them.

“I knew it would turn out like this! I want out from this plan! I don’t want to die!” the cowardly man fell into further panic.

“He may be victorious against my common chess pieces, but what about the pieces from outside the board? No matter how powerful the Flaming Devil is, he will bow to the rules!” the chessmaker said in a steady pace.

“Rules? What rules?”

The cowardly man asked but the chessmaker did not answer. Why would he tell someone else his biggest secret? Not even his collaborator will know!

The chessmaker showed a mysterious smile to his collaborator, raising his hand and the two silver chess piece landed on the chessboard, replacing the shattered black and white pieces.

As for the golden chess piece, it did not land on the chest because the chessmaker grabbed it.

The chessmaker was waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver a devastating blow to the Flaming Devil.

“I know you are powerful but is your follower as strong as you? As long as there is weakness, I will crush you to bits!”

…

Back at the restaurant, the restaurant owner, the waiter, and White Jack were still standing, Kieran sitting opposite the nicely-dressed man.

The man, however had been dislocated. No blood, no flesh, no torn limbs whatsoever, because he was a puppet and the strings were cut off by Kieran. Same went for the others.

The restaurant owner, waiter, and White Jack watched the scene in utter astonishment.

Kieran was as calm as ever.

“Owner, where’s the special dishes?” Kieran asked.

“Right up!” The owner ran into the kitchen.

After a while, a bowl of soul with rich beef flavour was served.

On top of the clear soup was a layer of red oil, Kieran used the wooden spoon to stir it and found the potatoes, carrots and big chunks of beef underneath.

The taste?

Average but the ingredients were fresh, so…

“Another bowl please,” Kieran said.

White Jack watched Kieran ate the beef soup, the soul fire in its skeleton burning in confusion.

‘Shouldn’t he continue chasing?

Why is he eating? Is it that delicious?’

Although possessing quite the intellect, White Jack was just a companion who worked for its collaborator. It had no idea what its collaborator wanted, but it knew what must it do.

It stood there without moving a bone, like a real skeleton.

One bowl, two bowls, and at the third bowl of beef soup, Kieran squinted his eyes.

The unusual feeling appeared under his radar again but it didn’t stop him from chewing.

He waited for the unusual feeling to come near.

The chessmaker, who watched the scene through special vision, chuckled coldly when he saw Kieran’s reaction.

“Do you really think the next attack will be a normal one? Your soul will be tortured! Cry! Cry in agony!”

As the thoughts came into the chessmaker’s head, the two silver chess pieces vanished from the chessboard.

When the chess pieces reappeared, they were at a… library?

Two ferocious-looking silver chess pieces with interrogator knife and a meat cleaver were stunned, their ferocious face showed an extra sense of shock.

‘Where is this place?

Shouldn’t it be the target’s soul?

Why is it a library?’

Both of them then looked at the end of the corridor.

An eerie white figure appeared at the end. Her long hair covered her face completely.

When she appeared, the lights of the bright library started to flicker.

Sparks! Sparks!

Sparks of electric sounded before it was replaced by the clatter of bones.

Each time the lights flickered, the eerie white woman got closer to the chess pieces, her neck and body twisting in a scary way.

The two chess pieces felt lost.

They blankly looked at the woman in white closing in on them and they unconsciously held the knife and cleaver tighter.

Suddenly, the lights stopped flickering, the library returning to normal.

Being surrounded by light, the two silver chess pieces heaved a breath of relief.

However…

“Do you think I am pretty?

A rough voice that sounded cold and dark came from behind the two silver chess pieces, as if a venomous snake crawled over their backs.

The two silver chess pieces turned around and they instantly widened their eyes.

‘What kind of face is that?!’

The face wasn’t just pale, it was full of scars and bruises, the eyes dull as dead fish and it was a sore sight.

The silver chess pieces had human soul infused in it, so one of them shouted loudly instinctively, “GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU UGLY THING!”

The moment the words subsided, the silver chess pieces realized that it could no longer speak because the scary woman ripped its tongue together with its chin.

Aaaaaaaaargh!

The silver chess piece rolled on the floor in pain.

The other silver chess piece, which also had human soul infused in it, saw what happened to its partner, shuddering uncontrollably.

Likewise, it instinctively said, “You are very pretty…”

“The dishonest shall never speak again!”

The cold and rough words interrupted the silver chess piece and it promptly followed in its partner’s footsteps.

The whole library started to flicker again.

The eerie white woman brought the two silver chess pieces crying in pain away into the darkness.

“NO!”

The chessmaker, who felt something, shouted loudly. Unlike his other normal chess pieces, the two silver chess pieces cost him a lot of precious ingredients and tens of thousands of Points. They were companions who could directly attack one’s soul!

The chessmaker would not allow anything to happen to them!

Therefore, without further ado, the chessmaker slammed the golden chess piece onto his chessboard.

KABAAM!

A golden chess piece descended from the dark sky.

This golden chess piece was huge, two meters tall, donning armor and wielding a greatsword. It rammed through the library’s roof with strength and bravery that could rival ten thousand men!

Bang!

A hole opened up the ceiling and the golden chess piece entered the third floor from the roof.

There was no signs of stopping, for its destination was the second floor. It continued to ram down to the second floor but before it could…

“Sob sob sob, someone broke the ceiling, sob sob sob.”

Soft sobbing entered the golden chess piece’s eas.

It turned around and saw a little girl in a pink lolita dress, squatting down and crying violently.

The golden chess piece smiled ferociously.

The little girl seemed to be a bulliable character, there wasn’t a threatening aura from her.

The golden chess piece stopped in front of the little girl, raising its greatsword to kill off the weakest companion of his target before it went to rescue the silver chess pieces.

Killing the girl was just along the way, it wasn’t wasting anytime and it was glad to do so.

With that thought in mind, the golden chess piece swung its greatsword down at the little girl.

The next moment, the 20 cm wide greatsword landed on the 3 meters tall body.

3-3 meters?!

The golden chess piece looked up in astonishment. The giant had to arched its body in this confined space, its head at the ceiling and it looked down at the golden chess piece.

“U-Uh, I’m looking for a little girl in pink dress, have you seen her?” the golden chess piece stuttered.

The giant widened its mouth and showed sharp fangs like shark.

“No,” the giant said and extended its millstone size palm to grab the golden chess piece.

The golden chess piece was terrified, its eyes showing fear but the giant kept moving its body to the big mouth and ate it like a cucumber.

After the golden chess piece was eaten, the giant vanished and the little girl in pink dress appeared again.

She continued to squat down and sob.

“Sob sob sob, it’s not tasty.”

The chessmaker, who sensed the scene, rembled, his face turning ugly in the dark and ultimately…

Pak!

He spat out a mouth full of blood and fell on his chessboard.