The Devil’s Cage

“Earthquake? Earthquake!”

Emma Eddie screamed outside the room, Freezer, Bloodman, and Goran standing still and calm as they looked at Kieran.

To the three of them, as long as Kieran was sitting down, they wouldn’t move, even if a volcano erupted beneath their feet, let alone an earthquake.

Emma Eddie, however, was different. She pushed herself through the door and warned everyone to leave, but when she entered the room, she saw Kieran sitting calmly on his sofa, the other three standing behind him without moving. She was stunned but she quickly reacted to the situation, trying to drag Kieran out of the house.

“Earthquake! We must leave!” she said in a hurry.

“If it really was a catastrophic earthquake, do you think you could open that door with your strength?”

Kieran moved his hand and avoided Emma Eddie’s grab before asking.

“But…”

“Since it isn’t a catastrophic earthquake, staying inside the house is safer than going out on the streets. At least you won’t run into some panicked driver who’d run you over with his car.”

Emma Eddie wanted to argue but she was interrupted by Kieran.

When Kieran’s words subsided, so did the earthquake, everything in the room returning to normal. Emma Eddie heaved a breath of relief after the quake.

All humans feared the wrath of nature, except for some intentional individuals.

Emma Eddie stared at Kieran, who sat as still as Mt. Tai, suddenly feeling frustrated because of her unnecessary panic just now. She came into the room because she cared about him, but why was she treated like a funny clown?

“Hmph! Men!”

An unusual cold grunt later, Emma Eddie strode out the room.

She slammed the door shut before she covered her face out of embarrassment. She herself understood how ugly she looked earlier.

“No! I can’t let this continue! At least not…”

Once she thought about how calm the trio was behind Kieran, Emma Eddie felt like a loser.

She stormed out of the room out of embarrassment and she felt like she wasn’t even qualified to stand beside them.

It was a hard feeling for her.

Multiple deep breaths later, Emma Eddie forced herself to calm down, walking towards her own room.

Kieran clearly sensed Emma Eddie’s little reaction outside the door but he didn’t care.

The two of them were merely collaborators, without any harm to his gains. He would not interfere with her actions and would not allow her to interfere with his plans.

“Ferris, I’ll leave this place in your hands for now.”

Kieran stood up and walked towards the door.

The quake earlier wasn’t violent but the source of the quake originated from Smorewill Street.

Since it happened within Alkender City, Kieran couldn’t sit this one out, despite Drexton and the others already present there.

Kieran got used to relying on himself.

“Yes, my lord.”

The trio bowed and saw Kieran off.

…

Deep inside Smorewill Street, Drexton and the Knight were standing side by side beside a large hole in the ground.

Both of them looked serious.

The sudden quake earlier caused the ground to collapse and created this hole in the street.

If it was really that simple, this hole would be categorized into collateral damage from a natural disaster, no heads would turn. However, the cold aura emanating from inside the hole was very concerning, easily able to freeze a normal man upon contact. All the signs told Drexton and the Knight the hole had more than it meets the eye.

Moreover, the hole was covered by a layer of supernatural darkness, Drexton and the Knight frowning because even with their sight, they couldn’t see what happened down there.

Therefore, for the sake of safety, both of them had evacuated all the civilians who were cleaning the streets and they stayed behind to observe.

“Is this one of Grudge Dragon’s setups?” Drexton wondered but quickly shook his head.

Grudge Dragon was ruthless but he wasn’t as dark and cold as the hole here. The coldness from Grudge Dragon was accumulated by mass slaughter, similar to Death Knell.

Quite the opposite, the darkness and coldness in the hole felt strikingly similar to Mr. Ghost, but he was already dead at the hands of Kieran.

“Should we notify Mr. Glutton Emperor?”

Obviously, the darkness and coldness reminded the Knight of Kieran as well.

“No need for now. He is exhausted from the battle earlier, he needs rest to deal with what’s coming. Those bastards won’t give up that easily,” Drexton thought about the suggestion before he waved his hand in rejection.

The Knight did not reject either.

Even though Extraordinary humans surpassed common men, they’d still be troubled by injuries and tiredness.

Facing Grudge Dragon and Death Knell alone at once, even the infamous Glutton Emperor would not have escaped unscathed, possibly suffering some injuries or having exhausted his energy. It sounded more acceptable that way, so taking a rest was a good choice.

“Machinist? I need his backup here.”

Drexton was talking into the high-frequency walkie-talkie in his hand but he did not get a reply, only receiving a noisy buzz.

Drexton frowned, tapping the walkie-talkie to make sure it wasn’t broken, but the noisy buzz remained.

“I think this hole is affecting the signals, I’ll go away for a while,” Drexton said to the Knight.

“Sure, I’ll stand guard here,” the Knight nodded.

Drexton gradually walked away from the hole but the walkie-talkie in his hand still did not receive any signal. It finally returned to normal after he was around 300 meters away.

“Machinist, Machinist, come in?” Drexton talked to the walkie-talkie.

“Boss,” Machinist’s voice finally sounded from the walkie-talkie.

“Finally! Machinist, I need your help here,” Drexton was being brief with his request.

“I’ll be right there,” Machinist replied.

After he got a firm reply, Drexton put away the walkie-talkie and returned to the hole but he quickly noticed something wasn’t right as he walked back.

The Knight was missing!

Before the walkie-talkie got through to the Machinist, Drexton could still see the Knight in his sight!

He was certain that the Knight was standing at the edge of the hole a moment ago, just like how he had left him!

What happened?

A bad feeling rising in his heart, Drexton dashed back to the hole without a second thought.

“Knight! Knight! Where are you?” Drexton called out loudly.

Ultimately, he looked into the hole.

The surroundings had nothing and there was no place to hide either, the only suspicious spot was the hole in front of his eyes.

“Is he dragged inside the hole?” Drexton wondered.

Why did Drexton say the Knight was dragged inside?

Drexton knew the Knight very well. As the oldest in the Hero Alliance, the Knight had not only attained a rich life and battle experience, he was also reliable, steady, and would never do something reckless.

So if the Knight said he would guard the hole, he would guard it and not explore it by himself.

Now that the Knight was missing, it probably meant he was somehow dragged inside.

If that was the case…

Drexton’s face suddenly turned heavy.

Although the Knight was the oldest in terms of age, he wasn’t weak at all. Quite the contrary, because due to his age and experience, his greatsword techniques had transcended beyond the standard, successfully compensating his deteriorating stamina because of age. Besides that, the specially made set of armor provided the Knight with outstanding defensive capabilities, even enabling him to put up a fight against a supervillain like Grudge Dragon.

On top of everything, Drexton was not far away!

All the Knight had to do was call out to him and Drexton would be able to help him.

But… the Knight vanished without a sign, let alone a call.

“What the hell happened here?”

Clueless, Drexton grew anxious, forcing himself to calm down with several deep breaths but while he was at it…

“H-Help!”

A weak cry came from the bottom of the hole.

It belonged to the Knight!

The moment Drexton heard the cry for help, he wrote down a message on the ground beside the hole without a second thought and jumped into the black hole.

‘I am going in to save the Knight.’

That was the last thing he wrote before the darkness enveloped him completely.

The words that Drexton wrote down, as though he carved them on the ground, were swiftly corroded by the darkness and when the wind blew, nothing was left behind.

…

“Drexton and the Knight went missing?”

Kieran raised a brow when he heard what Kat Lady said.

Kat Lady got close to Kieran and tried to lick his face.

Kieran quickly pressed her head down and expressed his rejection obviously but Kat Lady followed the motion and curled up in front of Kieran.

“Meow is not happy! Meow is moody! Meow needs cat snacks to be happy!”

Kat Lady grunted.

Kieran didn’t even bother to look at her, turning to Machinist. who was operating many devices, to locate Drexton and the Knight.

“Just like what Kat Lady said, an unusual earthquake happened earlier and Drexton and the Knight, who were in charge of this sector, lost contact with us. Kat Lady, Fortress, Weapon Master and I rushed to the scene but didn’t find anything. Not even a single trace was left behind.”

Machinist moved to the side so Kieran could have a better look at the many monitors.

Kieran carefully checked each and every one of them.

All the monitors showed almost the entire Smorewill Street.

“They aren’t tempered with, right?” Kieran asked.

“No. My ability operates on the machines directly. If any other Extraordinary individuals hacked in with their powers, I would be the first to know,” Machinist said in a sure tone.

“Em,” Kieran nodded, moving his gaze from the monitors to the ground.

Wherever action is taken, traces will be left behind.

Can’t find it?

Something must have slipped past the eyes or the direction of thinking is wrong.

Kieran always believed that and this time was no exception.

Although he did not find anything about Drexton and the Knight even with Transcendence [Tracking], he found something else.

He saw a cloud of dark mist emanating a cold and dark aura.

The black mist dispersed quickly in the air, like snow that had melted under the sun. It vanished without a trace soon but it was enough for Kieran to spot the origin of the black mist.

Underground! The underground spot further away!

Kieran walked over but he did not walk to the center of the designated spot. Instead, he circulated the area and checked the surroundings carefully.

Machinist, Fortress, and Weapon Master rushed over.

After Kat Lady noticed Kieran didn’t care about her due to some interesting findings, her feline curiosity tingled, jumping up and running over as well.

“Meow, meow? What’s going… MEOW!”

Kat Lady got closer but she suddenly meowed sharply and faltered backwards.

“What’s wrong?” Machinist asked, the others surprised too.

“There is something very scary inside! Get away meow!”

Her hair almost stood up as she uttered her worries quickly, running further away quickly.

Out of trust in their comrade, Machinist, Fortress, and Weapon Master followed, but not Kieran.

“Sir 2567… Huh?!”

Machinist wanted to call Kieran but before he finished, he widened his eyes because Kieran vanished into thin air!

A moment ago, Kieran was still within his sight but a moment later, he vanished before his naked eyes!

As a matter of fact, not only Kieran, even the quickest Kat Lady, Fortress, and Weapon Master were all gone!

Machinist instantly felt anxious and doubtful and as the thoughts troubled him…

Kabaam!

The ground further away started to collapse.

Another large hole appeared in Machinist’s sight.

A cold aura that sent shivers down one’s spine came out from the hole. The Machinist got closer and tried to see what was inside but a layer of supernatural darkness blocked his sight completely.

The Machinist instinctively reached out to his gun at his waist. The oakwood handle gave him a sense of security but the Machinist felt like he was holding a slippery snake, quickly throwing it away.

Kaboom!

His gun exploded like a grenade.

The explosion was too sudden, all Machinist could do was block the blast with his hands up. The shockwave from the blast sent him backwards, falling into the black hole.

…

“Where’s the Machinist?” Fortress, who was moving backwards, asked.

Weapon Master paused his steps and Kat Lady, who was further away, meowed repeatedly in panic.

“Calm down! Something is fishy here!”

Weapon Master was almost the same age as the Knight. His age allowed him to have more experience than the younger generation heroes, hence he did not panic when the Machinist vanished.

Weapon Master sized up his surroundings, quickly glancing over at Kieran, who was further away, and couldn’t hold back his praise.

When he was at Kieran’s age, he was never as calm as him.

“The young man wasn’t just strong, he was also—without a doubt—very re-”

Before the word ‘reliable’ formed in his mind, the elderly superhero saw Kieran raise his left hand and create a ball of blazing fire.

The ball of fire was then smashed on the ground beneath Kieran’s feet.

Kaboom!

Blazing flame waves rumbled in all directions, the explosion echoing and the earthquake appeared again, but unlike the previous one, this earthquake really shook the land violently.

The ground was torn apart, cracks after cracks appearing all over the streets.

However, Kieran, who had caused the commotion with his fire, vanished from sight, and what replaced his spot was a ferocious-looking black monster with sharp fangs.

Weapon Master managed to stand on his feet when the scene happened but the word that he held up in his mind was spat out due to the shock.

“-liable!”