The Devil’s Cage

The danger instinct that was tempered through countless battles did not fail Kieran, even when his body was weakened.

Quite the contrary, the weaker he was, the more vigilant he was, and he was alarmed like never before.

Without a second thought, Kieran hurled the blackboard towards the source of the gaze and reached out his right hand to his waist.

His hand was so fast that it left afterimages in its trail.

[Acard Knife] was drawn but Kieran didn’t turn around to the target, instead he jumped back into the restaurant and when he crossed the door, his left hand pushed the door backwards.

Bang!

The door was slammed shut.

Kieran took a few more steps forward before he finally turned around at the door with a heavy face.

A powerful foe!

A foe that could make Kieran this alarmed. The danger level was raised to its peak and it was a never before seen powerful foe ever since he stepped into this dungeon world.

His brain was thinking quickly.

His fingers behind his back were signalling Starbeck.

Starbeck was attracted by the slamming noise from the door, coming out to have a look, but when he saw the signal from Kieran, he covered his mouth and stepped back into the kitchen quietly.

Elite Hound stood up and entered a defensive stance, its muscles all tightened, ready to strike any time; the other five Hounds growled lowly.

Even Carrie’s soul came out from Amy’s body.

“What happened?” Amy asked herself in her heart.

She had never seen Kieran so serious before. Even when he was facing those Witchcraft practitioners, he was at ease.

“There’s something very powerful outside,” Carrie answered her.

“Powerful? How powerful?” Amy had no idea what powerful meant.

“It can probably kill all of us in matter of seconds,” Carrie gave Amy a direct answer and continued anxiously, “Get behind Royan, try to get close to Roye, it’s the safest there.”

Amy trusted Carrie like herself, she didn’t say a word more and walked to the counter, carefully walking around the Elite Hound and sneaking into the kitchen.

She then saw Starbeck stirring the pot of soup slowly with the spoon. Amy was confused, it was not a scene that she expected.

Shouldn’t Roye pray nervously or even look scared? Why was he still cooking?

Was he thinking of cooking more food for Royan to increase his fighting capabilities?

When the thought came into her mind, Amy felt a heart-throbbing aura came in from the main floor outside.

She felt like she was on a battlefield.

She saw mountains of bodies and a sea of blood, she saw a throne built with bones and the person slumbering on the throne was slowly opening their eyes, as if the person was about to wake up.

She trembled, she feared!

In fact, not just Amy, even Carrie, who had become one with her, felt the same way.

Carrie in her soul form felt even more, she sensed hundreds of thousands of grudgeful souls crawling outside, wailing, screeching, and crying, yet none of their cries attracted the attention of the person on the throne.

No forgiveness, no mercy, no compassion, there was only the cold, merciless, and endless slaughter.

The killer intents increased the killer aura, the killer aura was like a large area of dark cloud, shrouding the heaven and earth.

“This…This…”

“How many people has he killed in the past?” Carrie asked Amy nervously.

Amy had no answer. The killer aura robbed her mind blank, she was at a loss for what to do.

Starbeck was not affected at all, though. He was adjusting the fire on the pot like nothing had happened and added more special spices that he prepared himself into the soup.

Amy looked at Starbeck blankly. She didn’t know how Starbeck could be so steady and get used to the intense aura. Similarly, they also didn’t know what the enemy was feeling outside the door.

Perhaps the enemy had started to regret provoking Kieran.

That’s right, Song Shi had started to regret her decision.

The lady owner of Song Shi Hot Spring Hotel was standing at the corner of the street, looking at the entrance of the restaurant with her beautiful eyes, her delicate face looking serious like never before.

Wasn’t this lad a greenhorn with some skills from the mountains?

What’s with the killer aura?

What’s with the intense killer intents?

He’s scarier than the warlords who killed a myriad in the modern ancient times!

How many souls had this young lad reaped?

No, that didn’t sound right! There was no news of a massive massacre anywhere in the past few decades!

Could he be God of Slaughter reincarnated?

Unlikely either way, otherwise those guys wouldn’t just let him be.

On top of that, under the layers of killer aura and killer intents, there’s something even more terrifying hidden inside, like the shadow in the river of blood. It made the owner of the hotel doubtful and anxious.

Teddy, who was tied up, saw the looks on Song Shi and it was a first for him.

He saw it with his own eyes how powerful this woman was.

Those monsters who could even survive gas explosions with only a few scratches were like paper in her hands, she tore them apart with ease and she tore more than one at the same time!

Teddy never thought the people he met back at the hotel that night were all monsters!

The two couples, the family of three, even the servants and the fake lady owner, were all monsters.

Other than the hotel itself, everything he saw was fake and when he was on the verge of falling into despair, this woman appeared and saved him.

She cleared all the monsters upon arrival but before he could thank him, she knocked him out.

When Teddy woke up, this woman had gotten what she wanted to know through some special methods—it was a painful process, not only to the body but to the mind as well.

Everyone had their own secrets that no one liked to be asked about. Teddy was no exception but this woman got everything from Teddy.

She didn’t just know his secrets, she even teased him with all sorts of ugly words.

If Teddy’s mental will wasn’t as stable as iron, he knew he would have killed himself.

For a few days, Teddy survived with clenching teeth as he was dragged back to Ai City, little by little.

He knew what this woman wanted, the smile on her face was very obvious, like a child who had found some new toy.

Yet Teddy was helpless against it. All he did was pray in his heart, hoping that the worst wouldn’t happen.

The closer he got to Ai City, the more he prayed, and when he was dragged to the street corner opposite the restaurant, Teddy prayed with his knees on the ground.

But now?

Teddy laughed, everything was not expected!

He knew Royan was stronger than himself, but he never thought Royan was this strong, to the point that his aura alone could pressure this woman, stopping her from acting beyond consequences.

“What are you laughing at?”

Song Shi glanced over Teddy, pointing at Teddy and Teddys widened mouth was silenced.

Though the smile on his face got brighter.

The more Song Shi reacted nervously, the more Teddy knew his guess was right.

This woman was afraid of Royan! And it was great news for Teddy!

At least Royan would be safe for the meantime and it would be enough!

He didn’t want to feel guilty for ‘outing’ his friend.

Teddy felt a sense of relief at the moment.

Song Shi saw the expression on Teddy’s face, really wanting to slap him on the face.

She wasn’t truly a villain, she just wanted to have a little fun to cure her boredom.

She planned to make it up after her little pranks but never did she think she would come across someone like Kieran in her harmless pranks.

It was like she was teasing a little rabbit in its hole and after she pulled it out, a tiger followed.

‘It’s a complete lie! This is deceiving!’

Song Shi scolded angrily in her heart, she really wanted to walk away this instant. Whether did Kieran kill that many people or was a God of Slaughter reincarnated, he wasn’t someone that she could mess with.

Especially that shadow in the blood, it made her heart throb.

If she could, she would leave, but…

Teddy’s gaze and expression made her very uncomfortable.

‘Just leave like this?

Will I look shameful?

Will it affect the name Song Shi?

If others knew I chickened out this time, how could I face others in the future? Where would I hide?’

Some thoughts later, Song Shi clenched her teeth. She couldn’t just walk away like that. She must at least show off herself before leaving.

Little by little, the aura originating from her bloodline shrouded her.

Glimmers of light gathered above Song Shi’s head and a pair of animal fox ears popped up. Seven large, fluffy tails behind her started to form, and although the tails were in illusory form, they looked very real.

The ears and the tails moved and it increased Song Shi’s power. A very unique aura showered her body.

The aura could bewitch all men and enchant all life, even Teddy, who was very afraid of Song Shi, became blank and dull after the aura was released, infatuated with her beautiful looks.

Song Shi glanced over Teddy in disdain. She then looked at the restaurant, the aura around her getting denser.

She believed Kieran behind the door would surely make a move.

In fact, Kieran behind the door also sensed her change.

After Song Shi revealed her ears and tails, the strong feeling that felt like a precognition turned real all of a sudden. When the Spirit authentication notifications popped up one after another on Kieran’s vision, the killer aura around him got denser.

The enemies who could affect his Spirit in his current state ought to be very powerful!

He could not afford to be careless at all in front of such an enemy, he must take out the target with a single fatal blow!

Huuu Haaa!

Although many of his skills remained sealed, Kieran trained himself through practise of the skills, not solely relying on the skills’ buff. He may be some distance away from wielding those skills at will, he knew the hows but not the whys, so using a weaker version of the skills wasn’t a problem for him.

Perhaps it would consume more time, or its power wasn’t as ideal, but he acquired more freedom!

[Dawn Sword] and [Plague Arrow]!

Bright radiance from the void shone in Kieran’s hand and darkness from the abyss brewed in his hand.

An unknown aura started to appear around Kieran and caused much discomfort to Amy in the kitchen.

As a matter of fact, Amy was having a very bad time, her condition was at its worst.

After Song Shi revealed her ears and tails, Amy, uncontrollably, wanted to walk out the kitchen, open the door, and welcome her arrival.

If it wasn’t for Carrie holding her back, she would have done it.

Now?

Something even scarier appeared.

“W-What is he doing?” Amy asked in a shivering voice.

“I’m not sure.”

“Control yourself, don’t let the enemy outside enchant you!”

Carrie shook her head and reminded Amy.

Starbeck, on the other hand, gave Amy a piece of green leaf.

“Keep it in your mouth, it may be useful.”

“T-This is mint?!” Amy was surprised.

She quickly put the piece of mint in her mouth and when she felt the freshness, the discomfort eased up.

“You have mint in your mouth too?” Amy asked Starbeck.

Starbeck shook his head with a smile. He needed no mint, with Kieran beside him, he was afraid of nothing. All he had to do was wait patiently and serve the bowl of hot soup to Kieran after his victory.

His conviction put him back into cooking.

Amy looked at Starbeck with a dull look, Carrie as well.

They thought they were looking at a quivering little white flower, kind and tenacious, unwavered by the storm and dancing in the wind.

‘Am I seeing things?’

The thought came into both their minds.

Song Shi also felt the tenacity, frowning in a weird way.

The tenacious aura wasn’t as scary as the one behind the door but it made her feel more nervous and a bad feeling rose from her heart.

Instinctively, she split a part of her aura and tried to attack the restaurant kitchen, as a test.

Kaboom!

The tense killer intents behind the restaurant entrance skyrocketed instantly, killer aura ten times stronger surging to the sky.

Even the space above the restaurant started to distort because of the killer aura and the worst part was, a gray arrow, forged completely out of despair, was fired out from the restaurant

Before the arrow even hit her, Song Shi already felt the despair from the keen presence.

It froze her, she felt like she had returned to her weakest self, no protection from her parents, no reliance, helplessly following the arrangements of fate.

‘No! I am not who I used to be!

I will never bow to fate again!’

A strong feeling surged from the bottom of her heart, shattering the aura of despair. The seven tails behind Song Shi covered her immediately.

Bang!

The gray arrow shattered upon landing on the barrier formed by the seven tails, though a little bit of ashe tained the white tails and caught on like cancer.

Disgust rose from the bottom of her heart but Song Shi didn’t care because more danger was upon her.

The area went dark when the arrow was fired out from the restaurant, the electric supply destroyed completely, but the restaurant did not fall into darkness.

Quite the opposite, inside the restaurant was a sharp, tenacious light that expelled all darkness.

That pair of eyes in the brightness was as red as blood, as hot as burning fire, rage filling Kieran’s heart.

Above the restaurant, the space which got distorted by Kieran’s killer intents resonated with Kieran’s rage naturally.

Kakrroooom!

A bolt of lightning came down from the sky but it did not land on anything, instead swirling around the air.

The scene terrified Song Shi to her core.

“Affecting even the weather? Is he really a God of Slaughter reincarnated? What a lousy joke!!”

Song Shi couldn’t care anymore, she turned and ran for her life but after the first step, the light sword gathered in Kieran’s hand embedded itself onto [Acard Knife]. The knife instantly grew 2 meters, transforming from a kitchen knife into a broad greatsword.

The greatsword overflowing with light was raised up in the air as Kieran jumped up.

The greatsword of light was swung down fiercely.

Kaboooom!