The Devil’s Cage

The great light sword perforated the night sky.

The news of the Twenty Hounds being annihilated swept the land like a tornado.

The mystics were shocked because of the revival of the Griffin Church and felt absolute reverence towards Kieran who made the revival possible.

Kieran, who faced the Twenty Hounds alone, didn’t only emerge victoriously but annihilated all twenty of them. The mystics had pushed Kieran’s status to the ranks of the elders of the Elder Council and the high ranks within the Saint Relic Association.

Countless mystics who leaned towards the Saint Relic Association cheered and danced, they were happy because a powerful aid had joined their side.

The other mystics who leaned towards the Elder Council started to grow restless and anxious, the only thing they could be fortunate of was the fact that the Knights of the Saint Relic Association were almost wiped out as well.

Though, regardless of which side the mystics were on, they seemed to smell the scent of war.

As things were brewing in the dark, everyone was preparing themselves, including Kieran.

With a body wrapped in bandages and a heavy herbal scent all over his body, Kieran was in deep thought.

He knew annihilating the Twenty Hounds was not the end but just the beginning!

Judging from the style of the Elder Council, they would certainly take revenge against him and not on a small scale.

The legendary elders would make a move themselves!

Once he thought about the legends and rumors about the elders, Kieran frowned.

Based on the rumors, each of the elders would possess powers similar to the Prairie King’s level and the strongest among the elders would be on par as well.

If Kieran would go one-on-one with each of them, he had about 50% confidence in emerging the victor but if all of the elders were to gang up on him…

“I must avoid this from happening!” Kieran uttered in his heart.

Then, he swiftly formed up a couple countermeasure plans accordingly.

After all, he now was the Knight of the Griffin Church and the Griffin Church was part of the Saint Relic Association. While Kieran was perfecting his plan’s details, Anne Aldrich Augen came in.

The moment the lady pushed open the door, she said, “I really started to believe you were from the Griffin Church. Going up against the Twenty Hounds alone and annihilating all of them, now you’ve obviously achieved what the past Eagle Knight, Decobalt had achieved. Well then… the great Griffin Church’s heir and the new Eagle Knight, Sir 2567, can you tell me? Are you ready to face the wrath of the Elder Council?”

“Or do you really think you can protect me during the city’s celebration parade and easily go up against the elders?” Anne Aldrich Augen scanned Kieran’s bandaged body with all her concentration with her gaze eventually fixing it on his face. Though, her words were less than courteous.

“Things aren’t that bad yet, we are not fighting alone now. There’s still…”

“If you want to deliver healing medicines to me, it would be best to not hide it behind your back and say something that doesn’t suit your usual tone,” Kieran said.

Anne Aldrich Augen who was pretending to be intimidating was jolted for a moment, Kieran clearly saw her face blush after that but she returned to normal soon enough.

She revealed the smile that Kieran was used to and didn’t further conceal the healing medicine in her hands.

Then, Anne Aldrich Augen pulled the cork open and wanted to pour the medicine into her mouth but Kieran was faster.

The moment Anne Aldrich Augen pulled off the cork, he had guessed what the lady wanted to do and beat her to it by grabbing the medicine and drinking it down in a single gulp.

“Thank you,” Kieran said.

“I think you’re expressing your gratitude a little too early. I’ve licked the mouth of the tube a couple of times carefully before this. It wasn’t a direct kiss but still considered an indirect one right? Especially a french kiss! Kyaa, exciting!”

Kieran was stunned.

Anne Aldrich Augen covered her mouth and left the room with a series of squeamish laughs.

“Crazy woman!” Kieran gave the same comment on Anne Aldrich Augen while looking at her back.

Then, Kieran unconsciously turned his attention to the spoils of war that he had gotten from the battle with the Hounds.

Twenty of the Hounds had given him exactly twenty items as well, three Rares and seventeen high tier Magic rank items.

As for the imposter Charter, his gun was decent but less than Magic rank, at most a Great ranked equipment. His drop was even lousier than the low tier Magic rank drops that the other Elder Council’s men who rushed out at the end.

Kieran automatically turned his attention to the three Rare ranked items.

[Name: Dandelion Pierce]

[Type: Weapon]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: Strong]

[Attribute: 1. Wail of the Dead, 2. Soaring Pierce, 3. Slaughter Accumulation]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Spirit B+]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: An ominous rapier soaked in blood that has absorbed the souls of the dead]

…

[Wail of the Dead: All targets will undergo a Spirit authentication no lesser than C+ while facing the wielder. Targets who fail will be induced into a state of Panic and Fear. When the wielder chooses a target at will, the target has to undergo a Spirit authentication no lesser than B+. A target that fails will be induced into a state of Panic and Fear together with a Powerful mental blast.]

[Soaring Pierce: The wielder can control the sword to perform a ranged attack from no further than 20 meters. The sword itself will be automatically buffed with Master level Undercover and Acceleration effect]

[Slaughter Accumulation: Whenever 150 souls of the slaughtered are absorbed into the sword, attack level +1 (Unable to exceed Extreme rank), Wail of the Dead +1, Soaring Pierce +1. Currently accumulated souls: 0]

…

The first item was the rapier from Melanie.

The long and thin blade was glaring in an unusual coldness under Kieran’s gaze.

“An ominous rapier?” Kieran muttered.

Then, he placed [Dandelion Pierce] into his bag without showing further concern.

He’d used cursed equipment before in the past without even minding, let alone [Dandelion Pierce] which didn’t possess an obvious repulsion effect.

To be on the safe side, with Kieran’s vigilant character, he ought to find himself a curse dispeller to check on the equipment.

Compared to [Dandelion Pierce], the other two Rares were much more normal.

[Name: Orinder Soft Mail]

[Type: Equipment]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: 1. Orinder’s Blessing, 2. Orinder’s Hope]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: The inner armor crafted by a long-standing reputable armor master for his son going to the battlefield.]

…

[Orinder’s Blessing: The first attack of each day will grant the wearer a +1 extra defense level]

[Orinder’s Hope: When the wearer receives a continuous attack three times, gain extra +1 defense level, 1/day]

…

An inner mail combining metallic materials and the pelt of some animal. It was from one of the Hounds who was skilled in melee combat and Kieran remembered clearly it was him who caused one of the two wounds on his back.

Kieran put the inner mail on without further ado as he’ll never reject any equipment that would provide him effective defense.

The third Rare ranked item was a scroll.

[Name: Exploding Thunder Spell]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack/ Defense: None]

[Attribute: Exploding Thunder. Summon a thunderbolt with an Extreme attack to attack a locked on target.]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: The power of thunder will be forever powerful!]

…

The first time Kieran saw the scroll’s description, he was glad about the choices he made.

If he really allowed the Twenty Hounds to react to the situation, he would find himself in serious trouble.

After placing the [Exploding Thunder Spell] next to his body, Kieran started to tidy up the seventeen remaining high tier Magic ranked items.

Most of them were weapons and armor but there was also some certain equipment which was worth Kieran’s while to bring it along with him, [Copper Coin Puppet], [Black Snake Guard], [Blazing Ring] and [Poison Mist Ring].

After he picked another Strong defense upper armor from the bunch and equipped it, Kieran packed up all the leftover items including those lower tiers Magic items and went to Anne Aldrich Augen.

Not only did Kieran believe all the items were able to be traded for something even more valuable, but it was also because that he wanted to send a message to the outside world.

He was not afraid of the Elder Council, in fact, he was actively preparing himself for the battle!