The Devil’s Cage

The dagger came from the ground and was constructed by the bones and flesh from the Grand Duke’s body.

It contained the remaining power from the Grand Duke’s body and also the power from the blood magic circle.

The power of the former was just the lingering bits, it wasn’t fatal to Extremus but the latter?

Throughout the past hundred years, the “fortification” that Saint Cyanda Imperials performed each year had increased the magic circle’s power to an unimaginable level.

It wasn’t just extremely powerful but contained all sorts of mystical energy.

Even for the king of player killers, he couldn’t dodge the strike.

Bang!

Extremus’ body exploded just like that after a loud bang came from his pierced heart.

Blood and flesh were splashed in every direction but Reinholt easily dodged the disgusting remains.

Of course he dodged it because everything was his handy work!

From the very beginning, Reinholt was very vigilant against Extremus and his peculiar undercover technique and outrageous speed, therefore, Reinholt had no intention of allowing Extremus to enter the treasure vault that housed the “crown” with him.

Therefore, he suggested the plan that he just executed: when the vault was opened, both him and Extremus would jump onto Burning Marquis and divide the loot inside the vault.

Extremus had no qualms against the suggested plan.

Given the restraints of the contract, the king of the player killers wasn’t worried at all and that was the illusion that Reinholt created.

A contract could not be defied but it was not entirely impossible to avoid it, especially when “he” became Reinholt, it was easy for the new identity to avoid the restrains of the contract.

“Moron!”

Reinholt commented on Extremus who was now a pile of minced meat and blood after exploding. Then he turned towards Burning Marquis who didn’t suffer a scratch as he engulfed himself in his devil flame.

“See? As I guaranteed my sincerity, my ally is only you, my dear lord! The others are nothing more than abandoned pawns,” Reinholt said with a laugh.

“Let’s hope that I won’t become your next abandoned pawn.”

The Burning Marquis’ face was faintly showing under the light from the flame, his tone was as arrogant as ever.

“How is that possible? Your indomitable strength allowed me to decide to treat you as my only ally!” Reinholt said in an attempt to flatter the Marquis.

After that, the trembling of the ground had completely ceased.

The blood stain that the Grand Duke body had fused together with had started to disperse.

The stone flooring slowly sunk downwards and revealed a flight of stairs before the two of them.

Seeing the revelation of the stairs, Reinholt’s breathing quickened.

FINALLY!

“Countless schemes, countless setbacks, but… in the end, the victor will be me!”

The emotions in his heart made him wish he could dance for joy but the faint killing intent from the Burning Marquis beside reminded him that he was still in a dangerous position.

Both of them had a contract that restrained their free will as well but Extremus who died at Reinholt’s hand was the best proof that contracts weren’t almighty.

Reinholt didn’t want to die without knowing why.

The closer he got to success, the more danger he would be in.

He quite agreed with the saying. So, he stepped aside right away and made a “please” gesture to Burning Marquis.

“After you,” Reinholt said.

“No, after you,” Burning Marquis said with a shake.

“Very well.”

The Burning Marquis’ reaction was completely within Reinholt’s expectations. Without a second thought, he wanted to head down the stairs but the moment the first step was made, the Burning Marquis grazed him and walked down first.

Reinholt smiled. It didn’t exceed his expectations either.

“The more restless you are, the more benefits for me.”

As thoughts lingered in his mind, Reinholt quietly released the signal that he had been preparing for the occasion.

No matter how capable he was, he could not have done tricks in the secret treasure vault of the Saint Cyanda Imperial household but in other places, he could.

“This identity is too convenient. If I had this body from the start, I would have completed everything by now. But… it’s not too shabby now either.”

After sensing the butler of his house activating something based on his orders, Reinholt couldn’t help but feel proud of his new identity; he was very delighted in said pride.

Reinholt then walked down the stairs with the proud feeling in mind.

The stairs weren’t that long, only around 30 plus steps from top to bottom. The vault wasn’t that big either, only around 20 plus square feet. One could easily see everything from the entrance and because of that, Reinholt was dumbstruck by the entrance.

The vault was empty!

No crown, no secret key, no treasures that the imperials had been keeping for centuries, nothing! Nothing other than dust!

Reinholt’s delighted and joyous manner vanished when he saw the scene before his eyes.

“T-This…This… how is this possible?”

“I know! This must be a secret room, there must be a secret room somewhere!”

Reinholt screamed loudly as if he had lost his mind, searching around for the “secret room” but he got nothing at all.

How could something appear again if it wasn’t there in the first place?

“What happened?”

“What happened?!”

“WHAT HAPPENED?!!”

The victory that was just an arm’s length away popped like a bobble without reason. Reinholt could not accept the outcome but then, he suddenly calmed down from his frenzied searching.

He forced himself to calm down, he needed to figure out what went wrong.

Beside him was the Burning Marquis revealing his sharp killing intent.

“Do you know what happened to the last guy that lied to me like this?”

Devil flame was burning hot in the Marquis’ hand.

The killing intent and rampant aura contained in the flame made Reinholt shudder immediately.

According to the contract, if the marquis didn’t get what he asked for, he would not have any scruples to kill Reinholt right now.

“I didn’t mean to deceive you! I didn’t even have such a thought! I swear I don’t even know how it turned out like this! Aren’t you curious as well how did it turn out like this? The Burning Family has passed down the legend of the crown, that is an undeniable fact but now, the crown isn’t here… So where did the crown go?”

Reinholt straightened his body, trying his best to explain himself.

He was using his best manners in an attempt to win back the trust of the Burning Marquis.

Of course, Reinholt had prepared for the worst case scenario as well but what surprised him was, as his words subsided, a reply came from upstairs.

“The crown of course is in the hands of Saint Cyanda Imperial household.”

As the reply was heard, an elder walked down.

When they saw who the elder was, Reinholt and the Burning Marquis were stunned; Reinholt even cried out in shock.

“Saint Cyanda the XI?!”