The Devil’s Cage

“Tool? You are not lying. But why are you so concerned about a tool’s life and death? Why not just change to a new one after it breaks?” The mechanical composite voice asserted its confusion.

It didn’t understand the definition of a tool in Kieran’s point of view.

Or rather, it didn’t understand what stinginess was.

“Change to a new one? Haha.”

After a cold laugh from Kieran that confused the cone object even more, the Devil Flame in his hand burned fiercely. Like a falling meteor, it hurled toward the cone object.

Kaboom!

The blazing flames rumbled upon explosion.

After the explosion, Kieran’s mighty roar echoed throughout the hall.

“It’s special to me! One of a kind! No one can replace it!”

His voice echoed powerfully and even suppressed the sound of the explosion.

Bloody Mary, who was leaning against the wall, showed an unusual shine in its eyes, its face moved.

“Contractor, you…”

Almost instinctively, Bloody Mary wanted to say something, but before it could, Kieran’s roar sounded again and suppressed its own.

“Without it, where would I find another tool that isn’t afraid to die and work without complaint!”

Bloody Mary immediately halted its words.

The moved expression on its face vanished, leaving only a blank face.

It squatted down in a corner, looking depressed.

“I know, I know. I am just a tool, a very good tool. I’m tired and cold. I want to go back to East Coast City to live out the rest of my life.”

While it ranted softly, Bloody Mary’s eyes never moved away from the battle happening further away.

After the flames rumbled, the cone-shaped object suffered a burn, at least on the surface.

However, its glow got even brighter.

“The bloodline of a High Demon? No! It should be something higher, but broken, thus the current state. You must be a descendant of a Devil Lord.”

The cone object’s mechanical composite voice asked and answered on its own.

Kieran, on the other hand, replied with more Devil Flame.

Ball after ball of Devil Flame rained down on the cone object like a storm in June.

Kieran then started to charge higher levels of Devil Flame.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amidst the continuous explosions, the cone’s glow turned into a shine, a dazzling shine, and its voice sounded even duller than before.

“Detected target has a certain level of danger.”

“Detected target has a certain level of value.”

“Selecting a more reliable way to solve the equation.”

“Seal the target’s Devil Bloodline.”

“Proposition authenticated.”

As its voice subsided, a beam fired out from the cone and landed on Kieran before he could even react.

The beam didn’t cause any physical blast, nor did it inflict any damage to Kieran, but the Devil Flames that rumbled throughout the hall, including the one charging in Kieran’s left hand, all extinguished in an instant.

The flames silently extinguished, no previous signs or excessive effects.

Bloody Mary, squatting in the corner, widened its eyes.

“Seal? It sealed my powers just now with this as well?”

The guess in its heart showed a flash of discomfort on its face.

It knew its contractor well enough.

Kieran frequently used Devil Flame; it was one of the most potent offensive means at his current level, and factoring in the limitations of his other skills, Devil Flame was indisputably his strongest attack.

Now that the strongest was sealed…

Bloody Mary slowly stood up from the corner. It had to think of something to change the tides of the situation.

After all, once its contractor died, it would have to follow as well.

The High Demon wasn’t some demon that would sit back and wait for its end; otherwise, it wouldn’t have fallen to a High Demon in the first place.

“No need to use everything! Half… No, 80%! A curse cast with 80% life force will surely affect that thing!” Bloody Mary locked on to the cone and readied itself to cast its curse.

But before it could, the tides of the battle changed again.

Kieran took a quick glance at his left hand after the Devil Flame sealed.

He could feel the Devil Force still running in him, but he couldn’t unleash it.

It was extremely uncomfortable for him. The heavy and loud devil’s roar echoed relentlessly in his ears.

“Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!”

The enraged devil twisted the space around Kieran; it looked as if it was going to jump out of Kieran’s heart and tear apart the cone in front.

Kieran, however, wasn’t affected. He still proceeded with his plan.

A black greatsword suddenly appeared behind the cone object and swung down fiercely.

However, before the blade edge truly touched the cone, the dazzling shine turned into a bright shield, preventing the edge from slashing down.

Dang!

An iron clanking sound later, the black greatsword shattered and turned into black flames.

Pride stepped out of the shadows.

“Despicable,” Pride said in disdain.

The other cardinal sins that were muddling around aimlessly couldn’t understand the meaning of the word.

Lust, Greed, Wrath, and Envy screamed frantically and jumped on their target like wild beasts.

An even more dazzling shine fired out from the cone.

Lust, Greed, Wrath, and Envy were instantly wiped out; the black flame that Pride controlled extinguished as well.

But that wasn’t the end! Their ‘deaths’ weren’t without result, as they created a window for Gluttony!

Gluttony, who was almost out of control from its appetite, seized the window and dashed toward the cone like a gale.

For Gluttony, eating was everything; eating would be enough.

When Gluttony’s saliva dripped onto the cone object, the cone object buzzed furiously.

It felt as it was insulted, offended and disgusted all at the same time.

“Detected target is extremely dangerous!”

“Detected target is extremely dangerous!”

“Detected target is extremely dangerous!”

Three consecutive mechanical composite voices later, the shine on the cone became a blinding red, like a siren going off.

The blinding red on the cone became a signal to Bloody Mary. It wanted to cast its curse right away, but a palm laid on its shoulder, holding it down.

A lazy voice that could put one to sleep followed.

“Don’t rush.” Sloth yawned and laid down just like that.

Bloody Mary couldn’t hold back its cold grunt when it saw Sloth.

It was sheer dissatisfaction, showing nothing more than the purest resentment.

Bloody Mary was unhappy at having to stand in the face of danger while these few bastards got to sit aside and watch, and even in this situation, they were still acting casually.

Especially this bastard before its eyes. How the hell was he falling asleep!?

After hearing the snores, Bloody Mary was one step away from dragging Sloth up and scolding the hell out of him, but the wave of aura that came after that stopped it from doing it.

Not just the High Demon, but even Sloth’s snores stopped after being caught in the wave.

Everything in the hall stopped.

Kieran. Pride. Gluttony with its wide-open mouth. The sleeping Sloth and the angry Bloody Mary.

Everything stopped, as if… time had frozen.

Only the cone object wasn’t affected.

It floated towards Kieran slowly.