The Devil’s Cage

Kieran stepped in to the gathering.

He should be the last to arrive because after him, the doorkeeper entered and locked the door.

Kieran took a side glance at the doorkeeper before he looked at the room itself.

The room he was in was bigger than it looked, it was almost the size of a football field—it was a perfectly squared space without up and down or left and right.

The rough concrete walls were cleaned up before the gathering but it still looked dirty.

A few electric wires fell down from the ceiling and acted as lamps with big light bulbs attached at the end. It was plain and rough, just like the decoration of the room.

Other than a few rusty racks, there was nothing else.

The place should be a garage or storage space, after it was abandoned for whatever reasons, it has become the Dark Eater’s gathering spot.

The Dark Eaters were leaning on the walls, squatting in the corners. Everyone of them had some items placed in front of them.

Kieran walked around the room and carefully looked at the items on display.

Most of them were cooking ingredients, some of them were cooking utensils and a few broken written records in addition to some items for which Kieran could tell their usage.

Nothing was valuable though, at least Kieran barely saw any items of Rare rank or above among the ingredients and utensils.

Kieran wasn’t entirely disappointed though.

Before he joined the gathering, Lester had told him about the gathering before. Dark Eaters were plunderers themselves, so they would not keep good things around long enough for sale or trade, or rather, even if they had, they wouldn’t put it on display, at least not from the start.

A little ‘warming up’ was required before the good things showed up and if the time allowed, Kieran didn’t mind watching the ‘warming up’ but he was short of time, so…

Bang Bang Bang.

Kieran headed to the entrance, knocked on the wooden frame loudly with his hand.

The sudden bangs attracted everyone’s attention, all of them looked at Kieran with a hostile gaze for disturbing them.

And then…

Pak Pak Pak Pak!

Head after head exploded, like a bloody fireworks display was happening.

Pam, Pam, Pam.

Headless bodies fell to the ground one after another.

Kieran had planned to wipe them out since the beginning and what else was more suitable than [Half-dead’s Gaze] in wiping out an entire room of Dark Eaters quietly and in a short time?

None!

Even for [Devil Burning], it will cause the rise of temperature and attract unwanted attention.

Green, orange, and golden glows scattered all over the room.

The blinding light couldn’t even cover the beautiful glows.

Kieran smiled and walked over.

…

Bang Bang Bang!

Colorful fireworks were on display under the night sky, the students on the float were cheering and the students in the parade were either dancing or holding hands joyfully.

As the director of the freshmen float, Standler had to stay away from the celebrating crowd.

It’s not that he didn’t want to party with his mates, but he had to calculate the time and drive the float, he couldn’t afford to be distracted.

Any mistakes made in the calculation would turn the freshmen into jokes for all the upper years, Standler couldn’t handle the consequences.

As for the driving, it was even more dangerous!

The parade gathered almost everyone in Theorate, the main street became very narrow after all the students lined up on both sides, any mistakes from the float driver would easily cause unwanted accidents.

Should the floats crash with one another or even into the crowd, not even the fourth- or fifth-year students could handle the situation.

Standler then unconsciously thought of Kieran.

“If it’s the First Seat…”

“Hmmm, I might be the one who dies.”

His mind simulated a crash, he quickly shook his head because he knew what kind of existence his First Seat was.

Crashing into the First Seat with the float?

The driver and the float might be the one who died, not the First Seat.

Although Standler had no idea what methods would Kieran use, he had a strange confidence in the First Seat.

Similarly, he also had the confidence that his creative float design would win first round!

Just wait and see, I will turn eyes!

Whenever he thought about his own creative idea and the hesitance from his fellow freshmen, Standler was battle-aroused.

Ring Ding Ding!

The alarm clock Standler placed beside the driver seat rung. He quickly adjusted his mind and swept away the useless thoughts. When the alarm clock rang, it meant his float was up next.

The first round of the parade had already started!

Standler stepped on the pedal, the float steadily moved towards the gymnasium!

On top of the float were his fellow freshmen with all sorts of weird costumes and bloody bandages. The freshmen looked dispirited, they wobbled like a bunch of lifeless dead bodies as the float drove forward. They did not show the slightest of anticipation despite approaching the gymnasium, due to the float was too ugly!

It was the school’s anniversary celebration, not Halloween!

Why did they have to dress up like zombies?

If they didn’t lose the battle with Standler, they would have quit.

The closer the float moved towards the gymnasium, the deeper they fell into despair.

They assumed they would be the joke of the year during the next sunrise.

After that bloody incident, the gymnasium was opened up again for the anniversary.

The freshmen arrived last.

The fifth-years, fourth-years, third-years, and second-years were already with their respective floats parked in front of the gymnasium.

Compared to Standler’s genuine effort in dressing up, the second-year students were not slacking either. Sunflowers were attached around their float and on top was an elephant’s head—the nose would move up and down after the motor in the float was started.

The third-year’s float was much more simple and plain. White paper umbrellas were held by the thirdyear students around the float, the swordswoman First Seat, Jemara, was sitting on her knee in the middle and her sword was placed on her thighs. If it wasn’t for the cheerful environment, everyone would assume Jemara was going into battle, not attending a parade.

“What a bummer.”

A lazy, seductive voice sounded before Renata appeared in her tight leather suit and swung her whip at Jemara.

Pak!

The whip sounded loudly and it attached the crowd’s attention right away.

All the boys saw Renata in her tight leather suit, they couldn’t help but swallow their saliva. When they saw the dancing pole on top of the fourth-year float and the neon lights around it, the boys related into something kinky and their body temperatures started to rise.

Renata sharply noticed the changes from the boys.

She put on an even seductive look and yet she chuckled coldly in her heart.

Hmph, men.

She groaned in disdain but a person flashed through her mind.

The person was special. It was a man but unlike others, not only strong but also unyielding. The man wasn’t bewitched by her charms and treated her like a normal girl.

Such man was the man among men in Renata’s mind!

As the thought ran through Renata’s mind, her charming smile grew even more attractive. Those students and transient students who didn’t get on the float unconsciously gathered around the fourth-year float.

“First Seat, we are going to lose in the first round again.”

The aide to the fifth-year First Seat smiled and told Tai.

Despite the sigh, the aide did not show a bit of sadness, he was still smiles and didn’t seem to care about the results.

“Renata has too much of an advantage in the first round. We’ll make a comeback in the next segment,” Tai said before he took a sip of his cup of tea.

The others around him nodded in agreement.

Although this wasn’t an official segment in the food competition, the pride of being the fifth-year would not allow them to lose.

While all the fifth-year students felt confident in the upcoming section, Tai turned to the freshmen’s float.

Despite he had reliable intel about the monstrous freshman had gone into E-15 Mystic State, he felt like something was hidden inside there.

“We are done for!”

Standler almost cried when he saw the crowd gathered around the fourth-year float.

What a bunch of mortals!

Why are they attracted to the body of a woman?

My monsters and ghosts from the urban myths are a lot more attractive!

Just look at the bloody killer, that eerie girl in white and that ferocious zombie!

Every single one is better than that woman who flaunts her body!

Bunch of tasteless fools!

“That’s why I said your creative idea isn’t going to work.”

Maica looked at the fourth-year float which started its engine.

As the float with the most crowd support, the fourth-year float get to enter the gymnasium first.

“So what, she lost to our First Seat!” Standler grunted.

“It seems like staying true to oneself and keeping it simple wins favor too,” Maica pointed at the third0year float which entered second.

“She was also beaten by our First Seat!” Standler emphasized.

“Even the children’s tales attracted resonance from the crowd!”

Maica looked at the second-year float that entered third.

“Did he cry like a little child when our First Seat beat him up?” Standler showed utter disdain on his face.

Then, it was the fifth-year float.

Before Maica said anything about the fifth-year, Standler said, “A bunch of rotten people. How can they keep their arrogant faces after our First Seat easily beat theirs?”

“Don’t you think you are behaving like a loser?” Maica poked Standler’s weak spot without holding back.

“At least I wasn’t beaten by our First Seat!” Standler acted like a tough guy.

“Face the facts, will you?” Maica sighed.

“You are also beaten by the First Seat before!” Standler argued.

Maica looked at his friend, if Standler wasn’t driving the float, Maica would have brought his friend pain with his fist.

The freshmen float finally entered the venue.

The gymnasium was filled with people. Janitors, teachers and professors were all there, even those in bandages and wheelchairs attended too.

All the attendees paid attention to the freshmen’s float and when they did not spot the black figure, they all heaved a sigh of relief.

All of them started to speak loudly with the absence of Kieran.

“That First Seat is not here?”

“Seems like the news is true!”

“He really entered the Mystic State!”

“Well since that’s the case, don’t blame us. The freshmen are unlucky if their First Seat isn’t here!”

…

The conversation that happened on stage did not enter Standler and Maica’s ears. They got off their float and walked towards the ring labeled ‘freshmen’.

The gymnasium had a total of 7 rings, six small ones around a big one in the middle.

The biggest ring and the ring at the most corner was empty, the remaining five were labeled with their respective years.

There were around 30 students in each ring, all of them came down from their respective floats. They could be considered as the elites of their respective year and they would have to compete for the 10 spots to enter the main ring in the upcoming segment.

Though the distribution of spots was a little different.

One fifth-year student would take up one spot; two fourth-year students would take up one spot; three third-year students would take up one spot and so on.

In simple words, if challenged, the freshmen could have sent 5 students at once into battle.

However, even though it was 5 against 1 or 5 against 2, the freshmen could barely beat the fourth- and fifth-year student.

Therefore, the freshmen were just there to fill up the numbers.

The main attraction of this unofficial segment was the battle of the upper years, it was the most anticipated segment throughout the celebration other than the food competition.

Though, something was different today, a lot of the attendees were looking at the freshmen.

“Something feels weird,” Standler whispered to Maica on top of the ring.

“Yeah, some bastards are watching us,” Maica nodded.

Maica shifted his gaze towards the upper year students, he stared at them without being afraid of the malicious gazes he received.

“Are these guys trying to…” Standler immediately noticed something since he wasn’t truly an idiot.

“I guess you’re right this time,” Maica looked serious.

“This is bad, the First Seat isn’t here, and with us alone..”

“Even though our chances of winning are slim, or close to zero, it doesn’t mean we should give up. I don’t want to face the First Seat when he comes back as a coward who fled from battle!” Maica said as he looked at his anxious friends and mates.

He then started to tighten his fighting straps around his hands.

The enemies were at his door, where else could he run?

Fight!

It was what Maica believed in all this time.

As for the outcome?

It will have to be determined by his fists!

Standler saw Maica tightening his straps, he took a few quick deep breaths and calmed himself down before he turned around to his fellow mates.

“Some people are trying to frighten us with the absence of our First Seat.”

“In fact, they had been thinking about it for a while now, but because of our First Seat, they stayed down. And now, our First Seat is away because of some personal reasons, hence the chance has been given to them!”

“They wanted to teach us a lesson and I don’t think we should sit back and accept it obediently.”

“Give up? Surrender? It’s not what we want! We want to fight!” Standler said loudly.

Right after his words subsided, Standler scratched his head and looked embarrassed.

“Well, as embarrassing as it is, the reason why I dare to speak so loudly to those upper year students who were so much more stronger than us is because our First Seat is behind us.”

“Now, our First Seat isn’t here, but he will return and when he does, what we receive today will be returned back to them, ten times more or a hundred times more!”

“So…”

Standler took a deep breath. He turned around and mustered enough courage to put up his middle finger at the opposite ring.

“COME ONE, LET’S FIGHT!”

The freshmen were stunned before they too followed Standler in giving the opposing enemies the finger.

The shouted loudly together, “COME ON, LET’S FIGHT!”