The Devil’s Cage

Borl, Kieran’s follower in name, leaned back on a sofa, the soft cushion almost wrapping him whole, the comfort easily dispersing his thoughts.

‘What happened? Who am I? What am I doing?

I was just a follower a few days ago but now I am a vassal to the heir of the kingdom?

Isn’t all this a little too fast?’

Borl was having a difficult time accepting the facts, especially when he received news that Kieran wasn’t just the heir to the throne and Snake Sect, he even united War God Temple and Silent Night Secret Society. Borl’s worldview was toppled upside down.

He put himself in Kieran’s shoes.

Although it was disappointing, he had to admit that he couldn’t achieve what Kieran had, probably not even half of Kieran’s achievements.

‘Is this how the pros play the game? Is this their world?’ Borl thought in his mind.

He remembered how recalcitrant he was when he first met Kieran. Now he felt ridiculous about his own behaviour because he knew that even if he did not go through what he did, he still couldn’t catch up to Kieran.

Not just strength-wise, but also intellect-wise and capabilities, plus that charm that could make everyone submit to him.

Borl had none of the above. Other than the fact that he could still be stronger, the rest were already fixed from the beginning, it was difficult for him to change anything.

Thinking about it… Borl grew even more disappointed.

Compared to Borl, his bodyguard Aschen did not have that many thoughts.

With enough food and no duties to carry out, the bodyguard trained himself madly every single day.

He focused on hand-to-hand combat, while swords, battleaxes, and spears were all ancillary training. He’d train with muskets occasionally.

Read more chapter on It was not that he didn’t want to train with muskets, but training with muskets was too troublesome for him. From loading the pellets and firepowder to aiming at the target, it took him almost two minutes and that was the best he could perform.

In order to break through his limit, he would need to find a musket that was built according to his hand size and arm length, otherwise he would be stuck at the bottleneck.

Besides, customizing his own musket was too expensive, he couldn’t bear the cost.

Therefore, he spent all his energy concentrating on other types of training.

Hu, hu, hu!

Aschen was on the floor doing push ups with his hands. He quickly switched to one arm as he fanned out his fingers on the floor. Then, he slowly retracted his fingers until there was one finger left, his body starting to move up and down.

Every one of his muscles were tightened and clenched.

Sweat gushed out like a fountain, flowing along the edge of his muscles as if they were drains.

His breathing became heavy but the pacing did not change.

He continued with his right hand after he was done with his left hand.

After repeating this for a dozen times, Aschen jumped up and walked to the dining table.

He grabbed the whole roasted chicken, tore it into pieces and stuffed it all into his mouth.

After he eased his hunger, Aschen saw the disappointed Borl.

“My father told me don’t compare other people’s forte with your own shortcomings. It will only give you frustration,” Aschen comforted Borl.

“But compared to Colin, what am I good at?” Borl asked with glazed eyes as he looked at Aschen.

“Hmmm… for example, you don’t like to read and have more time to lie down here to enjoy your life?” Aschen answered after some thoughts.

It was obvious that his answer stimulated Borl further. Borl curled up on the sofa and his voice almost came out from the seam as he covered himself.

“Yes, I know I am like this. Colin is naturally gifted, he’s more talented than other people and even more hard working than I am. That’s why I am disappointed in myself.”

Before he voiced his lament, Borl straightened his body, but after that he curled back up and fell back onto the sofa.

He knew Kieran wasn’t at his prime at all, there must be some restriction on him.

What would it be like if Kieran was at his prime?

Would he dominate everything? Yeah, he’d surely dominate everything and not with these kinds of ‘mild’ methods.

As for the saying that equipment wasn’t a part of one’s strength?

It was just complaints from the bastards who had no good equipment.

If they had any, they’d work harder too.

Therefore, those sayings were not to be taken seriously.

Aschen scratched his head, he didn’t know how to comfort his employer cum friend anymore because he too acknowledged what his friend said.

A person as gifted as Colin would easily be admired, and with his hard work, he would be so dazzling that people could no longer look at him, as if he were the sun!

For a moment there, the two of them fell into silence, so Monte’s footsteps were unusually pronounced.

“Borl, Aschen,” Monte greeted them in a friendly tone.

As the honorary minister of the heir of the kingdom, he had been paying attention to his Highness’ followers and guards.

They were quite decent! Both of them were top picks whether in terms of strength or capabilities.

His Highness must have known this, that’s why he recruited such talents under his wing.

Biased by his first impression, the vassal immediately had such thoughts in his mind. Then his voice sounded even milder, “His Highness summons you, Borl.”

Since they might be working together in the future, there was no wrong in building up a connection.

“His Highness is looking for me?” Borl was stunned for a second before he stood up from the sofa.

He already knew why Kieran was looking for him.

According to the contract, after Kieran completed the first phase, he would proceed to help Borl with his—albeit until now, Borl had no idea what Kieran’s first phase of the plan was, it didn’t stop him from looking forward to completing his main mission. It was related to his life after all.

After that? He’d have to work hard to try to play catch up to Kieran!

Kieran wasn’t a God, if Borl put in some hard work, he’d eventually catch up to Kieran.

“When are we moving?” Borl asked as he regained his confidence.

“Right away,” Monte answered.

…

Kakrkooooom!

Thunder rumbled fiercely in the sky, failing to overpower the faint singing from the southern sky.

Quite the contrary, the voice of the woman got even clearer.

The people of Edatine Looked up at the thunderous night sky, listening to the faint singing in their ears, fear and anxiety filling their hearts.

Although they had no idea what was going to happen, they had a feeling that something bad was about to befall them.

Kieran sat in his tent calmly as if nothing happened outside, quietly watching Gluttony eat.

280 magical equipment and items and 40 Rare rank magical equipment and items were decreasing, one by one.

Kieran wasn’t having a heartache because he clearly felt that after Gluttony consumed and converted the items and equipment, the energy was easier to absorb.

The six and a half threads of chaotic darkness started to decrease.

Six, five, four…

When all the equipment and items were consumed, the chaotic darkness in his mind had completely disappeared.

Fuuu!

The blazing flame surged high.

Kieran felt like his mind had cleared up to a never before felt state.

His thinking speed, his memories, everything in his mind was undergoing a qualitative change.

The more straightforward change was Kieran’s Spirit, spreading from the deepest part of his mind to every inch of his body, and he could feel the flow clearly.

All the glowing mystical runes of the Basic skills branded on his bones and muscles lit up brighter than ever when the Spirit energy flowed through them.

All sorts of changes started from there.

Kieran’s body, under his own eyes, was changing from the deepest part of his soul and core.

He was stronger, faster, sharper and… memories of all the battles that he had been in appeared in his mind. It wasn’t the memories of others but his own.

Kieran watched the memories from the angle of an observer, the battle techniques that he once thought perfect had their flaws revealed under his observation.

Then he’d perfect it.

Observer Kieran used the calmest and most logical methods to perfect his battle techniques.

At the same time, a weak suction force appeared in the flame, it was… the Lord of Mist!

The crystal the size of the palm had shrunk down to the size of a nail. Never before seen words were branded on the crystal, but Kieran was able to understand them.

Mist, Poison, Icy Air, Rain and Snow, Fauna Command, Flora Communication, Conceal, Watch, Tide!

Rows of words appeared in the most direct way possible in Kieran’s heart.

Without even understanding the words, the explanation had already appeared.

“Touch, receive, and possess?” Kieran muttered.

He then touched the Mist.

There was no need for a test or hesitation anymore.

The observer’s angle allowed Kieran to determine what was harmless and what was dangerous.

The scene before his eyes was safe.

The tip of his finger touched the Mist.

Light then appeared in the space the chaotic darkness used to occupy.

The light was dazzling, the color confusing, and it occupied around two percent of the original space.

‘Capacity and occupancy?’ The explanation appeared in Kieran’s heart once more.

Then, his finger touched the words on the crystal.

Poison (1%)

Icy Air (2%)

Rain and Snow (2%)

Fauna Control (1%)

Flora Communication (1%)

Conceal (3%)

Watch (3%)

Tide (2%)

All of them had 1 or 2% of occupancy, only Conceal and Watch were different with 3%.

Nine rays of light appeared in the original space, taking up 17% of the space, and it was not the end, it was just the beginning.

‘It can be leveled up but it will take up more space?’ Kieran looked at the burning flame.

The crystal of the Lord of Mist was still there and new words had appeared.

Trickery (5%)

Scheme (5%)

Destruction (10%)

Three words appeared on the crystal.

The occupancy rate had appeared without Kieran touching it.

The high numbers, when compared to the previous states, made Kieran raise a brow but he did not hesitate.

He reached out and touched the three words.

He could sense how powerful the three words were. Aside from the highest occupancy rate of Destruction, either Trickery or Schemes alone was higher than all the others before.

Things were as per Kieran’s expectations.

The light appeared once more, but unlike the nine rays, this time it was only three rays.

The thickest ray was Destruction, which consisted of Poison (1%), Icy Air (2%), Rain and Snow (2%), Tide (2%), and Destruction itself (17%)

Followed by Trickery (10%), Fauna Command (1%), Flora Communication (1%), and Conceal (3%).

The surprising one was Scheme, which was also (10%) like Trickery and consisted of Mist (2%) and Watch (3%).

“Watch is also considered as Scheme? After observing and planning accordingly, it’s categorized as Scheme?”

Kieran thought there should be a more appropriate categorization but it seemed like it couldn’t show at the current stage, just like his most skilled Fire!

“My abilities aren’t brought into this… No, that’s not right. It should be that they did not appear in words but they can still be amplified!”

Arranging the knowledge in his mind, Kieran raised his hand and touched the vigorous Devil Flame.

It felt like the original Devil Flame but something was different. Similar to himself, he looked like his old self but a closer look could make one notice the differences.

It was hard for a normal person to tell the difference, only Kieran himself knew the differences.

“But I can’t say it out loud?” Kieran tried to speak the differences that he felt but all he could do was open his mouth, not a single word came out.

Of course, there were other things that changed too.

Strength: V (Strong)

Agility: V (Strong)

Constitution: V (Strong)

Spirit: VI (Average)

Intuition: III (Strong)

…

His attributes were also powered up and they jumped in ranks, especially Spirit. After the chaotic darkness was expelled, it surged to rank VI straightaway.

The data before his eyes told him the changes that happened to his body but the more important changes were beneath the surface.

[Destruction: With this divinity, you will be empowered when carrying out similar action. Destruction divinity is currently at Weak rank, you will receive +1 in similar action that you perform.]

[Trickery: With this divinity, you will be empowered when carrying out similar action. Trickery divinity is currently at Feeble rank, you will receive +0.5 in similar actions that you perform.]

[Scheme: With this divinity, you will be empowered when carrying out a similar action. Scheme divinity is currently at Feeble rank, you will receive +0.5 in similar actions that you perform.]

…

“Divinity?” As Kieran muttered, he looked at the Lord of Mist crystal in the flame.

The crystal had been completely melted by the flame and what followed allowed Kieran to sense the whole of Edatine.

Then Reply (1%), Blessing (1%), and Deceive Contract (1%) appeared and were categorized under [Trickery].

[Trickery] then leveled up, going from Feeble to Weak and the empowering value increased from 0.5 to 1.

Savouring the changes in his body quietly, the light before Kieran faded away.

Then—

“My lord, protect me!”

“My lord, protect my child from harm and malicious intent!”

“My lord, please bless me with your divine touch!”

…

Voice after voice gushed into Kieran’s mind like the tide.

The discomfort made Kieran frowned.

The more uncomfortable thing was that the external light started to gush into his mind and into the flame. Most of the light was vapourized by the flame. Only a very small part, probably the essence of the light, was fused into [Destruction], [Trickery], and [Scheme].

“The conversion of Power of Faith!”

Kieran instantly understood what kind of process it was!

At the same time, he also understood how important the flame in his mind was.

“The divine fire ignited the divinity and the divinity granted the divine position. If the divine fire somehow extinguished itself… everything will cease to exist!” Kieran inhaled deeply and muttered to himself.

“As expected, I still have to rely on myself? Not even a God is an exception and if there is an exception… it will be broken!”

As he muttered to himself, he looked up at the thunderous night sky, listening to the singing from the southern sky, and couldn’t help but curl up his lips into a smile.

He started to understand what Broker was trying to achieve in this dungeon world.