The Devil's Cage

"He noticed me?"

Kieran’s heart skipped a beat, but he instantly understood what Stagner’s intentions were.

Stagner was holding both Ferlin and the Grand Duke in his arms, so there was no way they could get away easily. No matter how hard they kicked, punched or headbutted him, Stagner held on for dear life.

A immovable target was the best way to activate the [Reckless Rush].

"Stagner must have found traces of my battle with the Hurricane Knights in the jungle, so he must have gotten a general idea of the [Reckless Rush] and how I destroyed the lance shield! When he fell into the Grand Duke’s trap, he must have decided to use me to turn the situation around! Just for... Just for Mordred to live? Even though he knows Mordred is not his own son?"

Kieran’s mind filled with questions. Compared to Stagner, the Grand Duke was a lot more cold-blooded.

In order to beat Titan, he had been willing to sacrifice two of his children.

If a better reward presented itself to him, he would sacrifice his last son too!

Selfish people would sacrifice anything to get what they wanted.

That was the reason Stagner wanted the Grand Duke dead. He would use it as an opportunity for Mordred to ascend to the throne.

Otherwise, he would have killed the Grand Duke earlier.

The Grand Duke would accomplish his goals by any means necessary, even by sacrificing his own sons, but Stagner would sacrifice anything for his son, even his own life.

They were two vastly different men.

Kieran had to draw a deep breath to focus on his mission.

Then he gripped his [Piercing Spear] and aimed towards the three men.

There was a sudden earth-shattering tremble, and a thunderous roar filled the cave.

The mirage of a giant rhino formed around Kieran.

The primitive destructive force charged towards its target with a quaking trample.

As the beastly mirage charged forward, the spear pierced through the struggling Ferlin bluntly.

Bang!

Ferlin was crushed like a watermelon under a truck.

The dark mist around his body flew towards the Grand Duke and covered him like silk, releasing him from Stagner’s grip.

Ferlin was willing to sacrifice his own life so his master could live?

Kieran was thrilled over witnessing such strong loyalty, but the [Reckless Rush] would not stop because of it.

The Grand Duke’s arm was struck by the [Piercing Spear] as well, the force tearing his arm apart. There was blood and flesh all over, and bones were sticking out of the crushed flesh. It was a gruesome wound.

Stagner was the last one in the rhino’s way. Even though he had a sword through his chest, when he saw the Grand Duke survive, he had held on.

Stagner drew a quick, deep breath and expanded his body. Enduring the pain, he pulled the thorny sword out and threw it towards the Grand Duke.

The sword flew straight into the dark mist and stabbed the Grand Duke.

After a scream, the Grand Duke fell to the ground.

Stagner smiled slightly and turned towards Mordred, his stern face splitting into a kind, bright smile.

Despite his bright smile though, he was shocked.

He saw Kieran pass by him, fall on the ground, and vomit blood.

Although the [Reckless Rush] could not be stopped, Kieran could change its direction. Even the slightest change could produce a totally different outcome.

Stagner was astonished. He walked over to Kieran with a loud laugh.

His laugh was so energetic that it did not match his wounded walking pace. Still, each of his steps was firm and steady.

Stagner went over and tilted his head down, looking at Kieran, who was struggling to get up with the broken spear in his hand.

"Interesting fellow! Here, this is yours!"

Stagner took out a golden medal the size of a coin and placed it on Kieran’s palm.

Before Kieran could reply, Stagner had gone over to Mordred.

His steps were getting heavier and slower, his breathing weaker and dimmer.

When Stagner reached Mordred’s side, he could not help but kneel down in exhaustion.

He took a last look at his son before tilting his head down. He showed no further signs of life.

...

[Sub Mission: Prevention (Completed)]

A notification popped up in Kieran’s vision right below the battlelog.

[Reckless Rush, Piercing: Target’s defense was not Powerful, 500 Damage inflicted to Target HP, Target is immobilized, 500 True Damage inflicted to Target, Target dies, Bursting Effect triggered...]

[Reckless Rush, Piercing: Target’s defense was not Powerful, 500 Damage inflicted to Target HP, Target has a defensive skill and is able to dodge a direct hit, 100 True Damage inflicted to Target, Target’s left arm is crippled, Bursting Effect triggered...]

[Reckless Rush, Piercing: Forcefully altered charging course, Slightly weaker Powerful Rank Damage received, 400 True Damage received, Heavily Wounded Status...]

....

With all his stats dropping, Kieran knew his condition would be terrible, but he still did not regret his decision.

He would not kill a man like Stagner, not when he had the power to prevent it. He knew he had to do something. That was why he had altered his charging course.

He had made that decision willingly.

Although he had been hurt because of it, he had also been rewarded with unexpected loot.

"Good stuff for the good guys?"

Kieran lowered his head and looked at the golden medallion with the lion emblem.

[Name: Lionheart]

[Type: Accessory]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack/Defense: None]

[Attributes: Lion’s Valor, Lion’s Courage, King’s Traits]

[Effects: None]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: This is a medallion of acknowledgment. Stagner would only give it to someone he recognized as an equal. Its power is stronger than it looks though!]

...

[Lion’s Valor: When activated, it increases any one stat, Strength +1, Agility +1, Constitution +1, 10 second duration, once per day]

[Lion’s Courage: When activated, the wearer gains Immunity against Wounded, Fear, Panic, Poison and other debuffs, 10 second duration, once per day]

[King’s Traits: When [Lion’s Valor, Lion’s Courage] are activated, you share the effect with any teammates within your sight, Limited to 5 teammates.]

...

"It sure deserves to be called Legendary!"

Kieran was in awe of [Lionheart]’s attributes.

[Lion’s Valor], [Lion’s Courage], and [King’s Traits]. Every single one of them was enough to turn a battle around by itself.

Even more so the [King’s Traits], the team effect, which could be a game-changer.

Even though there was a limit to the number of users, this was not much of a restriction for Kieran.

This was undoubtedly his biggest reward in the dungeon, although his rewards were a lot more than that.

On top of Ferlin’s crushed body, there was a glowing purple Skill Book, and the thorny sword thrown towards the Grand Duke by Stagner also had an orange glow to it.

A Special Rank Skill Book and a Rare Rank weapon.

Suddenly, the supposedly dead Grand Duke coughed a little.

Kieran squinted at the sudden sound.

He could not kill Stagner because of his ideals, but he felt no mercy towards the Grand Duke.

Kieran grabbed his broken spear and walked over.

Blood was everywhere around the Grand Duke’s throat. The Grand Duke had not expected that when he’d come around.

He widened his eyes at Kieran, feeling the cold gaze in his eyes. It was like death was knocking on his door.

The Grand Duke mustered all his energy to speak and even raised his hand a little, but in the end nothing came out.

Kieran ended the Grand Duke’s life by pushing the broken spear into his chest.

[You have eliminated Grand Duke Morko, Main Mission progress altered, Dungeon rating increased significantly, Main Mission completed earlier!]

[Player will leave the dungeon in 5 minutes.]

[Please take whatever items you wish to keep with you.]

[Note: Any items that exceed the maximum weight will be discarded!]

...

The sudden notifications were not unexpected.

Kieran quickly pulled out the thorny sword and picked up the Rare Rank armor. Then he headed towards the Special Rank Skill Book.

After Kieran tied everything on him using the [Deceiver’s Key], he looked at the unconscious Mordred, or more precisely, the ring on his left thumb.

It was an act the Grand Duke had put up to provoke Stagner. That was why he had placed the ring on Mordred’s finger.

According to him, the ring was one of a kind and it was related to the Morko Legacy.

Maybe it was even the Legacy itself.

Kieran had limited knowledge about the Legacy, so he did not exclude the possibility of it being a ring.

As for all the ruckus regarding the missing Legacy?

It could be true. The Legacy had indeed gone missing and ended up in Mordred’s hands.

When Mordred had been captured by Ferlin, the Legacy had been returned to the Grand Duke.

After all, during his journey to the Afterglow Valley, Ferlin had met people more than once.

It must have been easy for him to pass the Legacy to the Grand Duke.

A moral dilemma presented itself to Kieran.

Should he take the Legacy or not?