The Devil's Cage

What was the killer’s goal?

The things on the table!

If Kieran was correct, on that night that Mary’s mother was killed, the things that the killer took were probably a counterfeit.

A counterfeit so real that one couldn’t even differentiate it in a short period of time.

Only then would the killer come back to Swusters Castle after some time and set the place ablaze to vent his anger. The killer might have toppled Swusters Castle upside down and still couldn’t find what he wanted.

Kieran wasn’t sure how Mary’s mother could produce such a counterfeit to fool the killer, but he had his own guesses about Mary’s mother’s arrangements.

Maybe the killer really did assassinate her, but the killer might have neglected what Mary’s mother was really concerned about. Eventually, he was trapped in her set-ups.

From the start, when Mary’s mother felt something was wrong, all she cared about was Mary’s safety. No matter what plans she had, they were all revolving around Mary as the center.

Her mother didn’t just buy time for Mary to safely leave Swusters Castle.

With her intelligence, it was impossible that she didn’t take into consideration that the killer’s strength was not something her daughter and her attendant could fight against.

So there must be someone unexpected that could ward off the killer, though that person was surely not Kieran.

Mary’s mother was intelligent and meticulous, but she might not be a clairvoyant like Nikorei. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have met her demise.

Therefore, other than Kieran, the expected aid-giver, there should be another aid-giver that was personally invited by Mary’s mother, a person that was not known to the related parties.

Though that person might have needed a longer time to be here. Hence, Mary’s mother had to set up a deceptive strategy to fool the killer.

The killer might have noticed something was not right after the incident, thus performing some countermeasures of his own, such as making Kieran the scapegoat and moving his plans ahead.

"Now I see!" Kieran exclaimed in his heart.

At the same time, he heightened his vigilance as he pressed forward. Since the killer had noticed Mary’s mother setting him up, he should not have let this final opportunity slip off his hand.

Based on common sense, since the killer couldn’t find the thing he wanted in the castle and given that the original owner was dead, who would be the one who could have known where the things were located?

Obviously, every arrow pointed at Mary.

As the daughter of the previous owner, Mary could be considered the dearest and closest kin.

Telling her daughter the secret if anything were to happen would also be within the realm of possibilities.

Though, Kieran knew the killer would track them down based on the traces they left behind since he couldn’t get the things in the castle.

The war horses’ tracks were too easy to discover without deliberately covering them.

Kieran wasn’t hoping for the killer to be blind and neglect the obvious tracks.

In fact, the killer’s tracking speed was much faster than Kieran had expected. Even the numbers were out of his expectation.

Sou, Sou, Sou....

Amidst the air-breaking flutterings from the cloth edges, five men appeared before Kieran.

The men were donning a black robe to conceal their physiques, a big hat and a mask to conceal their faces. Only their eyes were exposed outside, giving out a chilly, killer glare, similar to a cold blooded predator eyeing its prey.

The five men were staring at Kieran the same way, but Kieran’s eyes had spotted more than the five men before him. He glanced at the darkness further away and his Intuition detected that there was another person hiding there.

The sixth appeared with the other five but entered the shadow at the very last moment.

Although Kieran’s eyes couldn’t really see as well in the dark as in daylight, but with his C+ Intuition, he could roughly make out what the sixth looked like. He was donning the same outfit as the other five, but he had two weapons on his waist, two distinctively different weapon.

Kieran first thought about Mary’s mother’s sword that was taken.

"The killer?" Kieran guessed. He was hoping to get a clear look by shifting his body, trying not to beat the bushes and frighten the snakes, but the sixth that was hiding had alertness that far exceed Kieran’s imagination.

Just when Kieran slighted moved his foot, the sixth person whistled.

Following the whistle, the other five threw themselves at Keiran at once.

Two were charging forward with long swords aimed at Kieran’s throat and chest. Another two moved diagonally towards Kieran’s rear and drove two swords towards Kieran’s rear ribs.

The last one took out a crossbow and aimed at Kieran from afar.

Within a single breath, the five of them completely surrounded Kieran from all directions and launched their attacks almost at the same time.

The tacit teamwork that the five of them displayed showed that it was not the first time they had worked together, but Kieran’s attention wasn’t even placed at the five before him.

Even with a crossbow aimed at his face, Kieran was still focused on the sixth person who was hiding in the shadows. The danger he sensed from him easily surpassed the five of them combined a few times.

Kieran’s eyes was glued at the sixth person as he wielded the box in his hand around.

Wuuuu!

The box with [Arrogant Word] inside was turned into a giant blunt weapon in Kieran’s hand and swept his surrounding clean.

The big box acted like a shield. Although it could neither bring out the full potential of Transcendence [Master Shield] nor the buff that came with the skill, it allowed Kieran to easily block the four incoming stabs. Together with the swords, the wielders also received a devastating blow from the box bash.

Bang Bang Bang!

Clear noise of bones cracking followed after the heavy impacts

The four men were sent flying backwards with speed faster than their charge.

Sou!

An arrow flew past the four men and went straight up to Kieran’s face, but...

Kieran caught the arrow with his bare hand!

He threw the arrow back where it came from with all his strength.

Although without Rachel’s aid in the dark, the arrow still plunged deep into the enemy’s chest fortunately. The force upon impact even drove the arrow piercing through the body.

The wound on the chest, that connected the front to the back, caused the black figure to twitch for a few times before falling down to his demise.

Chang!

A cold flash of a sword appeared within Kieran’s sight that was still focused despite the moves he performed.

The sixth man in the shadow had made his move!

A chilly glimmering rapier was giving out a metallic shine in the shadow. The rapier, with only a finger’s thickness, was as fast as a comet, appearing before Kieran’s eyes in an instant, despite crossing the other two men that held quite a distance.

The scene was just like that night Mary’s mother was killed, though Kieran had prepared for this.

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

Nani kore?

YES! The thing that everyone has been wanting and waiting WILL HAPPEN!