The Devil's Cage

The devilish aura burst out like a raging storm, sweeping everyone on the battlefield.

Suddenly, seven mirage figures appeared around Kieran.

They shared the same face as Kieran but each of them had a distinguished aura.

Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride.

They were embodiments of the seven cardinal sins within Kieran; a total of fourteen eyes were staring at him and their gazes were strange and observant.

They didn’t feel the resistance like before though.

Although they had their restrictions, this time Kieran couldn’t deny their existence.

"I think we can talk!"

Kieran turned around, inspecting the embodiments of the sins that shared his face.

Lust had a pale face with a dash of green. He looked like an evil spirit that was addicted to wine and sex unable to sober up from his addictions.

Greed had squinted eyes and gave out a glare from time to time that was so sharp that it was as if it could devour anything.

Gluttony turned its head left and right, looking at the dead Evil Eye and the equipment lying on the ground, gulping and drooling non-stop.

Sloth stood there casually, seemingly tired from a relentless battle. His eyes were already shut as if he was going to sleep any moment.

Wrath was panting loudly. His heavy pants were disturbing the silent atmosphere after the battle and his bloodshot eyes were staring so intently at Kieran that it seemed like it wasn’t going to budge an inch.

Envy had a twisted face and gave out an enmity gaze, seemingly wanting to destroy everything that he couldn’t get such as Kieran’s real body.

Pride was cold and prideful, looking down on everything around him including Kieran himself and the other embodiment of sins as if he was a God. He gazed like he was looking at ants crawling beneath his feet.

Kieran looked at the embodiments of the seven sins that shared his face but was distinctively different because of its auras. He could feel that the seven of them had changed when he said they could talk.

Some showed contempt and didn’t even spare a glance. Some mocked him or laughed at him while others didn’t even care about him.

None of the sins’ reactions were what he wanted to see but it was consistent with his speculations.

After going through the wild and untamed power of the devil, Kieran realized that he had entered an error zone in dealing with the power within [Fusion Heart]. The methods he used were wrong.

It was because it was his own heart that Kieran subconsciously wanted to expel all others that didn’t belong within him; it was an instinctive reaction from a living being but he had forgotten the fact that his heart was shared now!

There wasn’t any distinction between him, the devil and Eye of Chimeras anymore!

If he truly wanted to expel the part of him that didn’t belong, it was impossible to do so with his current abilities.

Even in the future, he couldn’t muster up any confidence to do so. It was indeed a helpless fact.

If he had any other choices, he would prefer not to look at the fact with his face.

So he kept on suppressing the other powers within [Fusion Heart]. Some part of him was scared of the term "puppet of flesh and blood". Thus, he was still mostly resisting.

When he directly contacted the devil’s power, a sudden realization came to Kieran.

Since he couldn’t expel them out, was it possible to cooperate?

In other words, he wanted to maximize his usage in a safe way to siphon the power of [Fusion Heart]. It seemed like an unrealistic tale or a fairytale but it might very well be workable because Eye of Chimeras and the devil’s power had their own emotions.

As far as Eye of Chimeras was concerned, it was even more advanced than the devil because it could "think".

Talking to a monster with only instinctive actions was like playing a flute to a cow but negotiating with a monster with the ability to think was a viable option.

At least the seven embodiment of the cardinal sins before Kieran were expressing their own emotions following Kieran’s words. Even though they didn’t speak, it was enough.

"In here, we all shared a place!"

Kieran pointed at his left chest, where [Fusion Heart] was beating vigorously.

"But I am in charge!" Kieran said clearly.

Right away, the sins emotions changed once more.

Pride’s face was getting colder, Envy’s face was even more twisted, almost mashing every feature on his face. Wrath’s panting was getting heavier.

Lust, Greed, Gluttony, and Sloth didn’t respond.

"I can stop you all from appearing! As time goes by, I will slowly get the upper hand and stop you sins from appearing will get easier. As a parasitic being inside my heart, you guys should know better than me! When quantity turns into quality, I’ll get stronger and stronger and eventually, you guys will disappear! Yet, I am willing to spare you all a chance!"

Kieran smiled at them after he said this. He then removed the bindings on Gluttony.

The already impatient Gluttony felt the power that was suppressing him get removed. He dashed like a violent wind and flew towards the body of the Evil Eye and the equipment on the ground.

Then, Greed widened his eyes. Kieran released his bindings well.

Greed went up swiftly, fighting Gluttony over the rewards.

Envy’s face was twisted beyond recognition, just before he disfigured his face, Kieran loosened the bindings on him too. Envy also dashed over with his own strength and joined to fight over the equipment.

Wrath got even angrier. He even started to resist Kieran’s bindings on him but Kieran’s powerful Spirit and merciless suppression made Wrath’s struggle look like nothing more than a mere ripple on the surface of the lake.

Wrath struggled, roaring loudly out of unwillingness but it didn’t help.

All he could do was watch Lust and Sloth get freed.

Lust went over to join in on the competition as well and he purposely picked the delicate looking equipment.

Sloth however just gave out a yawn and stood still even when his bindings were released.

After two seconds, Wrath finally broke out of his struggle. He changed like he was a hungry tiger off to the mountains, pushing Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Lust, and Sloth aside.

A moment later, six of the seven embodiment of sins fought messily.

None of them gave way, fighting as if their lives were on the line.

When Kieran saw them fighting, his smile was getting wider.

Since communication had popped up in his mind, he was thinking about how he should approach them. After thinking for a long time, he came up with a conclusion.

Coercion and enticement!

He thought that he should bring out the best advantages that he had over the rights to control and display the benefits of obeying his orders.

Everything was unfolding according to his plan and it was even going smoother than he expected.

The embodiments of sins were incomplete. It was like they formed from the darkest parts of human thoughts but they had even less self-control over their actions that Kieran had thought. Even if they had emotions and knew how to think, he knew that their instincts would take over in a second.

They were like beasts that had acquired intellect but still lived on with animal instincts.

Their weakness was obvious and such weakness was good news to Kieran.

However, there was one exception!

Kieran turned his eyes to Pride and Pride looked at him.

Both of them held cool, calm faces. Pride was different from the other six sins. Pride seemed to be the one that had the most similar temperament with Kieran, even though it was just one-third of Kieran.

If it wasn’t for its cold look and proudful manner, Pride would be exactly like Kieran.

Pride was looking at Kieran with a mocking gaze and he glanced at the other six that were fighting. It felt like he had seen through everything and nothing was worth his attention.

Whether it was Kieran or the other six counterparts, everything was just mere ants before Pride.

Pride didn’t even mind watching the crude show before him. As he tried to guess what kind of useless words Kieran would say to try to persuade him, he suddenly realized Kieran went hiding in the shadows.

Pride was stunned.

Then...

KABLOOM!

A huge explosion blasted out from the ground. A huge figure sprouted out from the ground with an open mouth, seemingly overshadowing Pride with its sheer size.