The Devil's Cage

Its huge body naturally gave it extraordinary strength.

Fuuu!

As it threw itself at Kieran, before it even got close, a strong heavy wind was already assaulting Kieran’s face.

His hair was waving, the feather mantle was fluttering fiercely. It was like he was frightened beyond words, standing still at the spot without budging.

Until the disgusting hair extended out from the fiend’s stomach, trying to bind him down, Kieran finally jumped up high in the air.

A nimble front flip landed Kieran on the back of the fiend.

Usually, a strong, huge body provided its owner tremendous strength but the downside was sacrificing its nimbleness in its movements.

When Kieran’s frosty right hand landed on the fiend’s sturdy back, it quickly turned around but around halfway...

Crack, Tsk Tsk Garkkk!

The icy cold layer of frost spread throughout the fiend’s body quickly.

The Powerful rank elemental attack turned the vicious fiend into a giant ice statue before it could even counter Kieran’s attack.

Kieran though was panting heavily as if he has exhausted most of his stamina.

[Sub mission: Backstreet Kitchen (Complete)]

[Backstreet Kitchen: Among the scene of feasting and revelry, it was easier than ever for the fiends to feed on humans. A Crimson Ghost was hiding behind sights, building its nest. Locate and eliminate it.]

...

Kieran glanced over the notification in his vision. Everything was progressing as he expected.

When he took over the case files from Oaker which was about a series of mysterious murders around these blocks, two sub-missions appeared as he flipped through the files.

The first one was [Backstreet Kitchen], which was labeled as a 15 missing person case.

The second one was [Butcher’s Massacre].

[Butcher’s Massacre: Rudd was longing for the pleasure of slicing meat, hoping to bath in blood. So he became the infamous butcher around the area, slaughtering living beings until he was satisfied!]

...

Judging from the case files, the butcher known as Rudd killed almost 30 to 45 men, maybe even more because of the missing bodies weren’t added to the count.

More importantly, the second day he was caught, Rudd successfully broke out of prison. He even snapped two prison guard’s neck with his bare hands and vanished from the high-security prison.

Then, more imposters trying to mimic Rudd’s modus operandi appeared.

It was what the police concluded in the files.

They didn’t think it was possible for Rudd to kill three to five men at the same time. Despite his occupation was a butcher, when Rudd was arrested, he seemed more like a hunter than a meat cleaver, all his targets were loners, especially those scrawny ones who were barely able to resist him, thus concluded in the files.

However, it seemed like the police had neglected the fact that Rudd snapped the neck of two prison guards who were also quite strong themselves.

"A mix up to give more convenience to the Funeral Society?"

After a slight mutter in his heart, Kieran picked up the loot that fell of the Crimson Ghost.

It was a bag similar to a double strapped traveling back, looking far older than modern ones and had some messy thread lingering around.

[Name: Crimson Ghost Stomach]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Magic]

[Attack/Defense: None]

[Attribute: Able to hold items at least 5 times its size and wouldn’t change shape but the weight inside will remain unchanged.]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Remark: Crimson Ghost’s stomach is like a black hole, don’t ever think of filling it.]

...

No doubt it was a surprise bonus.

Kieran quietly placed [Crimson Ghost Stomach] into his backpack.

Although he wanted to do it the other way around, stuffing the big backpack into the [Crimson Ghost Stomach] instead, he knew it wasn’t the time. Kieran turned his attention to the hole that the fiend burst out from.

The hole which was 5-meters deep and over 10-meters wide and was filled with half-eaten bodies.

Kieran jumped into the pile of bodies without hesitation, searching thoroughly. It wasn’t an act whatsoever, a stingy Scrooge was always serious about his spoils of wars or loot.

Though, other than some identifications of the dead, there wasn’t anything else.

When Kieran came back up from the hole, Lee was present in the back alley, looking at the iced Crimson Ghost. His face couldn’t help but look terrified over the shocking scene.

Two weeks ago, Lee had posted up the mission regarding the back alley on the mission board and labeled "potential Crimson Ghost appearance", because of the label, the mission couldn’t be completed for quite a while.

Crimson Ghost was not some random huntsman’s level fiend, at least a Fiend Hunter ranked huntsman would be required to deal with the monster.

Even though because of the previous Flurry Blade Ghost, Lee treated Kieran as a Fiend Hunter ranked huntsman as well, when he saw the proof with his own eyes, he was still overwhelmed.

"Master Bird of Death! I shall deliver your rewards later!"

Lee said slowly, in a tone sounded even more respectful than before.

"No need to rush, you can wait after I deal with Rudd," Kieran said.

"Rudd?"

Lee gasped when he heard the name, he quickly said, "Master Bird of Death, you might need another Fiend Hunter ranked huntsman to assist you to finish this mission smoothly!"

"Oh, you don’t believe me then?" Kieran turned over.

"NO! No no! It’s just that..."

"That’s enough, when I am finished with Rudd, bring me all the rewards together!"

Kieran then turned away and left.

Lee wanted to say something else but he couldn’t.

Meanwhile in the dark place further away.

Wings flapped as the yellow-eyed black bird vanished in the night sky.

The Funeral Society member didn’t even notice the slight fluttering.

Kieran did though, he then smiled in satisfaction.

...

The black bird dived into Saint Brilliant High school, circulating a certain strange course and entered a certain place within the school compound.

Fuuu!

As it landed, bright red flames burned from the black bird.

The flames projected the scene back at the back alley like a movie.

"A powerful icing ability but it seems to have quite a toll on your body."

A dark shadow uttered softly.

When the shadow saw Kieran jump into the hole to search for more and the conversation with Lee, it laughed.

"Pushing the matter to the Funeral Society but completed several high rewards mission before a new Fiend Hunter arrives. What a greedy man yet arrogant! Well then... It seems like your danger level has plummeted for now, still, precautions are needed."

As its word subsided, a pair of fair hands clapped lightly.

Another black bird flew out of the place right away.

The shadow turned around and looked at the jar beside it.

It had a long neck and a bloated lower body, made entirely out of porcelain and its mouth was stuffed with a cork carved with complicated markings.

A small yellowish talisman charm was posted on it, making the jar look slightly wicked.

Though the shadow held the jar in its arms without minding its look.

"Soon! Soon!" The shadow said.

A moment later, the jar was overflowing with a faint subtle aura.

The fiends that hid in Saint Brilliant too started to feel hungry, looking as vicious as ever.