The Devil's Cage

Danger!

Lee delivered the message nimbly with the combination of his palms and fingers to Kieran.

Then, he stepped back, posing a please gesture to Kieran, signaling him to go up the well.

If Lee didn’t deliver the signs a moment ago, the current scene would be normal, yet it wasn’t.

Kieran went below the well and squinted his eyes at the rope. He tilted his head up to the entrance.

He didn’t climb up the well with the rope though, it struck a weird feeling in his heart.

Even though it was just an instinctive intuition, Kieran trusted his intuition a lot.

He slightly adjusted the ascending angle and jumped up through the well. As Kieran was halfway flying up the well, he tapped his feet on the wall of the well, boosting his falling body up once more, dashing towards the entrance.

Sou Sou Sou Sou!!!

The moment Kieran leaped out of the well, a series of air-breaking noises sounded around him.

Four ropes were fired from different directions at Kieran, trying to tie him down while he was tumbling in mid-air.

Kieran tapped his feet once more in mid-air, allowing him to step on air itself as [Modii Boots] shone.

Kieran who shouldn’t have any spots to relay his strength did a backflip in mid-air, not only did he dodge the ropes trying to latch on him, he landed on the ground firmly as well.

"Eh?" A strange cry sounded from a far.

An average height man with his hair gelled straight up was looking at Kieran with an astonishing look even with the sunglasses on him.

The man then nodded as if the scene was supposed to unfold like that.

"As expected of the thief that stole the portrait of Aritelgar!" The man said.

The thief that stole Artitelgar’s portrait?

Kieran was shocked for a while, but his movements didn’t stop.

He noticed Kana and Jen was tied down on a side. Lee who went down to get him was still able to move freely but surely he was also under the man’s surveillance.

Plus the man’s impolite actions, it seemed like he wasn’t there for chit-chat, even though there wasn’t a real killer intent from the man, Kieran didn’t plan on getting himself caught.

So, he dashed out towards the man.

Ditko, the huntsman that was deployed by the Funeral Society saw Kieran coming at him. He reached out his hands with a heavy face when he saw Kieran’s speed.

Sou Sou Sou Sou!

The four ropes moved on their own again after missing their target for the first time.

No visible figure was controlling the ropes and they moved all by themselves, flying through the air like snakes with wings, trying to entangle Kieran.

However, the ropes missed yet again, even though Ditko was treating this seriously.

Yet it wasn’t Kieran’s maximum speed. His S- Agility boosted his movement speed beyond any commoner’s imagination, four of the ropes could only catch the dust behind his steps.

Then, an area of darkness enveloped the area like a sudden burst of mist.

[Shadow Cloak]!

A 5-meter radius of supernatural darkness not only hidden Kieran’s figure from sight but almost covered the limited space wholly.

Ditko retreated backward when he saw the darkness descend upon him.

Another rope flew out from his sleeves and started to spin quickly above him, like a propeller of a helicopter. Its loud vibrating sounds was telling everyone present that the strength Ditko exerted into the rope was enormous.

To be honest, Ditko was quite confident of this technique himself. He had once strangled a man’s limbs with his rope and broke his arms multiple times. It was not just a literal breaking of bones but the whole limb torn off by brute force.

So, when Ditko saw Kieran emerged from the darkness before him, trying to reach the spinning rope above him, his heavy expression became slightly relaxed, a victorious grin had appeared on his face as well.

However, the victorious grin was frozen the very next moment. His rope had clearly tangled onto his opponent’s hand but the seemingly common hand of Kieran felt more like an iron forged limb than a man’s hand with flesh and bones.

Kieran’s S- Constitution has also allowed his body to surpass what a common man could achieve, plus the buffs from [Body of Evil], even without any extra talents, it was impossible for the rope to tear his body apart.

Quite the opposite, not only that Ditko’s rope fail to tear Kieran’s limb but Kieran grabbed onto it tightly on the other end, like a strangling eel.

Right off the bat, a burst of flame appeared in Kieran’s palm, burning the rope that he held on to.

It was like burning Ditko himself as he was in shock.

"Hmph!"

The Huntsman from the Funeral Society grunted heavily and staggered backward. His face was overwhelmed by the fact that his rope was burnt to ashes within seconds.

"How is this possible? Ditko yelled loudly.

His rope might seem common but it was actually made out of a certain fiend’s muscles tendons. Not to mention that common fire couldn’t have harmed it, even if the rope was placed in a furnace for a whole night, it will come out unscathed.

However...

"This is no common fire!"

Ditko quickly reacted to the scene as he was grateful for the complete information that the society provided him on Kieran’s abilities.

The huntsman retreated even quicker right away as the thought struck him. Another rope flew out from his sleeve, dragging him away from Kieran quickly.

Kieran, however, didn’t give chase, because it wasn’t necessary.

He raised his left hand, the devil’s flame was burning fiercely. His right hand quickly searched out for the remaining four ropes that wanted to escape through the corner edges.

Each of the ropes struggled with all their might but Kieran’s harder than iron hand clamped them down dead, rendering their struggle useless.

"I’ll count to three!"

Kieran said and moved his left hand with the burning flame nearer to the ropes on his right.

The ropes acted like they were alive, being afraid of the approaching flame.

After the previous battle with the unnamed fiend, the [Controllable Lineage Fire II] has evolved into [Devil Flame].

[Name: Charles’ Fire (Pro)]

[Related Attribute: None]

[Skill Type: Offense]

[Effect: Create an Average attack devil flame on your left hand, able to burn continuously. Common water and sand can’t extinguish the flame. Has the special ability to burn souls and devour life energy.]

[Special Effect: Devil Flame (Your bloodline has hee element of fire. It is your gift and also the proof of your identity. You ignite the devil flame with an attack from None, Feeble, Weak, Average at will. After charging for 4 seconds, attack of the flame +1, has small chances to trigger Flame Burst effect on enemies.]

[Consume: Stamina]

[Prerequisite: Constitution A]

[Remark: This is a spell without incantations, casting gesture and casting time. A skill created by the alchemy master fusing ancient hidden knowledge together!]

[Note: You have acquired this skill through learning, not through a Skill Book. Therefore, you cannot upgrade it with Points and Skill Points. If you want to level it up, you will need to continue learning or acquire a Skill Book!]

...

The devil’s flame, able to burn souls and devour life.

Although Kieran wasn’t sure what the rope before his eyes was, after burning one of them down, the Huntsman was shocked as if he was struck by thunder.

Kieran caught the expression in his eyes clearly.

He only burned one of the ropes, what about all four together?

Even if it wouldn’t kill the Huntsman, it would steal his ability to escape as well.

Kieran knew he had the situation under control, so the counting started.

"One!"

"Two!"

Right after the second count, Ditko appeared again at the corridor without even reaching the third.

"I surrender!"

"I thought I could use the huntsman privilege from the Funeral Society to get myself the rights to enslave from getting a ransom."

Ditko said loudly with his hands up in the air.

Kieran replied, however, was a hand-chop without any mercy.

Pak!

Ditko fell to the ground as the chop sounded, the ropes then ceased to struggle right after.

Kieran grabbed Ditko by the neck and dragged him beside the well.

"Come out now!" Kieran said to Lee after he saw Lee popping his head out from the well.

"Yes, Great Sir Bird of Death!" Lee altered the address to Kieran without knowing.

After witnessing the battle of Kieran with a huntsman from the society, he knew Kieran wasn’t a common huntsman since he wasn’t an idiot himself. Kieran might very well be a true Hunter.

Lee knew how he should behave and what he should do against a real Hunter.

"I suppose you have something to tell me?" Kieran said slowly.

Lee bitterly smiled instantly.