The Devil's Cage

When half a man's height worth of scrolls was taken out, the air suddenly froze.

Rorl widened his eyes at the sight of the scrolls, his lips were shaking, he was trying to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

Bloody Mary and Server IV, who were supposed to be engaged in a fierce fight, stopped as though they forgot about the conflict. They stared blankly at the scrolls as if they were paralyzed.

Bloody Mary knew a bit about Starbeck, it knew Starbeck was very wealthy, but as for how wealthy, it had no idea.

The scene before the High Demon's eyes gave it a general idea of the wealth behind Starbeck's family.

Compared to Bloody Mary, Server IV only knew Starbeck by the rumors.

Rich, cowardly, harmless.

Those three significant points that described Starbeck's personality.

Server IV felt disdain for the rumored Starbeck, though.

Rich?

Being rich in the big city couldn't allow one to do anything he liked, and Server IV genuinely believed in that saying.

Even more so, when he got stronger, he looked down at weaklings like Starbeck from the bottom of his heart.

Starbeck was filthy rich, so what?

Death would still be waiting if he couldn't clear a dungeon!

So when Sin-server, the Supernova organization, gave him the mission, he accepted it without a second thought. He thought he could easily capture Starbeck because he believed he was strong enough.

However, the scene before his eyes numbed his scalp thoroughly, he started to doubt his own existence.

How the hell did he get so many scrolls? And all of them were high-rank items!

With his excellent eyesight, Server IV could tell the scrolls were the real deal, and each one of them was a highly valuable item.

Because of that, it confused him even more. How did Starbeck get his hands on so many scrolls that 9also he had a hard time finding?

In doubt, Server IV suddenly remember a phrase that he heard a long time ago—

You couldn't buy it? It's because you aren't paying enough!

Run! He had no chance against this pay-to-win player!

Server IV made up his mind when he remembered the phrase and as for the punishment from the organization after failing his mission?

He would cross that bridge when he came to it.

After all, if he couldn't escape the situation at hand, there would not even be a chance to punish him.

Server IV turned around and ran. The bloody shine on his body boosted his speed, making him far faster than any other regular players; Bloody Mary couldn't have caught up with him.

Rorl?

After aiming for almost the whole time, he fired a shot, and he missed…

Just when Server IV almost ran out of sight, Starbeck, who was nervous under the gazes, finally came back to his senses.

He gave up the thought of pulling out the other stack of scrolls and picked one, which he kept close instead. He tore it and waved it at Server IV, who was a tiny dot in the distance.

Huu! Huuu! Fuuuu!

As he fled the scene with haste and the wind was grazing his ears, Server IV was slightly relieved. But whenever he thought of the previous scene, he, who considered himself above others, felt anger and greed.

He was angry because he was insulted by the weaklings that he looked down on.

He felt greedy because he thought about the value of that stack of scrolls.

If the scrolls were his, he would get a new best rating in his next dungeon.

With the thought in mind, it gave birth to a plan.

"Just you wait! Next time! Next time, I will get everything from you!"

A vicious grin hung over Server IV's face, and then, it froze.

No! Not his vicious grin, but the wind around him!

The formless wind suddenly hardened, it became heavy and sharp.

The next moment…

The hardened wind spun like a vortex!

Server IV, who was in the middle of the hardened wind, felt like he was inside a washing machine, being thrown around and spun. Each time he turned, the sharp, heavy wind would leave a bloody wound on his body.

His bloody shine was still protecting him, though, or more precisely, the bloody shine protected him from an instant kill, thus leaving Server IV with small cuts on his body, for the time being.

Any kind of defense had its limit and when the bloody shine shattered…

"Aaaaargh!"

Blood and flesh splattered all over the ground, myriads of invisible cuts tore the body apart.

Before Server IV died, the excruciating pain was something he never felt before, his agonizing scream caused Rorl, who ran over to check the situation, shrink his neck back.

"T-This is really cruel!" Rorl stuttered.

"Cruel? You should be grateful that the guy with the scrolls wasn't hurt by this bastard; otherwise, you'd find out what cruel really means." Bloody Mary pouted.

Since the High Demon was the emissary of evil, kindness was absent from its heart, let alone the so-called empathy. Especially when it thought about the potential trouble that this Server IV might bring it, it wished that Server IV could die more harshly.

When Server IV's powerful life force was ground into nothing, the blood and flesh disintegrated into white particles of light.

There was nothing special and no exception, the only thing that stood out was that Server IV became the first living being that Starbeck killed.

Starbeck was slightly stunned by the death notification that followed.

Panic, fear, a loss of what to do next.

The mixed negative feelings drowned his cowardly and nervous heart.

He was really lost at the moment. Instinctively, he wanted to send a message to Kieran, he hoped Kieran would provide him with some answers, and maybe comfort.

But before he could, a familiar feeling rose in his heart. He looked around, trying to locate that familiar figure, but nothing came into view.

"Am I overthinking?"

Starbeck muttered to himself, he started to search his surroundings with a more meticulous gaze.

Starbeck himself didn't even notice that the negative feelings went away with his concentrated search.

...

Scary! Horrifying!

How can a guy like him stay hidden for so long?

Can it be that other guy's trap?

A man was shuttling along the shadows, his eyes were slightly frightened, and his breathing was hurried.

He came to the area just in case things went south, so he didn't think he would witness something so horrifying.

"But! Do you think a bunch of scrolls can make you undefeatable?"

"Naive bastard! There are too many ways to get around those scrolls, so…"

The man stopped in the shadows cast by the building under the sun. He thought he was safe for the time being, so he quickly calmed down while muttering to himself in a malicious and ferocious tone.

Then…

A long fair palm slowly came out from the shadow behind the man, grabbing him by the neck. The fingers of the palm tightened all of a sudden, and suffocation instantly brought death to the man.

Crak!

Amidst the bone-cracking sound, white particles of light scattered into the air.

A dark figure slowly appeared under the light.

Starbeck, who was searching for that familiar figure, turned around right away as though they were connected through a special link. At that exact moment, he saw the figure under the fading light particles.

"2567!"

Starbeck waved his hand in happiness and ran over.