The Devil's Cage

Badum, Badum, Badum!

When Kieran touched [Broken Io Mirror], his heart beat rapidly.

It wasn't the rampant Devil Force, it wasn't the wicked Cardinal Sins Force and not the tenacious and matching Dawn and Plague Force.

The beating was caused by Saint Thorn Force!

Saint Thorn Force was shadowed heavily by Devil Force and Cardinal Sins Force, it was the most inconspicuous and yet it was something that one should not oversee.

Whenever Kieran had to activate Saint Thorn's skill, it would mean that he was in a desperate situation and he would have to rely on reflective damage to seize a breathing window.

Therefore, most of the time, Saint Thorn Force was treated as a semi-trump card.

His trump cards were the at the top of his priority, he knew what he should do with it.

Kieran felt the liveliness of Saint Thorn Force.

[Broken Io Mirror] turned into light and flowed inside his body under his watch.

Saint Thorn Force surged the moment the light was absorbed.

Simultaneously, Kieran took out the [Dark Gold Stone (Small)] and allowed Gluttony to consume it.

Balance was what Kieran sought for all five of his Origin Forces.

Otherwise, no matter how special his Fusion Heart was or how many hearts he had, he could never bear the consequences of the Origin Forces going out of control.

In order to be prepared for what was coming, Kieran had simulated the possible situations more than once in his head and what he should do to overcome it.

The sudden surge of a single Origin Force was part of the simulation also.

After all, regardless of Devil Force or Cardinal Sins Force, both were always surprising, especially the former.

The rampant, untamed, and chaotic characteristic built up the cautiousness in his ever vigilant heart.

However, Kieran never thought that his countermeasures set up for Devil Force would be used on Saint Thorn Force instead.

It was good news for him though, compared to the rampant Devil Force that would seize the chance to grow, the reserved Saint Thorn Force was milder and better to deal with.

Gluttony converted the energy from Dark Gold Stone into Devil, Cardinal Sins, Dawn, and Plague Force.

All four of the Origin Forces gathered around Saint Thorn Force at Kieran's will.

Instantaneously, it formed a weird balance but was broken shortly after by the ever surging Saint Thorn Force.

This kind of situation was also expected. Kieran quickly initiated his backup plan,

Gluttony got out from the Cardinal Sins Force and wobbled his way to the seaside cliff.

A knight in full armor was sitting at the cliff and in front of the knight was a translucent shard, as tall as two men combined, emanating unrivaled energy.

"T-This is that thing? Gluttony stuttered.

It wasn't fear or nerves that made Gluttony stutter, it was his habitual saliva swallowing.

"Em. It's unexpectedly powerful and… fitting."

The knight nodded as he gazed at the giant shard, his eyes showing doubt and astonishment.

He showed doubt because there was an energy similar to his own.

He felt astonished because of how vast the energy was.

Gluttony didn't care about the knight's thoughts, he was drooling at the shard.

"It must be delicious!"

Gluttony then jumped on the shard.

The knight did not stop him, he knew Gluttony was on his side.

In short, the knight was also part of Kieran, so he knew what he should do.

An outsider versus an ally.

Consume the outsider to buff the ally.

Allow the outsider to roam free and his ally might face destruction.

The choice was self-explanatory.

Gluttony landed a bite on the giant shard, feeling like he was eating a crispy waffle with fillings inside it. It was crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Gluttony started to nibble, satisfaction filling his heart right away and making his eyes glint.

There were only a handful of food that could provide him with this kind of satisfaction and once such food appeared, it would be good.

Eagerly, Gluttony widened his mouth.

Kak!

Crunch, Crunch!

Mouth after mouth, bite after bite.

The shards filled his mouth. Gluttony had to munch a little longer, which was rare for him, before he could swallow and convert them into the 4 Origin Forces.

All the other 4 Origin Forces grew together with Saint Thorn Force.

Kieran stood on the spot and savoured the growth. He meticulously controlled the situation and dared not be careless.

The captive who Gluttony stepped on earlier, his eyes were spinning.

A repulsion?

The captive knew some secrets, looking at Kieran, who did not budge in the process, and knew what was happening. The captive showed a ferocious smile, trying to climb up and complete his mission.

An immoral act?

A cheap move?

Moral and glory never existed in the captive's mind.

Those were the values that got in between him and completing his mission and when they hindered his progress, he would discard those values in hell!

A knife appeared in his hand, trying to get close to Kieran to test the waters first, and when he realized Kieran couldn't react to anything, he jumped on him.

Splash!

The hand holding the knife was cut off from the wrist, the palm falling down on the ground.

The captive was stunned, looking down instinctively and suddenly realizing it wasn't just his hand holding the knife that fell off, his other hand and both legs were also on the ground. The captive fell like a broken puppet.

'When did this…'

The captive was shocked, pain drowning him like the tide.

He ought to scream in pain but a hand sliced over his neck.

Pak!

Blood gushed out from his neck, screams replaced by a spraying noise and the falling head.

Splat!

The head fell on the ground and rolled away into the shadow. Bloody Mary shook the blood away from its hand and did not care about the headless body.

Although he was an important captive, he tried to kill Kieran, so he deserved to die!

Bloody Mary and Kieran had signed countless contracts now, and should anything happen to Kieran, it would be the end of its ranting days.

Its life was tiresome now but at least it was better than being wiped away from existence.

As long as it could still walk, it would have a chance, right?

With that thought in mind, Bloody Mary looked at the shadows beside Kieran. It showed a happy look before disappearing.

Slicing noise came from the shadows, body after body falling to the ground and blood flowing like a river, converging into an endless stream.

The red liquid flowed along the seams on the ground, flowing closer to Kieran but before the blood touched Kieran, White Jack appeared with a water bucket and a mop. The skeleton started to mop the ground and wash away the blood around Kieran.

'I am not strong but I am hard working!

As long as I work hard, my lord will understand my efforts!'

White Jack worked even harder as the simple thought brewed in its skull.

Hence, a weird scene occurred in the battle field: Freezer and Bloodman were engaging in a bloody fight further away, bodies kept falling out of the shadows, and a white skeleton was cleaning the blood on the ground.

The scene caused Cymilaide to twitch bitterly.

Even though he knew this trip wasn't a company sponsored trip, he never thought he would run into such a weird scene.

'What is with that skeleton?

Some special model of house cleaning android? Or some other kind of unknown assembled being?'

Promptly after that, Cymilaide was captured by the battle in the shadows. He was able to see through the shadow and saw Bloody Mary appearing in and out of the shadows, jumping up and down.

A moment ago, Bloody Mary was in front of its target but a moment later, it was behind and decapitated the target. Its way of battle caused Cymilaide's scalp to feel numb, because he could see Bloody Mary but was unable to capture the movements where it appeared and disappeared.

An excellent assassin!

After the comment from his heart, Cymilaide raised his hands up in the air without a second thought and stated his stand.

Everyone has a different stand, it represented the different choices people made.

Cymilaide chose to follow his heart but someone else would rather face the danger head on because they viewed this as a chance.

Harkend from Printon stepped out boldly from his hiding spot.

This super criminal who fled to Priton and settled down there had superior knowledge towards his kind. He was tall, buff, and ferocious looking, with all sorts of weird tattoos on his body.

Without a second thought, Harkend dashed towards Kieran after he came out.

The white skeleton? He did not care, he would crush the skeleton easily.

The assassin in the shadows? Someone else would hold that monster back.

As for himself, all he needed to do was to crush his target!

Gaawr!

A loud shout later, the already tall and buff Harkend transformed into a 2.5 meters tall monster covered in muscles that surpassed human limits.

He lowered his head and tilted his body vertically, anchoring his shoulder and elbow as he entered his running stance.

Kabam!

His large body created a loud air-breaking whistle as he ran.

His shoulder and elbow were as tough as a siege weapon, aiming towards Kieran.

White Jack saw the charging Harkend. It threw the mop and water bucket forward with an arching trail, and then followed that with the broom, dustpan, wiping cloth, tea pot, tea cups, chairs and cushion.

Harkend was covered by the miscellaneous items in an instant but they weren't any use.

The items were destroyed to pieces by the powerful charging force.

The soul fire inside White Jack's eye sockets started to jump violently.

It wasn't able to stop the charging monster! It understood the fact when it saw Harkend charging at Kieran, throwing all the items were just to stall him down.

Should White Jack continue to stand in front of Kieran, it would be crushed, not metaphorically but literally.

But should it step away from Kieran, it also knew what the consequences were that it would face after this.

Distrust! White Jack would be expelled away from the fierce competitive follower and companion circle! It didn't want to be sidelined, it wanted to be recognized and admired, only then it could grow stronger!

After all, even if all its bones were crushed, it still had a chance to survive it.

It was a give and take situation!

Try to get the benefits from Kieran while not showing any efforts?

Impossible!

Do or die!

The soul fire in White Jack's eye sockets burned in determination.

The black wagon was summoned in front of Kieran, White Jack hoped on it and shook the reins.

Hyak!

A loud shout later, the wagon too charged towards Harkend like an arrow let loose.

"Fool!"

Harkend laughed coldly, not stepping back against the wagon, instead hastening his steps.

He could crush a speeding truck to bits, let alone a fragile wagon.

The wagon and Harkend were getting closer.

There was less than a meter between them in less than a breath's time.

White Jack got a clear look at Harkend's ferocious, monstrous expression, able to hear the heavy breathing and see his killer gaze.

White Jack felt scared from the bottom of its fire, but it did not regret the decision.

What use would it be to regret now?

Hyak!

It shook the reins again, the wagon traveled even faster. Even if there was a high chance that White Jack couldn't stop Harkend, it ought to create some trouble for him.

The wagon crashed onto Harkend, but there was no explosive bang. Harkend disappeared. He disappeared under many pairs of eyes!

What happened?

Cymilaide widened his, trying to search for Harkend.

He knew Harkend had total control of his muscles and if Harkend would go all out, he would be as tough as a cannonball that could crush a tank..

Harkend was wanted by the Union because he broke into the allegedly indestructible gold vault. He ultimately fled to Printon City and laid low.

Cymilaide didn't know what happened to Harkend in Printon but he did not dare underestimate Harkend's arrival.

Everyone ought to know what Printon City held.

Now, Harkend vanished under that many eyes.

How did that skeleton do it?

Cymilaide looked at White Jack driving the wagon, his face looking heavy.

He suddenly thought of White Jack's ability of simply pulling out cleaning instruments from its bones.

The ability to control space was rare and it was even rarer to encounter an Extraordinary individual that could keep such a large volume!

Coupled with that excellent assassin, what kind of deadly outcomes could both of them bring?

More importantly, both of them served under one man.

Instantly, Cymilaide increased Kieran's danger level higher.

While Cymilaide was being cautious about Kieran, Harkend kept charging forward and did not stop despite his surroundings having become a library.

'Illusion? I'll just crush it!'

With the thought in mind, Harkend saw a little girl in a pink lolita dress and twintail blonde hair sobbing further away. He grinned and charged even faster.

"I'll crush you!" Harkend shouted.

He was fond of murdering these kinds of pure and harmless innocent people, providing him with an unusual satisfaction.

"Sob sob sob, what an ugly man, sob sob sob is scared. Go away! Sob sob sob!"

The little girl covered her head in one hand and waved the other hand, as though she was afraid.

Harkend was aroused when the sobbing entered his ears, the meaty cheeks of his starting to flutter.

That was until his expression froze!

The little girl's hand rapidly grew into the size of a millstone in an instant and more importantly, it was darker, bigger, thicker and stronger than Harkend's!

As though a typhoon blew, the gigantic palm smashed the charging Harkend

KABAM!

Harkend fought the palm more than a second before it was smashed away like a baseball.

He flew back where he came from.

He came with an intact body and left with a broken one.

He flew out from the void and crashed into a terrace before he landed on a hill of rubble. He was dumbstruck.

What happened? His life was hanging on a thread and his mind was drowned by questions.

Strange energy started to flow out of Harkend after the crash. Someone or something inside the energy used Harkend's body to watch Kieran, who was standing further away with his eyes closed.

Right in time, Kieran opened his eyes.