The Devil's Cage

From the moment Scarlet appeared, Victor and You hadn't moved their eyes away from him, noticing the unusual reaction on its skull face the very first moment.

Victor moved his body subtly to try to have a look behind him. You glued her eyes at the skull face, worried that it did it on purpose.

However, when Victor saw there was really someone behind him and got a clear look on the face, he was surprised by the breathtaking features.

The handsome face on the man was out of this world, like the murals and stained glass in churches that depicted deities and angels.

However, the clothes he wore were old and broken. The edge of the windcoat was badly damaged, threads sticking out around holes. The same went for his pants around the knees. His boots were even dirtier, as though he had stepped on vomit.

If Victor hadn't seen his face and only scanned over his bad attire, he would assume the man was a drunkard with heavy addiction.

Victor was sizing up Anna and vice versa.

Huh?

Almost instantaneously, Anna realized something wasn't right about Victor.

Victor's eyes were as pure as water, as if he was a newborn. There wasn't the sense of secrets and hidden motives behind them, all the gaze showed was purity and liveliness.

What had happened?

Anna had no idea.

You finally turned around and saw Anna, crying out in shock, "Lord Anna?!"

"Anna?" Victor jolted before he looked at You with a questioning gaze.

"Lord Anna is one of the high ranks of the Herders, he is very powerful," You explained softly.

"Which means we are safe?" Victor heaved a breath of relief.

"No! Lord Anna is actually one of the few 'enemies' you had—he always thinks you were hiding something or some kind of hidden motives, but he had no evidence to prove it, so he had always been passive about it. But now…"

Before You even finished, Victor bitterly laughed.

It was obvious that this Anna came to him in a hurry after his 'plan was exposed'.

As for what?

The answer was obvious.

Victor grabbed You and slowly moved aside. Scarlet didn't move, Anna didn't move, and soon, the three different parties formed a triangle in the middle of the road.

Victor and You looked at Scarlet and Anna in utmost cautious.

As for the other two?

They ignored the man and ghost as they only had each other in their eyes.

An invisible aura emanated from Scarlet and Anna, forcing Victor and You back further.

You's body started to fade, and the effect on Victor was even more obvious: he couldn't breath and his limbs started to harden, as if he was drowning in deep waters.

"Lord Victor, you are only suffering like this because your soul is damaged and you lost your memories, otherwise you would be this strong too!" You comforted Victor.

Victor understood her crystal clear, so the bitter smile on his face grew heavier.

When You mentioned the word 'strong', Victor didn't pay much attention before, but now he had a slight understanding of what 'strong' represented.

'Was I like this before I lost my memories?

Who the hell am I really?'

Questions popped up in Victor's mind, one after another, swelling his temples and blanking over in his mind.

"Aargh!"

A painful cry came from Victor and then he fell on the ground.

You turned around and checked on him, the cry of pain like a signal for Scarlet to make its move.

Scarlet didn't go for Anna, it went after the fallen Victor.

It was so fast that it moved like a dash of red light in the dark, appearing before Victor in an instant and trying to grab the shocked Victor.

"Go away!"

You raised her hand and unleashed her gloomy aura, turning it into a dark gale that was blown at Scarlet.

However, Scarlet didn't even dodge, flying through the gale and reaching out to Victor.

Right before Scarlet landed its skeletal hand on Victor's neck, a fair palm grabbed the skeletal hand instead. Anna appeared beside Scarlet without it knowing.

"I'm sorry, he is important to us, I can't let you take him away." Even against his enemies, Anna spoke as softly as usual.

"Hmph!" Scarlet grunted and exerted more strength, yet Anna clamped the skeletal hands tighter. It wasn't just its whole skeleton, even its strength from its soul was locked down. Scarlet couldn't use its strength at all, and as seconds went by, Scarlet shockingly realized the power that it had cultivated for a hundred years was slowly slipping away.

"Get your hands off!" Scarlet shrieked.

"I can't do that unless you promise me you won't harm Victor," Anna shook his head.

"Keep dreaming!" Scarlet shouted out of anger.

How could it give up on its target just like that!

Victor was the bastard responsible for all of its efforts going to waste!

It ought to squeeze out the location of the treasures of Ring City from Victor and then skin him alive! It didn't even want to spare Victor's soul. Victor would hope that he was dead instead!

Hatred!

Hatred that could shroud the sky made Scarlet ditch the fake mask that it put on during other times. It didn't want to meander around and wait anymore, it wanted to simply rip Victor's limbs first as interest for its revenge!

"DIE!"

The soul fire in its eye sockets burned fiercely, as though it was coming out any second.

The minimal flesh on its skull even started to twitch under the anger, some bursting into blood and dripping onto the ground.

Scarlet conjured the hidden power in its body, wanting to go all out with this weird guy that grabbed its hand, but before it could finish its casting, it suddenly realized something was not right with the man.

That kind and warm face of his suddenly seemed... sick?

His hand started to loosen up, and his power, which had been canceling Scarlet's, started to fade.

'What happened?

A trap?

Is he trying to lure me into making a move?'

Scarlet looked at Anna in doubts, it didn't move recklessly, but then…

Ough!

Anna couldn't hold back the disgust anymore once he saw the blood on Scarlet's face, throwing up right away.

Before this, Anna had eaten an energy bar after his stomach got better, but now he vomited it out in a gooey, disgusting state with some stomach juice, splashing Scarlet's face completely.

The sticky and smelly vomit dripped from Scarlet's skull to its thin cheeks before it fell to the ground.

Scarlet was petrified. From the moment it came back to life, it had never been attacked like this.

It was fair to consider this was the first time Scarlet felt heavy disgust from the bottom of its soul.

If possible, it would rather not experience something like this. It would rather get beaten to the ground than have vomit on its face.

Insult!

Shame!

The disgust from its soul transformed those two emotions into rage, as if its soul had erupted like a volcano.

"I will kill you! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Scarlet shouted in anger.

"I am so sorry!"

Anna expressed his apologies with utmost sincerity yet he couldn't help but vomit again onto Scarlet's face.

Ough!

The sticky vomit sprayed all over its face again.

The power in his body was getting softer and he might very well throw up again, therefore Anna released Scarlet right away and grabbed Victor and You before running.

Anna had no confidence in winning against Scarlet after throwing up like this.

"To Leaf Dining! Someone will be able to help us there!" You said softly.

She clearly felt how powerful Scarlet was, common Herders weren't even a match to its ferocity.

Other than the unpredictable Dark Dominator, who they unfortunately couldn't locate anymore, there was probably only one person left that could rival the red skull: the Bird of Death that the Dark Dominator served.

She knew where to find this Bird of Death.

Therefore, even if this unawakened Bird of Death wasn't a match to the red skull, the powerful Dark Dominator wouldn't sit back and watch either, he would surely intervene.

With that thought in her mind, You spoke with confidence.

Although Anna was rather curious and confused as to why the restaurant that he had just been to had the power that could rival the red skull, he clearly sensed the confidence and firm beliefs in You, so Anna ran straight to Leaf Dining.

Could it be the chef?

Anna hastened his steps while guessing.

Even though his body was weak and sore after vomiting, Anna's speed shouldn't be looked down upon. Right after Scarlet wiped the vomit away from its face, Anna had vanished into the horizon.

Scarlet laughed ferociously at the direction where Anna ran off.

The red skull too vanished at the next moment and when everybody went away, Kieran and Bloody Mary walked out from beside.

"What a surprising attack," Bloody Mary exclaimed.

"Scared of blood?" Kieran muttered before he too vanished.

Bloody Mary knew where its boss was going but it didn't follow.

It realized the identity of Dark Dominator was rather useful, so it ought to prepare for a bit to maximize its effectiveness.

...

Back in Leaf Dining, other than Amy, who had stayed behind, Li Jiajia was working to close shop.

After wiping the last stool on the floor, Li Jiajia happily headed to the kitchen.

'Run!

Run now!"

The signs of calamity have appeared!'

The voice in her head spoke again.

Li Jiajia didn't even care.

What run? What calamity?

It was all a bluff!

However, that voice was screaming to Li Jiajia tirelessly and it was more persistent than ever, forcing Li Jiajia to pause.

"Shu up!" Li Jiajia shouted back.

Although she was very frustrated with the voice in her head, after spending a lot of time together, she learned how to 'communicate' with this voice.

'No! The calamity…'

"Shut up! If you don't shut up, I'll ask teacher or the boss to pull you out from my body," Li Jiajia said.

Her words worked on the voice effectively, it became quiet right away.

Li Jiajia heaved a breath of relief, feeling better after venting her frustration. She continued into the kitchen.

She liked the period of time after the shop closed because she could train her cooking as much as she liked and her teacher would be with her, teaching her all of his knowledge.

However, today was a little special. She saw her teacher together with her boss in the kitchen.

She didn't know why her boss would be up here after he said he was training underground, but she knew all she had to do was keep quiet and smile.

"One sec, I have to deal with some problems," Kieran said to Starbeck after he came back to the restaurant before Anna.

"Mm. I cooked soup for you, I even added some new herbs that I mixed up earlier... it's good for your body," Starbeck nodded with a smile.

Starbeck became used to these kinds of danger-filled days after he followed Kieran around.

In fact, this little danger was nothing at all. Those ambushes that Kieran didn't even have the chance to warn him about had happened way too often, yet nothing happened to him.

Therefore, Starbeck kept calm and continued minding his own business.

Kieran smiled and then walked back out, nodding at Li Jiajia when he walked past her.

Although Li Jiajia had something weird in her body, he knew this 'something' was just a thought, a consciousness.

In short, this voice knew what it should say and what it shouldn't.

The curtain of the kitchen was put down again.

Phew!

Li Jiajia took a long breath.

"Teacher, don't you feel a pressure when you face the boss every time?" Li Jiajia asked Starbeck.

Her heart would throb every time she saw Kieran, like she was in the wilderness in the middle of the black night, empty and silent yet filled with danger.

"A little bit at first, but I slowly got used to it. He is a... kind person, it's just that he isn't that good at expressing it," Starbeck said with a smile.

"Really? Maybe because you are his little brother. As an older brother, it is his responsibility to take special care of you, right?" Li Jiajia asked with a tilted head.

"Big brother?" Starbeck smiled and shook his head.

Li Jiajia couldn't understand the shake, but she could tell whenever her teacher mentioned her boss, his face would look kinder than usual.

The special bond between each other?

With that thought in heart, Li Jiajia walked to the chopping board and started a new lesson with Starbeck's guidance.

Meanwhile, at the floor of the restaurant, Kieran concentrated on his preparation.

He did not let the outside voice distract himself, so he did not hear anything in the kitchen.

"What's wrong?"

Amy, who stayed behind, saw Kieran walk out from the kitchen and sharply noticed something wasn't right.

"Go wait in the kitchen. Trouble is coming," Kieran said calmly.

"Okay," Amy accepted the suggestion obediently and went inside the kitchen. She had been through dozens of special incidents now, so she was smarter than before.

The next moment, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Bang!

The door was rammed open.

Anna, with Victor and You in his hand, rammed in.

Behind them was the red skull, Scarlet.

"Are you the owner of this restaurant?" Victor got up on his feet after some struggle and asked.

"Yes, I am," Kieran took a sip of tea from his cup and then pointed at the broken door, "that will be 1000."