The Devil's Cage

Vanessa, Lady Thorn's other name.

She who should have fallen with the other Gods of Naveya appeared before the High Demon, Bloody Mary.

While looking at the silent Lady Thorn walking closer, Bloody Mary's heart was filled with sourness, intertwined with its complicated thoughts. In the end, all the complicated emotions transformed into sadness and anger.

It knew when its contractor sent it northbound, it wouldn't be for anything good. Every single time, unexpected situations occured. Likewise, Bloody Mary's death rate surged to the point that it was numbed by its demise.

Of course, if it could be spared, even once, Bloody Mary would always want to stay alive.

It smiled at Lady Thorn as she walked even closer.

Then…

Fuaaa!

The blizzard got fiercer. The hidden power in the blizzard revealed itself and froze Bloody Mary upon contact, turning it into a ghastly ice statue.

The dry smile on its ugly face was perfectly preserved under a layer of ice, but right away, Bloody Mary freed itself from the ice encasing it with its own 'natural gifts'.

Death wasn't a stranger to Bloody Mary. The unfamiliar thing was that after its latest death, it didn't return to Kieran, still standing on the spot.

Bloody Mary breathed heavily, its throat dry. Although it knew its powers were heavily suppressed by the environment, it hadn't expected it to be this serious.

"Lady Vanessa, I think we should have a good talk."

Bloody Mary tried to stall but Lady Thorn didn't want to talk, waving her hand and freezing the High Demon again.

As usual, Bloody Mary broke free, but the blizzard followed it closely like a shadow.

Bloody Mary's face almost turned green at the inevitable blizzard attack.

It was true that the High Demon was undead, at least in the common knowledge, but undead didn't mean painless.

Each time Bloody Mary died, it was a relatively painful experience and dying out of sheer coldness did not make fond memories.

After dying twice in a row and a third impending, the fourth would come soon enough. Once the thought entered Bloody Mary's mind, it discarded the last bit of scruples.

Due to the special environment, it was robbed of its countermeasures but that didn't mean Bloody Mary had lost its 'ability to counter'.

"Come on! Come on! Whatever you do to me now will surely happen to you in the future! My boss will not spare you, you arrogant hag! You think you are so secretive, that no one noticed you? Let me tell you, every single move you made was within my boss' expectations, you are destined to lose from the beginning!"

Bloody Mary scolded Lady Thorn relentlessly and amid its furious verbal attacks, Bloody Mary had been frozen four times, with each time faster and fiercer than the one before.

At first, Bloody Mary was frozen into an ice statue. Then, as the kill increased, the moment it was frozen, it was smashed to bits. Bloody Mary had experienced being torn apart more than once in such a short period of time.

The excruciating pain didn't stop its verbal attacks though, unleashing itself and scolding frenzily.

It was dead anyway, might as well savour the moment.

"You ugly old hag! You hideous old witch that hides with the rats! I bet you are rotten under that skin, you are nothing but an empty shell! Go look into the mirror if you dare!"

The scolding came furiously, Bloody Mary feeling exceptionally happy. It looked at the silent Lady Thorn and its heart was filled with joy.

A God? So what?

The mastermind behind the scene? So what?

Bloody Mary's furious scoldings shut her up and rendered her speechless.

The joy in its heart made its scoldings faster and harsher, but when it sensed a sudden surge of energy that frightened itself around Lady Thorn, it quickly shut up.

The energy that it sensed could very well threaten its core power, making an awkward smile appear on its face.

"Uhh… I…I don't know what happened. Those words just slipped out of my mouth. I always speak differently when I am nervous, I don't mean what I just said. You are beautiful, elegant, graceful, and can overthrow a city with a smile. A goddess like you will forgive my little mistake right? Your skin is as smooth as silk, as fair as milk, and when you look into the mirror, even the reflection seems dull."

Bloody Mary tried its best to flatter Lady Thorn, but it was useless.

The energy that could threaten its existence rapidly gathered. Bloody Mary then shut up, wisely sensing no words could save it now. Lady Thorn was seriously going to wipe it away from existence.

'So it's time? I, the unpaid, with no holidays or no bonus, a slave to my contractor, just a pitiful soul, am finally returning to nothingness? I guess it's not too bad. But… I'd feel a little regretful if I return to nothingness like this.'

When the ferocious energy in the blizzard was unleashed at Bloody Mary, it raised two of its middle fingers at Lady Thorn.

As though Bloody Mary's middle fingers were an igniting fuse, the moment it put up its middle fingers, the energy in the blizzard exploded.

Bloody Mary was drowned like dirt.

Snow as big as a fist flew everywhere, blocking the already poor sight of the High Demon.

The wind was as sharp as a knife, slicing its skin, cut after cut, inducing freezing pain onto its body.

And then there was… heat?!

Pain?

Heat?!

I didn't die?!

Bloody Mary opened its shut eyes into a little seam and saw that familiar black figure right in front of its eyes.

Amid the white snow, the black was abruptly standing in the middle, brewing a blazing flame that burned not only the icy weather but also torched the violent wind.

The ferocious energy that could threaten its life vanished under the Devil Flame.

Peace. Bloody Mary felt peace like it had never known before when it saw the black figure and a never before felt gratefulness gushed up from the bottom of its heart.

"I knew it! I knew you'd come for me boss!" Bloody Mary cried out in gratefulness.

"Em. You are useful and valuable," Kieran nodded and replied in a direct way.

Bloody Mary's smile always fell off its face when it heard those words.

"If you can keep the last part to yourself, I'd be utterly grateful," Bloody Mary pouted.

It was the best resistance that Bloody Mary could put up against Kieran, not daring to do anything ridiculous like voicing its dissatisfaction. Though, the suffocating feeling was very hard for it to bear.

Fortunately, there was another viable target to vent out its sourness.

Standing behind Kieran, Bloody Mary popped its head over Kieran's shoulder and gave a middle finger to Lady Thorn, who was further away.

"I was nervous again just now, so you rotten old ugly hag, you witch! Come on! Come at me sista! Come at me if you dare!"

The High Demon clamoured and provoked and the presence around Lady Thorn rumbled fiercely

Bloody Mary shrunk its head behind Kieran's back again, but Lady Thorn didn't make a move.

She looked at Kieran and Kieran looked at her.

"Who are you?" Kieran asked with furrowed brows.