The Devil's Cage

He was up against a lady who flaunted her beautiful figure in front of him, but Kieran didn't even look at her.

He picked up his spoon, scooped up a portion of the chocolate ice-cream and shoved it into his mouth. While the cocoa flavour spread in his tongue, Kieran only squinted his eyes and looked up.

"Bella? Who? I don't remember," Kieran said.

Bella, who was used to flaunting her body in her 'talking techniques', froze for a moment.

"You are really a joker. We just met not too long ago. Did you forget [Barrier Water]? Besides, our intel tells us you are not a forgetful person."

Bella returned to normal after her little mishap, her tone sounding a little cheeky, as though she was acting coquettishly, but Kieran wasn't moved.

Kieran looked at Bella in silence.

His calm eyes gave Bella tremendous pressure.

Even with the system's blur, Bella instinctively chose to keep away her smile and sat straight, as though she was petrified.

In Bella's mind, that black monster had started to come alive again.

As a matter of fact, she had been 'seeing' the monster in her head, picturing the monster's opened mouth, ready to eat her.

Huuaaa, Huaaa!

Hurried breathing sounded, Bella's straight sitting posture started to shake, sweat unconsciously filling her forehead.

"Since you people know that I am not a forgetful person, then you should know that I don't like being followed," Kieran said.

"We did not follow you! We are following Borl!" Bella explained.

"Following him and appearing before me… is there a difference?" Kieran asked back. Bella was speechless.

She started to regret acting on her own. Her initial mission was just to watch Borl, but when she noticed Borl was meeting Kieran, she altered her plan in the hope of finding some clues.

After all, Borl was a member of the Guardian in the earlier days, an indispensable part of their plan—anything that happened to him would surely affect their entire plan and it was something Bella would not allow, hence the risk.

The infamous Flaming Devil was really scary, she and all the others in the big city who heard Kieran's name before knew it but she had some confidence in herself.

Her confidence wasn't just built on the last contact with Kieran, it was also because she had made a breakthrough in her skill sets recently.

In the last meeting with the Flaming Devil, Kieran not responding to her seduction was an insult, a defeat for her, hence she used two cooldown reset cards consecutively to clear two dungeon runs after that and acquired very high ratings.

She invested all her gains into her skills, hence the confidence.

Of course, she dared not wish to surprise the Flaming Devil but she thought she could have somehow affected KIeran.

Her thoughts were beautiful, but reality was cruel.

Kieran didn't react to her words, his countenance not changing and it told Bella what kind of mistake she had just committed.

"I'm sorry for my inconsideration. Let me compensate you, other than turning me into your slave or death, I can agree to any terms," Bella said without a second thought.

The terms that would make one speechless, yet she uttered them so simply. Undoubtedly, Bella was keen to correct her mistakes, or rather, Bella knew how to survive in front of the Flaming Devil because she did research on Kieran before.

"How much do you think your life is worth?"

Kieran moved his spoon to the blueberry ice-cream sphere beside the chocolate one. With a little chocolate ice-cream left on his spoon, he scooped the slightly sour blueberry ice-cream into his mouth, which provided an extra layer of sweetness on top of the sourness. In addition to the coldness, it was a pleasant eating experience. Kieran directly scooped the whole blueberry ice-cream in the next spoon and delivered it into his mouth.

"My life?" Bella looked down in silence.

Life was priceless.

Or rather, one's own life was priceless.

Should it be labeled with a price, it was hard for one to put a number on it.

Too low, it would make her unworthy.

Too high, she could not afford the cost.

Bella frowned and ultimately clenched her teeth.

"Priceless! My life is priceless to me! It may be worth nothing to you because with a lift of hand, you can easily destroy mine—rather than destroying my life, might as well keep me for future use. I still have many [Barrier Water] with me, and I'd surely get a portion of the newly enhanced version of the potion," said Bella.

"Not enough," Kieran shook his head.

"I can sign a contract with you, I'll help you with my best efforts without defying my stance." Bella quickly made a sharp turn in her thoughts and formed a new sentence.

"10 times," Kieran provided a number.

"T-Ten times?!"

Bella was shocked, looking at Kieran with widened eyes. She obviously did not think Kieran would make such a high demand. Shouldn't it be when she said one, Kieran replied with three or four?

However, since it was related to her own life, she had no ground to negotiate.

"Fine! Ten times it is!" Bella answered.

A brand new contract appeared before Bella, and after making sure there weren't any mistakes, she signed her name.

She still did not leave after she returned the contract to Kieran.

"My dear sir, do you have anything to do with Borl? I don't mean to pry for information but his identity is very important to us. We may contact him soon in the future," Bella explained.

"Nope. I am just asking for some information."

"What do you know about the leader of the Guardians?"

Kieran asked after shaking his head.

The one who understood you the most will never be your friend but your enemy, especially when a friend turns into enemy, the understanding of each other would be far deeper than imagined.

The Resistance, which derived from the Guardians, fit the saying.

However, to Kieran's disappointment, Bella didn't know much, almost similar to Borl.

Though he could confirm one thing: the two Supervisors of the Guardians were still the same person, Rynester and Yu.

"Is that so?" Kieran said with slight disappointment.

"The Guardians are very confidential with their rankings, it's more secretive than anyone could imagine. Normal members didn't even know about the existence of the Supervisors, only the Magistrate. Some even thought the Supervisors were the leader; some thought the eagle was the leader," Bella mocked.

"Eagle? Do you know anything about the eagle in the Guardians?"

Kieran automatically thought of the eagle that appeared in the very beginning and casted the Witch's Mark on him and the latest giant eagle with extraordinary powers, which the little spider ate.

"Other than the eagle that granted us the Witch's Mark, I've not seen any other eagle. Even for that eagle, I've only met it a couple of times during meetings and it should share the same ranks with the two Supervisors but Yu did not really submit to that eagle, he'd always speak sarcastically in front of that eagle," Bella recalled.

After that, the conversation continued for some more but Bella did not provide any more useful information to Kieran. It soon ended.

Bella left the ice-cream shop in a hurry and Kieran waved at the store owner again.

"One more serving please, takeaway," said Kieran.

"Coming right up, dear customer!" the store owner's joyful voice replied.

…

Meanwhile, at the dome clock tower's highest level, an eagle was hiding in the corner of a hidden room. Flapping of wings sounded ceaselessly as the eagle knocked on the window.

Loud thuds would sound as the window was tapped on but the sturdy, iron-like window with runes branded all over it did not budge. It even reflected a part of the repulsion energy to that eagle.

Yee!

After a painful cry, it landed on its eagle stand once more.

It shook its broken wings and looked up at the sky outside the window.

The sky was the place that it used to soar.

It belonged up there, it liked the feeling of soaring in the sky, it shouldn't be trapped here.

Yee!

Another cry sounded and the eagle flew towards the window again.

The runes on the window lit up again.

…

Wallway Street 13th.

Kieran sat down on his seat with two metal bottles in his hands.

[Drops of Finest Cream]!

The specialty from Ryde Family in the dungeon world [Meaning of Eat]. The item could unlock intellect type Talent. It had the biggest chance on the first consumption and gradually decreased on the consecutive; after unlocking talent once, the second time would be ineffective.

After consuming the item, [Drops of Finest Cream]'s smell would linger for a certain period.

It was because of the smell that Kieran kept the two [Drops of Finest Cream] until now. He was back in his room and ready to distribute it to his companions and followers.

As for who?

Kieran glanced over Bloody Mary, Frost Wolf, Fire Raven, Old Book Canberlanor, Agernessa the interrogator, Averdore Lily the sobbing little giant and White Jack. He had made up his mind.

He called Fire Raven first.

Gawk!

Fire Raven landed on Kieran's forearm after a flap of wings.

Among all his companions and followers, Fire Raven's scouting ability which relied on its natural talent was undoubtedly still the strongest. Plus Fire Raven's [Infuse] effect provided a great help to Devil Flame.

Despite the fact that it couldn't go higher than rank V, it was an indispensable aid for Kieran.

Everything about the Fire Raven was good except for its lacking intellect! It was the only regrettable thing that caused Kieran to frown.

Although it was a Xenotype High Fiend and its intellect was much better than other common animals, its near human level intellect was still some distance away from a real human being.

Maybe leveling Fire Raven to the next level would grant it human-like intellect, but it would have to depend on luck; Kieran never relied on luck.

Therefore, one [Drops of Finest Cream] was a worthwhile investment.

Kieran uncorked the bottle and fed Fire Raven [Drops of Finest Cream] drop by drop.

After it finished the whole bottle, the dash of gold in the middle of its forehead started to glimmer.

The glimmer lasted for 5 seconds. After it faded away, the dash of gold looked more brilliant and subtly changes happened to it: it looked more like a vertical human eye now.

In the Effect column, a new one was added: [Personification].

[Personification: After accompanying you for a long time, the Fire Raven is learning all your traits and after consuming Drops of Finest Cream, it has completely awakened its intellect. It now has human level intellect but its personality is growing more towards you.]

…

Fire Raven jumped up to Kieran's shoulder, pushed its head against Kieran's cheek to show affection before it looked down at the other companion and followers.

"That bird, it's looking down on me?"

White Jack, who was at the end of the line, suddenly felt the meaningful gaze but it didn't care.

It locked its empty eye sockets at the only bottle of [Drops of Finest Cream].

Although White Jack didn't know what it was, it knew it must be good and more importantly Kieran hadn't decided who to give it to!

Once the thought came into its mind, White Jack stopped hesitating.

"Oh great…"

Woof! Woof!

The moment White Jack opened its mouth, Frost Wolf already circling Kieran's leg.

It pushed its head against Kieran's pant as it whimpered. It then turned upside down, showing its belly to Kieran and widening its brown and blue odd-color eyes, its tongue out as it tried its best to win over Kieran's heart.

Kieran squatted down and touched Frost Wolf's head.

"This isn't something puppy eyes can get you. It has a better choice," Kieran explained.

Frost Wolf then jumped up and bit Kieran at the corner of his pants, acting like a spoiled pet.

"Your avarice knows no boundaries, you cheeky bastard! Don't forget, you still have this! If you want the [Drops of Finest Cream], you can exchange it with this!"

Kieran smiled and carried Frost Wolf up, pointing at the leather pouch around its neck, which held [Frost Heart Remnant].

It whimpered repeatedly and held the leather pouch with its two front paws tightly.

It then bared teeth at White Jack.

"What? Why bare your teeth at me? You are a wolf, not a dog! You want a piece of bone?"

White Jack somehow also understood the meaningful gaze from Frost Wolf.

The hybrid canine seemed to be blaming the skeleton.

Or rather it assumed that White Jack spoke first hence the altered result.

"Am I capable of that? I am just a pile of bones! A not so important pile of bones!"

White Jack's soul fire grew dimmer as it looked at the [Drops of Finest Cream].

On the contrary, the Old Book had been quiet throughout the gathering.

"Old Book," Kieran called out to him.

He then tossed the bottle of [Drops of Finest Cream] to the Old Book.

Old Book was shocked.

Kieran continued, "You match well with intellect type talents anyway, I am looking forward to what kind of changes will it bring to you."

"I will not let you down, my lord!"

The white haired Old Book bowed before he uncorked the bottle and finished every drop of the liquid.