The Devil's Cage

Harkend's body exploded, the broken pieces flying everywhere.

The strange energy inside also quickly dispersed.

Kieran frowned. He clearly sensed a strange power that did not belong to Harkend appear in the body, he even 'saw' two people through the strange power: one was clad in slime and the other wore a suit of black armor.

Other than the two mentioned, there was also a giant snake above them.

He also caught the words in their conversation.

Printon? Black Tower?

Recalling the scene that he saw, Kieran squinted his eyes.

He was already cautious against Printon City and now he 'accidentally' saw what there was, he knew what he should do against it.

Snap!

Kieran snapped his finger, summoning Bloody Mary from the shadows in a flash.

"Bossl," Bloody Mary bowed.

"I need you to go to Printon, to take what's mine," said Kieran.

It wasn't a lie, the man in slime was unquestionably dead, his loot lingering on the body, split in half. Kieran was certain as his last glimpse of the place showed him that.

"I understand boss."

Bloody Mary knew what its boss wanted, nodding and vanishing from the spot.

Cymilaide, who raised his hands up in the air beside them, pretended to not hear or see the little scene, but his heart was beating like battledrums.

Printon!

'He is going to Printon to claim what's his? So is Glutton Emperor related to Printon? If it's that bloody place…'

Gasp!

Could it be…

Guess after guess popped up uncontrollably in Cymilaide's head.

When he caught Kieran's gaze on him, the investigator from the Union's Senate showed a humble smile.

"Good day, Sir 2567. I am Investigator Cymilaide. I came forth because of some happenings in Alkender. But after some investigation, I realized everything was a big misunderstanding! With you here, the city will prosper."

Cymilaide stood in front of the broken walls and the ground filled the bullet shells, talking bullsh*t in a serious tone.

How did he make it sound so natural though?

It was simple, he believed what he said.

It may take a hard time getting used to at first, but skills come with practice.

Besides, it granted him something good too: a longer life.

As a front line investigator in his current ranks, Cymilaide was a special one because he had never been hurt in the past three years.

Cymilaide believed that he could keep the record going until he retired.

He would never be reckless and wouldn't do anything outside of his league because he followed his heart to live a safe life.

It was great for him!

"Sir, I still need to ask you a couple of questions. Don't worry, just completing some minor details."

Cymilaide continued talking while Kieran looked further away.

Cymilaide noticed Kieran's reaction and he too looked towards the direction.

Drexton!

When he saw that tall, straight body and the face that matched his memories, Cymilaide knew who the man was.

Actually, Cymilaide had never met Drexton before in person, only in pictures.

Compared to the unusual rise of Kieran, the Union had more detailed information on Drexton.

A very powerful person!

It was mentioned repeatedly in the documents back in the Union office.

As long as Drexton had his feet on the ground, he would possess power that could rival ten thousand.

Cymilaide smiled even more humbly when he remembered the footage showed Drexton tossing a tank like a ball.

Just like he could not afford to step on the Glutton Emperor, the same went for the Fist of Justice.

Drexton had to hop his way to Kieran.

The powerful impact left cracks on the asphalt road. The cracks were so deep that one could bury their legs inside and Drexton was able to hop his way around the impossibly painful and sluggish road.

"Are you okay, 2567?"

Drexton arrived in front of Kieran, taking a few more steps and asking in a worried look.

"Better than I expected," Kieran replied with a smile.

He was always kind towards a friend.

Drexton heaved a breath of relief when he saw Kieran's smile.

He had been anxious and nervous when he heard the news from Willis. He didn't want anything to happen to Kieran, regardless of private means or public ones.

In private, he and Kieran were friends, so it was natural to wish a friend well.

In public, his friend had become the symbol of the city, like him, and stood firm like a monolith against crimes.

From a stricter angle, Kieran was already indispensable.

A powerful superhero protecting a city or two powerful superheroes protecting a city, which one would sound better, able to calm hearts?

The latter without a question!

There were originally two powerful superheroes protecting the city but Wine Barrel spent most of his time in Alkender Charity Hospital, living his life day by day, never caring about any other matters, unless some idiot dared to launch an attack against Alkender Charity Hospital.

Almost everyone knew it, so those super criminals were smart enough to keep Alkender Charity Hospital out of their sight.

It caused a major headache to Drexton, but it wasn't as troubling as when his persuasion of Wine Barrel did not work!

Fortunately, Kieran came and filled in the void in an unexpected way.

Therefore, Drexton was overjoyed by Kieran's arrival.

If it wasn't for the concern the budget running low, Drexton would have ordered a buffet to celebrate.

Relieved, Drexton turned to Cymilaide.

"Sir Drexton, good day. I am Cymilaide, it's a pleasure to meet you," Cymilaide bowed as he greeted Drexton.

"Cymilaide?" Drexton's face looked weird when the name was heard.

He heard the name before since he had quite the relationship with the mayor and the name was mentioned more than one.

'The Shame of the Senate'!

The title left quite an impression!

The man wasn't just a coward, he liked to enjoy pleasure and disliked working. If it wasn't for his clean background , he would have been thrown into jail.

Nevertheless, everyone from the senate hated him.

After all, getting too close to the garbage would risk getting smelly, and no one wanted to reek terribly.

"You are alone?" Drexton asked, knowing what kind of character Cymilaide was.

"I came here as an aid, but my colleague died at the hands of the Broken Fire Council. I'll report it back honestly to everyone in the senate," Cymilaide said seriously.

Cymilaide saw Bloody Mary slice his colleague in half but he turned a blind eye and even altered the memory in his mind: Broken Fire Council killed his colleague.

Despite hating his arrogant colleague who treated life like dirt, his memory would never lie, would it?

"Broken Fire Council?!" Drexton frowned when the name was heard.

It seemed like he knew the organization too and because of that he knew how troublesome they were.

An organization that claimed to originate from the papal era, although their origin was never verified. Many sources verified that the organization had demons inside for a great time.

What about his friend?

Drexton subconsciously thought of the Devil bloodline in his friend.

Demon and Devil were deemed as wicked existences, war waging on since the Sulphur River flowed.

They were arch nemesis!

None would rest until the other was eliminated! Including themselves and their blood descendants.

"2567, leave this to me. The Broken Fire Council may be powerful but…"

"I'll solve it myself. You can help me once but not forever. Besides, you love the city, are you going to drag the city down as well?" Kieran pointed around him.

The outskirt was in a desolated state and if the battlefield would have move to the city center, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Right away, Drexton knew what Kieran meant, but he did not give up.

"I'll provide help in other ways then," Drexton said.

Meanwhile on the other side, Cymilaide covered his forehead and shook it.

He didn't know anything about the Broken Fire Council! He didn't know, he didn't know!

He never knew and would not know!

He turned a deaf ear at the conversation and started to mutter, "What's going on? My ear started to ring? I can't hear anything!"

Kieran didn't even care about the mumbling clown and walked towards his ride. Ferris the Freezer was driving, while Bloodman Odork came down and opened the door for Kieran.

Both of them ended their battle. Although injured, it wasn't that serious, especially Bloodman!

Because of his special ability, the injuries were barely visible.

Kieran sat in the back seat and Bloodman carefully closed the door.

Odork then stood straight, grinning at Cymilaide and together with his ferocious look, it made the Union investigator tremble.

Odork then pointed at the surroundings with his right finger. He knew there were more than one pair of eyes at them, and it was what he wanted.

He retracted his right hand, and placed his thumb over his neck.

Everyone in the shadows watching him saw the provocative gesture.

Anger and unwillingness erupted, followed by gushing insults but none dared to move.

Warm bodies scattered over the area.

Nothing was more terrorizing than death! And on top of that, these dead men weren't strangers to them!

The prying gaze watched the vehicle drive away until it went out of sight before they left their cover.

Drexton looked around and chuckled disdainfully.

Those who came and hoped to get something without risking their lives were not qualified as enemies!

Cymilaide, on the other hand, cried and looked sad.

"Sir Drexton, does Sir 2567 have anything against me or any kind of misunderstanding?" Cymilaide asked.

"Misunderstanding?" Drexton looked at the man, confused.

"Otherwise, why would his man grin at me like that? I felt heavy killer intentions. It sent chills down my spine," Cymilaide was horrified.

"Odork is like that most of the time. He may look less friendly but he's a good guy," Drexton explained.

"Good guy?" Cymilaide was stunned, looking at Drexton blankly.

If he wasn't a coward, he would have held Drexton by the collar, asking him whether he misunderstood the word 'good guy' or not!

How could a person with heavy killing intentions be a good guy?

Stop joking!

If that was a good guy, a coward like him would be considered a warrior!

Criticizing the reply in his heart did not affect Cymilaide's agreement though.

"I guess you are right, a lot of people look bad but they have a kind heart."

Cymilaide nodded repeatedly. He was afraid that his inner thoughts might spill, so he voiced his intent to leave, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Sir Drexton, but I still have some matters to attend to, so…"

"Please!" Drexton raised his hand first, he didn't want the investigator to stay, not just because of the notorious title but Drexton himself had something else to do.

"Willis, Willis, can you hear me?" Drexton asked at the air.

A moment later, Willis' voice entered Drexton's ear.

"Heard you, saw everything, the cleaning will arrive shortly after."

After the reply from the Eye, Drexton nodded and left the outskirts.

He promised his friend to provide him in other ways, so he'd want to keep his promise.

After Drexton left, a red figure flew over the sky, and because of the bright sun, no one except for Kieran saw it. Kieran had shared vision with Fire Raven, so he could see anything in the bird's view. He curled up his lips into a cold grin.

An enemy is an enemy, no matter how small.

Sparing the enemy was never an option in Kieran's dictionary.

Neglecting the enemy temporarily was to find out whether or not there were more concerning enemies behind them.

It required a process and he had to be prepared.

In the meantime, Kieran did not waste any time, taking a deep breath.

Dong Dong Dong!

He felt the vigorous beating in his chest and each beat sounded like a war drum.

Astonishment flashed over his eyes uncontrollably.