The Devil's Cage

The sun set in the west and nightfall arrived.

The deep autumn breeze made the pedestrians hasten their steps, especially in the East Sector, a quiet place without many bars or clubs. The whole sector fell asleep after 8pm, no pedestrians were walking on the street, only a patrol car strolling down the streets occasionally.

Outside Leaf Dining, the little blackboard was hung up.

Closed for today.

The words were written clearly in neat handwriting.

Huu!

The door of the restaurant was opened though, the autumn breeze entering easily.

The temperature in the restaurant plummeted, especially when something came along with the wind, feeling extra chilly and gloomy.

Kieran sat on his stool like always, like nothing happened, reading the newspaper for the day with his sword [Sharp Standard-Issued Sword] placed on top of the counter.

Dap, Dap Dap.

Heavy footsteps came from the alleyway ahead.

A tall, buff, probably even gigantic, man walked over.

With each step he took, it was like tyre bumping on an asphalt road, the loud steps promoting his ferocity.

Tzzzzt! Tzzzt!

The street lamp outside the restaurant flickered rapidly, putting the menacing face of the man between light and dark.

The man saw Kieran in the restaurant, widening his mouth and revealing sharp teeth, like a shark.

"A tasty prey!"

His tongue licked his lips in a circular motion as he walked into the restaurant.

Squeak!!

His heavy footsteps caused the wooden floor to squeak, but the giant dead did not care.

It knew how heavy its body had become in the path of pursuing power.

It was only natural that his steps would cause the wooden floor to squeak. It treated the squeaks as compliments to its strength, similar to the disdain it showed when he glanced over the [Sharp Standard-Issued Blade] on the counter. They were all part of its instinct.

Of course it knew the standard-issued blade for the Weireist and Harstarty of the Herders.

It has eaten more than one of the Herders in the past and it was delicious!

Ever since the first tasting, after it confirmed that its prey was a Weireist or a Harstarty, it would go for a hunt eagerly.

Although it hadn't fully digested its previous prey, it wouldn't mind a second round, a Weireist or a Harstarty was rather hard to come by after all.

After it entered the restaurant, it opened its arms and jumped on Kieran like a bear.

A Weireist or a Harstarty was still a rookie in the Herders but they were already different from normal people, tricks no longer working on them. More so, it preferred to use its powerful arms to tear its opponent apart. Only then could it enhance the flavour of their soul.

What else tastes better than a Weireist or a Harstarty soul?

A tortured and scared one!

Fuung!

A violent wind followed the giant dead spirit as its arms crossed the counter, its hands going after Kieran.

Kieran tossed the newspaper in the dead spirit's face and his right hand grabbed the sword, thrusting towards the throat.

Ding!

The sharp sword tip successfully touched the dead spirit's neck but all it did was produce a clear clink.

[Sharp Standard-Issued Sword] had a natural Strong attack rank. Together with [Scorch], it would inflict +1 damage towards the dead, reaching a Powerful attack rank.

However, the blade failed to stab into the giant dead spirit's throat.

"Hehe. Rookie, I am not like the previous idiots you have met!"

The giant dead spirit grabbed the newspaper away from its face and laughed coldly.

It didn't even care about where [Sharp Standard-Issued Blade] stabbed it, it raised its hand and tried to grab Kieran again.

Fung!

Another violent wind came and assaulted Kieran's face, messing up his hair.

Kieran moved his body away, dodging the hand and swinging the blade in his hand along with the motion.

Ding!

The sharp edge produced sparks when it grazed the dead spirit's gigantic arm. Similarly, no actual damage was inflicted.

The giant dead spirit laughed in delight again. It liked this kind of rookie, who tried so hard yet ended up with only despair.

Therefore, when it saw Kieran take two steps back and enter a thrusting stance, the giant dead spirit didn't even stop him, instead pointing at its chest, provoking Kieran with a wave.

The provocation was obvious.

Kieran raised a brow, seemingly angered by the provocation.

Next, Kieran jumped forward and pointed the sword in his hand towards the dead spirit's eyes.

Souuu!

The blade cut the air, like an arrow let loose.

The dead spirit wasn't scared or frightened by the thrust, raising its hand and blocking his face.

Ding!

The little stinging sensation from his forearm eased the dead spirit's heart and calmed its mind even more.

This thrust should be his strongest, it was already considered a very decent attack among all the Weireist and Harstarty it encountered, at least he stung its arm.

But relying on such a weak attack to defeat it?

It was far from success!

"It's useless! How can a rookie like you understand how strong I am? Let me eat you, become a part of me!"

As it mocked Kieran, the giant dead spirit grabbed the blade body in front of its arm and pulled it.

Kieran was forced to let go since he wanted to keep a distance, but even with his effort, he was dragged across the counter by the superhuman strength, tumbling down on the floor.

When it grabbed the sword, the giant dead spirit thought the battle was in the bag. What could a Weireist or a Harstarty do without a weapon? It's a tiger cub without claws!

It didn't take Kieran seriously from the start and after disarming him, the last bit of cautiousness was thrown out!

The giant dead spirit wanted to turn away, but then it saw Kieran was holding a gas tank with a hose reinforced with iron.

The tip of the hose was spraying blue embers and when the valve was turned open, a fierce flame, like dragon's breath, sprayed at the giant dead spirit's face.

Gas flames weren't as miraculous as dragon's breath, but it's thousand celsius degree temperature invoked a painful cry from the dead spirit when the flame torched its face.

The giant dead spirit's upper body was instantly charred.

"Aaaaa! I'll kill you! I WILL KILL YOU!"

Shouting, the giant dead spirit charged towards Kieran based on instinct for its face was burning.

However, it did not realize that there was an illusive chain at its feet. Its forward charge was halted after it tripped over the chain and fell on the floor with its burning face down.

Crack!

The weight of the giant dead spirit pushed the integrity of the wooden floor over its threshold, finally crumbling.

The giant body fell onto the floor and landed in the basement, which was the storeroom, of the restaurant.

BANG!

The heavy bang echoed in the basement, the giant dead spirit felt dizzy after that fall. It wanted to crawl up but it suddenly realized something sticky was holding its body down.

"Maltose syrup?!"

When the giant dead spirit looked at the thick, rather golden syrup around the area, it couldn't help but to be surprised.

Then, it laughed savagely.

"Do you think you can hold me down with tricks?" the giant dead spirit yelled and tried to stand up, but the more it struggled, the more anxious it got. The maltose syrup that filled half of the storeroom didn't loosen up as it struggled, quite the contrary, it got stickier.

What was worse was that the cunning bastard appeared over its head with the gas tank and a… barrel of gasoline!

The lid was uncovered, the pungent smell telling the giant dead spirit what it would face.

"Hold on! I…"

It tried to say something but Kieran cut the bullshit and poured the gasoline down, lighting it up with the self-made lighter.

"Aaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Agonizing cries followed after the lighter was thrown in, the dead spirit struggling even fiercer, but it was not useful.

The special maltose syrup Starbeck made was very sticky even in normal condition, and after it was heated up, the stickiness would multiply; the specially made maltose syrup also acted as a comburent!

The dead spirit was covered in a layer of special made maltose syrup. It was roasted like a chuck of meat laced with honey, roasted to a golden and crispy state.

After some time…

Bang!

The dead spirit exploded!

Translucent souls then flew out from its burst body.

Kieran glanced over all the souls, he spotted 5 familiar ones, which were the victims that Amy found early on and listed them in the documents; there were many other unfamiliar ones, probably more than 20.

Among the souls there were two young men equipped with swords around their waists.

Unlike the other souls, these two young men looked at Kieran, more accurately, the [Sharp Standard-Issued Blade] which Kieran held back in his hand. Their translucent faces showed relief and appreciation.

The other souls disintegrated into light particles, flying away to the 'faraway land', while the two young men bowed together before following the mass.

Right away, the Origin Forces grew rapidly once more.

[Spirit broke through a layer of seal, increased from B → B+]

[Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intuition, broke through a layer of seal, E → E+]

…

It was expected that Spirit would break through another layer of seal but the rest of the attributes surprised Kieran.

Kieran didn't spare any thoughts for the moment, because as the souls left for the 'faraway land', the dense energy had attracted many dark presence.

Without further ado, Kieran carried the gas tank on his back, wielded the sword in one hand and holding the hose on the other before he charged outside the restaurant, prepared for this.

The sword slashed and chopped; the flames burned and torched.

All the dead that were attracted by the energy were being eliminated with an exponential speed. They didn't vanish though, sent back to the 'faraway land"

Those other dead spirits who were invited here for a show by the giant one cursed relentlessly at that freaking dead muscle head.

What consumes a Weireist, Harstarty?

What exposes a huge secret?

What forms an alliance after tonight's battle?

In the end, the big guy who said all that bullshit died a few times over!

Damn it!

Why did they listen to that bastard's subordinate and ask for a problem here?

Once these dead spirits thought of that bastard's subordinate, everyone of them cursed with gnashing teeth.

That bastard was too good at lying!

But what about that miraculous ability which allowed that bastard to walk under the sun?

Were there really some secrets?

Doubts appeared in the dead spirit's mind, but the butcher behind them ceased them from thinking, forcing them back to their old nest.

Some returned to the dark sewers, some returned to an old abandoned house, some returned to the morgue in the hospital.

But no matter where they ran to, that butcher seemed to have seen through everything, he'd knock on every door, questioning the spirits with the sword in his hand and 'help' them complete their final wishes with the flame.

"The urge to hang others? Incomparable to dancing in the flames, so let's dance!"

"Stabbing people with a knife? No, you should seek for understanding in the flames, so that you can complete your wish on your own!"

"Your final wish is granted? No, no, without the baptism of flame, it's not even close to complete!"

…

Blazing flames burned, areas covered in 'faraway' energy appearing all over Ai City, Sector 7.

As the person in charge of Sector 9, Bain had rushed himself to the restaurant when the massive amount 'faraway energy' surged.

Even though he swore to never come again, his duty as a Herder forced him to break the oath.

He saw Kieran wielding the sword and holding a hose, burning those dead spirits like an exterminator, his mouth twitching at the unbelievable scene.

He had never seen such a weird way of fighting! It was a disgrace to the Herders!

But… this little bastard wasn't one of them and his methods seemed to be working.

Bain watched the modified gas tank spray flames at the dead spirits, engulfing one after another. He was unknowingly moved by it, but he quickly shook his head.

'No! This isn't right! This is blasphemy! This is wrong! This… may be useful sometimes.'

WHEN Bain saw one of the dead spirits, which had previously escaped his men's grasp, he started to doubt his choices. He knew how cumbersome these dead spirits were since they were able to escape from his pursuit, but every single one of the ones that escaped through his fingers were engulfed in flames.

It was...It was…

He tried to find a word to describe what he saw and thought but none came out after some serious thinking. In the end, Bain shook his head and concentrated on Kieran.

At the same time, another question was raised.

How did he find the secret hideouts of these dead spirits?

In fact, not only Bain was doubtful, the other Herders who rushed to the scene shared the same though also. They looked at each other in confusion before looking at Bain.

"Why are you guys looking at me? He is Ed Wong's junior from the mountains, not mine! Who knew what kind of techniques he learned there?" Bain said, answering the questioning gaze.

"Where's Ed Wong then? He hasn't come back?" one of the Herders asked.

"If I had a capable junior, I would give myself a holiday too. Why would I come back so early?" another Herder said.

After the last statement sounded in the air, every Herder nodded in agreement, including Bain.

But at the next moment, Bain froze because he saw Kieran charge into Sector 7's high school.

There was where Ed Wong went missing!

Bain frowned.

A coincidence?