The Devil's Cage

The moment the frozen fist shattered, time felt like it stopped.

The splashing frost and ice froze in mid-air. Only the blazing flames kept burning higher up.

The unrivaled power entered the ent's body through Kieran's kick as it came in contact with the bark.

KABOOOM!

The frozen ent giant exploded. Every single piece of ice was ground into bubbles by the rampant strike and was vaporized by the burning flames.

Even Benz who vaporized himself shared the same fate.

When the fear and fright against the higher power aroused in his heart, Benz had left the ent's huge body and was ready to escape after transforming himself into mist.

In fact, the reason why the huge ent body was crushed with a single hit was because Benz left the body. Otherwise, even with multiple skill buffs and enhancements, Kieran wouldn't have been able to take it down with one strike.

However, Benz's decision to escape with his mist form proved that he had incorrectly calculated the pattern again. His decision would have been the best option earlier but at this moment, it was the mistake that cost him his life.

The otherworldly flames spread like cancer that spreads through organs, moving together with the mist. Regardless of how Benz dodged, it was futile. When the flames touched Benz in his mist form, he was finished!

Without a real body, his sou burned from the flames that came from hell, vaporizing his conscience in an instant.

Ding!

A quail egg that was the size of a ghastly blue sapphire fell from the air, emanating an orange glow.

Kieran picked it up with his hand.

[Name: Ghastly Sapphire]

[Type: Gemstones]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attributes: ???]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: You will need some professional to appraise it!]

...

"A gemstone that needs to be appraised? And it's even a Rare one!" Kieran squinted.

It was not the first time he came across gemstones. However, none of them were at a Rare rank like [Ghastly Sapphire] or needed to be appraised.

However, Kieran was happier this way. It meant that [Ghastly Sapphire] had unparalleled value!

Compared to the sapphire, the other equipment was much more direct. One was a pitch blake ring without any embeddings or carvings. It looked like it was nothing more than a simple black ring.

However, those who underestimated this ring would surely suffer from consequences.

[Name: Darkness Grave]

[Type: Accessory]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack/Defense: None]

[Attribute: Within a 50-meter range, create a 25-meter radius of supernatural darkness. Living beings shrouded in the darkness will have to go through Strength, Constitution, and Spirit authentication that is not lower than a B rank. Failure of Strength authentication will result in binding for 5 seconds. Failure of Constitution authentication will result in receiving a Strong darkness energy attack. Failure of Spirit authentication will result in the inducement of a Strong level illusion attack. Failing two of the three authentications will result in receiving a Heavily Wounded State attack and Lethally Wounded State if all three fail.]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a delicate replica of a great item!]

...

"A delicate replica? What a fearsome ability!" Kieran exclaimed.

He had no idea how Edgar, the leader of the Night race, could forge these replicas from the "great items" but one thing was for sure, Edgar was powerful. He was out-of-this-world powerful!

The danger level from Edgar should far exceed Benz's, the one who just fought against him.

There was a limit to how powerful Benz was but Edgar was different!

There was no prerequisite on the [Darkness Grave] replica!

In other words, should Kieran face him in the future, Edgar might create tons of delicate replicas for his usage and more importantly, the fact that he could forge them with his hands meant that the original "great items" were in his possession as well!

The delicate replica alone was already a Rare rank. What would the rank of the original item be then?

"Above Legendary?" Kieran pondered.

Then, he observed up his surroundings and after confirming that there was no lingering danger, he removed his devil form which had only a few seconds left.

The sulphuric sense faded off and flames slowly dimmed to nothing. Magma hardened into rocks. Then, Kieran broke out of the rock encasement like a butterfly that breaks out of its cocoon.

The wind blew off the hardened magma, bit by bit, eventually scattering them into dust that the wind carried away.

Nothing was left behind except a ruined Charlie Street.

The entire Charlie Street was completely destroyed by the fight between Kieran and Benz. Not only was it leveled to the ground but craters were all over the place. Burnt marks tainted what was left of the road and traces of frost were everywhere.

The only spot spared from the destruction was where Herbert and the others were with the two wagons.

Both Kieran and Benz had purposely avoided that spot during their fight so when everything ended, that spot became an island in the sea of rubble.

"What a fearsome power!"

Herbert exclaimed when he came out of the wagon. The elderly scholar inspected Keiran with an odd gaze that was mixed with astonishment and judgment but most of all, disbelief.

"2567, you are one of the Nobles as well?" The elderly scholar asked.

"Nobles? No!" Kieran was stunned for a while before he responded. The Nobles that Herbert mentioned were different than the Nobles that Kieran had in mind. He thought he was using the alternative name for the Mutants.

"Is that so? Well whether you are or not, I have to thank you once again! Thank you, 2567!"

Herbert nodded and his face showed that he seemed to understand what Kieran said.

Kieran saw Herbert's expression which showed that "I know you have your difficulties, I understand!". He couldn't help but frown but he didn't explain further.

Humans were used to being prejudiced by their first impressions. After the impression was branded in their brain, it was not something that a couple of words could scrape off.

Instead of wasting his energy explaining, he decided to rather focus his thoughts on something more productive, which was to analyze the changes in his body from before.

Although the changes were minimal and the system didn't notify him, he was clearly able to feel the changes of [Fusion Heart], let alone the one-of-a-kind flame that burst from his devil form.

"So there are still secrets that I don't know about [Fusion Heart]?" Kieran muttered in his heart.

He had this speculation a long time ago, and he just verified that his speculation was true.

[Fusion Heart] was implanted into his body with the most brutal and violent method possible. It only prolonged his life temporarily and because it was with such a violent method, there were tons of side effects. Also, some abilities that should have appeared remained hidden away as well.

Kieran didn't rant about how unfair it was. He was happy to just be alive. Aside from that, staying alive meant that he could excavate the hidden abilities within his chest and clear all the other lurking dangers at the same time.

Of course, the process would require time and would have to be done, step by step.

It was not the time for that though. The priority was to send Pierre and the others back to Lander's mansion and get them medical treatment.

However, on their way back, Kieran ran into someone who he least expected.

"Hey, Contly! It has been awhile!" Kieran still proceeded with a greeting but he quietly moved in front of Herbert to shield him.