The Devil's Cage

The infiltrator panicked. He didn't understand why he was discovered but he knew that if he didn't leave soon, he would end up dead.

Not only did the fire startle and make his heart tremble, killing intents were following tightly as well!

The killing intents were like tidal waves gushing towards him as if it was going to drown him any second now.

Without any further delay, the infiltrator turned around and made a run for it.

He ran as fast as a sprinting horse and leaped over a wall of Lander's mansion which was 3 meters high. He made this leap with one jump. By the time the nearby guards noticed something, the infiltrator was long gone.

The infiltrator retreated using the route that he came from. He was shuttling through the entire wealthy block and the slums, circling one time at the train station. After confirmed that no one was following him, he returned to the hotel beside the train station.

The hotel was an old one but the business was going on decently just like its name, Old Stallion.

It seemed like every customer who stayed there was a frequent visitor.

After the infiltrator entered the hotel, he didn't greet anyone and no one greeted him. Instead, he went straight into his own room.

Inside the room, his receiver has been waiting for him for quite some time.

"You failed?"

The receiver was not surprised when he saw the infiltrator come back empty handed. Even though his words were with doubts, his face showed that he expected the outcome.

"That 2567 is much stronger and sharper than we thought! Aside from that, he might be a Noble as well. And not just any Noble but a high-rank Noble!"

The infiltrator nodded and spilled what he found out.

"A high-rank Noble? Are you sure?" The receiver was not buying what he heard.

"Other than a high-rank Noble, who else do you know who can control fire?"

The infiltrator took his special coated outfit down and threw it to the receiver.

The outfit was black, seemingly burnt by fire.

"So he really can control fire!" The receiver said in shock and muttered to himself uncontrollably.

"It's no wonder that the Benz fella died in battle. Who would've thought that he came across a high-rank Noble. Their powers countered each other! Although I don't really like Benz, his capabilities as a leader were real and 2567 suppressed him single-handedly…"

Then, both of them entered a short period of silence.

"I need to move. It's too dangerous for me since I exposed myself against such monsters! I'll head on to location 4 to standby!" The infiltrator wanted to head out after he said so.

"Hmm. I need to report back to master as well. The plans must change for now, otherwise…"

The receiver was not planning on staying as well but just as the infiltrator opened the room door, a palm extended into the room and pressed on his face.

Fuuuu!

A ball of fire erupted from the hand.

The fire burned widely on the face and before the infiltrator could breathe, he suffocated and passed out. The receiver quickly ran towards the window without even thinking. He wanted to break out through the window but Kieran was one step ahead.

After a flash, Kieran appeared before the receiver and launched a kick. Before the receiver could react, his neck felt Kieran's foot and he ended up like the infiltrator: knocked out cold.

Looking at the two Mutants that were passed out on the floor, Kieran grabbed both of them and pushed open the window before disappearing into the night.

Although Kieran arranged some countermeasures around Herbert, it could only do so much. If he left Herbert by himself for too long, something was bound to go wrong.

Therefore, even though Kieran was eager to probe information out of these two Mutants, he didn't stay at the hotel room to interrogate them.

Kieran moved at top speed. He reached Lander's mansion in less than 2 minutes.

If the infiltrator's speed was like a stallion, then Kieran's speed was like the Night Owl. Not only was he faster, he was also stronger and packed with explosive power.

Technically, it was a suppression from a different kind of being. As a matter of fact, if Kieran didn't want the infiltrator alive, he wouldn't have escaped in the first place.

...

Back in Lander's mansion in the small living room on the first floor.

After Kieran, Herbert and the others moved in temporarily, the small living room has become their activity room. They deciphered the incantations, discussed and held all sorts of meetings there.

Everyone was fully armed and gathered there including Pierre who had recovered.

Especially the big fellow, Becker who even donned a whole body of iron armor, guarded beside Herbert who was holding a spiked club that was as thick as a common man's waist, looking very intimidating.

Pierre was at the window side, holding flintlock pistols in both of his hands. After glancing over the courtyard, the corner of his eyes was looking at the big fellow who was extremely eye-catching among the bunch.

Although Pierre hated to admit it, he couldn't deny that the big fellow had the highest fighting capabilities among them other than Kieran.

His strong and tensile body, as well as his astonishing strength, made him a formidable opponent if his intellect was not too low.

Even so, Pierre's heart was like beating drums. He knew clearly who his opponents were.

If they were just common humans, he had the confidence to take out ten of them at once. But if they were Mutants, he lacked confidence even though he had been fully prepared.

After all, what he had been through before was the best proof. Those within the room, at least half of them, shared the same mentality.

As for the other half, they were overflowing with confidence and all of them shared this similarity.

All their confidence originated from Kieran, including Herbert, Joanna, and Pelby who understood this.

Becker on the other hand though shared none of those concepts.

What was fear... worriness to him? Was it edible? Or in a better sense, were fear and worry delicious?

Dong, Dong, Dong!

"Who is it!?" Pierre asked anxiously.

"It's me!"

After Kieran replied, Pierre let out a breath of relief and Pelby went over swiftly and opened the door.

"Welcome back my master!" Pelby bowed down to salute.

"Go get some ropes and cold water," Kieran ordered Pelby and he pointed at the two Mutant captives.

"Right away!" Pelby went out swiftly after he was given an order.

Herbert tapped the big fellow, signaling that it was safe for the time being and he stood up, walking over to the front of the two captives.

After he sized up the captives, he looked at Kieran and Kieran looked at him.

Then, both of them spoke after one another.

"His patience is running out!"

"Or should I say, they've prepared themselves!"

"We need to hurry up then. Otherwise, we will be forced into a premature battle!"

"Since the spies are here, that means that the battle is inevitable since it's being moved forward. We could try to get the best advantages we could get!"

"It's hard!"

"That is why we need to play some tricks!"

Both of them paused after that, Herbert gave it some thought before continuing.

"What kind of tricks?"

"I only have a general idea. We'll figure some more out later!"

Kieran pointed at the captives aside.

Most of the bunch in the living room widened their eyes at Kieran and Herbert, having absolutely no idea what were they talking about.

Only Joanna had a flicker in her eyes, seemingly understanding something.