The Devil’s Cage

Kieran wasn’t scared of the gazes as he walked out.

Lawless who was puffing his cigar didn’t care either; clouds of smoke kept coming out of his mouth.

Starbeck though was frightened at the very first moment and shrunk Kieran’s back as if Kieran’s back was the safest place.

As a matter of fact, it was.

From Starbeck’s perspective, Kieran’s back was the safest place there was.

Behind Kieran, Starbeck could ignore everything around him, gazes or malicious traps.

The broad shoulders in front of his eyes was a safe harbor for him

While staring at Kieran’s back, Starbeck had forgotten all the gazes from his surroundings, he boarded the train behind Kieran with light steps as well.

The other players hiding or out in the open around 13th Wallway saw Kieran and co. off before every one of them lost it.

The moment the clamor happened, some daring players sent messages to Extremus and Darde the Titan but what they got in return was the system notification: “Player contacted is dead”.

“2567 is the victor! Another Unique Title player!”

…

The news was like a giant rock hurled into the lake, spreading waves in every direction.

Soon, the whole city knew about it.

Meanwhile, inside a small and short room, a player dressed like an ascetic monk was sitting cross-legged in front of a portrait of Acala the Enlightenment King.

The player’s eyes were closed and his breaths were long and slow.

Each time he exhaled, it would last up to a dozen seconds or more; each time he breathed, the portrait of the Enlightenment King would slightly shake, as if the portrait was alive.

Ding!

Amidst his breathing, the ping from the message tab opened the player’s eyes but after a glance over the message that his friend sent over, he closed his eyes again as if the message didn’t arrive.

Everything was exactly like before.

As he inhaled and exhaled, his body was steady like a monolith.

As he inhaled and exhaled, the portrait would shake.

Another breath later, the player and the portrait had swapped place.

The person in the portrait wasn’t the Enlightenment King anymore but the ascetic monk, while the one sitting cross-legged wasn’t the monk but the Enlightenment King.

…

At the outskirts of the big city, the blurry border, a man wielding a giant hammer was hammering the metal in his hand ceaselessly.

Dang Dang Dang!

The noise echoed in the area like an ironsmith working hard but there were no tools around nor the most important thing for an ironsmith, the furnace.

None of those at all, yet the metal in his hand was changing shape swiftly and getting faster.

After a while, a glaring longsword appeared in the ironsmith’s hand but he didn’t even bat an eye at the sword, instead, he was paying attention to his giant hammer.

As for the newly forged sword, it was already thrown outside the big city’s border into the blurry area.

Souu!

With a loud air-breaking noise, when the sword was thrown into the blurry area and touched it, it vanished without a sign.

The ironsmith who got used to the scene took out another metal ore, ready to continue his hammering.

Before the second round began, notifications pinged in.

“Blade of the Daybreaker eh? Looking forward to it.”

He was muttering as such but didn’t really care.

All he cared about was hammering the iron ore.

Each time his hammer struck, it would temper the ore into shape.

Each time the ore got more into shape, he would get closer to his target, his goal.

Other than that one target, he would not care about anyone else.

……

Inside a dark room, a few people were discussing around a table.

“2567 won?”

“He didn’t just get the “Blade of the Daybreaker”, he heavily wounded Broker as well?”

“This is great!”

“This is our chance!”

“No need to rush, we still don’t know whether it’s true.

“Spread the news of Broker, tell people he is heavily wounded and there will be people who will test the water for us, finding out whether is it true or false.”

“And 2567 also!”

“I don’t believe he can emerge a victor in this competition without paying a cost.”

“Um, we’ll send someone to find out, hope there is surprise ahead for us.”

…

Following Kieran’s appearance, the players hiding in the big city reacted differently.

Some were unmoved, unconcerned, only minding their own business.

Some laughed coldly with malicious intent filling their hearts.

Some started another round of plotting, scheming.

However, none of that had anything to do with Kieran right now.

While the celebration in Harvest Inn was going merrily, Lawless and the other acquaintances were almost drunk. Kieran, however, dragged the passed out Starbeck to the bar front.

“You are the star today, you shouldn’t be this sober,” Rachel said with a smile.

“I am used having a clear mind, and a single drink is really more than enough.”

Kieran grabbed Starbeck by the neck like grabbed a cat, he shook the unconscious mimosa in front of Rachel, emphasizing what he meant.

Throughout the whole teasing, Starbeck didn’t even wake up, instead, he leaned his head backward and knocked Kieran’s hand while he mumbled. He then fell into a deeper sleep.

Kieran was sure it was Starbeck’s first time attending this kind of occasion.

He was scared but filled with surprise and joy as well, therefore, he didn’t even reject all the wine from Lemour.

Lemur the Alchemist, other than her magnificent alchemy skills, the aspect most talked about her was her height and her love for liquor.

Lemour was less than 150cm, yet she loved [Flaming Ice Lake], a little that could even frighten Lawless and despite her infamous character, Starbeck still drank with and lasted for almost 10 rounds; Kieran was shocked.

So, after 10 rounds of shots with Lemour, Kieran wasn’t surprised that Starbeck passed out like a dead man.

After all, Lawless once did a “friendly match” with Lemour as well and he got knocked out on the fourth. Before this, Lawless was the best drinker in Harvest Inn.

“He is an honest young man, not like you who is too cunning.”

“Here, on the house, clears the dizziness faster. You can choose to drink it yourself or feed him. Let me say this first, this is the only one I will make today.”

Rachel pushed over a glass of her own concoction: honey, lemon, and ice.

“Thanks.”

Kieran took it and drank it all down within a breath.

“You are really straightforward.”

Rachel said as she looked further away at Blacksmith with a smile. Blacksmith seemed to be watching the bar counter quietly.

Right away, Blacksmith noticed the inn owner’s gaze and she turned around; her temperament became colder.

“What’s wrong?”

Lawless who got a shiver from the coldness looked at Blacksmith.

“Drink.”

Blacksmith then took the whole bottle of [Flaming Ice Lake] and poured it into the blurry Lawless’ mouth.

Gulp, Gulp!

After two gulps, Lawless passed out and laid down on the table.

Rachel the inn owner who noticed the little scene smiled even brighter and happier.

She then pulled open a short door beside the bar counter, signaling to Kieran, “Come on, I’ll bring you to another gathering. Those guys are eager to meet you.”