The Devil’s Cage

Bunder’s body fell to the floor. His glazed over and dumbstruck eyes perfectly met Emma Eddie’s who was hiding behind the sofa causing her scalp to go numb.

It wasn’t that she had never seen a dead body before in the streets but it was her first time locking gazes with a dead body like this. Especially when she saw the bloody mouth, Emma Eddie felt her breath turning cold.

Fear rose up from her heart uncontrollably.

She clenched her teeth hard, forcing herself to calm down and not scream in shock.

However, things never progressed towards a better end.

A pair of boots appeared within her line of sight and when she looked up to the owner, she saw the killer with a vicious smile over the face.

The killer looked rugged and had a tattoo on the left side of his cheek.

When she saw the tattoo’s pattern, Emma Eddie was stunned on the spot.

She knew that tattoo! Or more accurately, most people in Alkender City knew the tattoo because it represented Death Knell’s men!

Death Knell had control of numerous shady organizations and had a large underground force under his command within Alkender City!

All of the core members of the organizations had the tattoo on their left cheeks

“Death Knell!”

Emma Eddie’s eyes shrunk in fear. She couldn’t help but take out the small knife she had on her. It was the only thing she has that could be considered a self-defense tool but it was used to peel fruits most of the time.

“Damn it! Damn it!” Why the hell did I cross Death Knell’s men’s path!” Emma Eddie cursed loudly in her heart.

A few days ago, she was running around the streets, trying to escape from the small organization Bloody Ridges and now, she had crossed Death Knell’s path.

One needed to know, a small organization like Bloody Ridges was less than an ant in Death Knell’s eyes.

It was like pushing a newbie from the novice village to fight a 100 Lvl boss! How could she survive this?

Looking down at the dagger in her trembling hands, she then looked up to the Death Knell member who was getting closer. She turned around and saw that Bloodman Odork was concentrating on corroding the wall; he didn’t even move.

Emma Eddie wanted to cry but her tears dried up, her heart once again cursed the one who brought all the mess into her life, Kieran.

“Another prey! I…”

BOOM!

Before the vicious killing words escaped from the killer’s mouth, he was overpowered by an explosion.

The walls were blasted away, bricks were flying around following the impact.

Then, a punch with the power of a mountain landed on the Death Knell member’s body.

BANG!

The Death Knell member who was smiling viciously moments ago was punched into a cloud of blood mist, dispersing with the dust and debris.

A tall and straight figure walked out from the dust cloud.

Fist of Justice! Drexton!

Without pausing, Drexton went up to Colossal Arms who was engaged with another figure.

“Hehehehe…”

A weird laugh could be heard in the area but Emma Eddie had no idea what happened after that; Bloodman Odork had successfully corroded an escape path from the wall.

After Bloodman, Emma Eddie followed him into the path but the moment she crawled in, she noticed it was a corridor with a flat and sturdy floor; Emma Eddie noticed something was wrong.

“Where does this pathway lead?” Emma Eddie asked out of instinct while looking at the end of the corridor.

“Bunder’s collection room,” Bloodman said without pausing a step.

“What?! What the f*ck? What the hell are you doing?!” Emma Eddie was shocked.

“What? I am easing the boss’s burden,” Bloodman said in a righteous manner before going into the dark area in front of him.

“DAMN IT! The boss is a f*cker! The subordinate is also a f*cker!”

Emma Eddie cursed heavily while looking at where Bloodman disappeared to.

She didn’t go back where she came from though, instead, she chased after Bloodman and ran towards the collection room.

Her instinct told her the situation back there was much more dangerous than the darkness in front despite Fist of Justice having entered the arena.

She didn’t know where the danger originated from but she knew how to make the right decision.

…

Dong, Dong, Dong!

The hurried door knocks sounded at the entrance of 17th Randletine Street.

After Ferris opened the door, Pudder who was exasperated and fluttered yelled, “I want to see 2567 now!”

“Boss is resting, and… we have a doorbell here.”

Ferris wasn’t moving a step, he was staring down at the chief officer, showing off his coldness.

Ferris hated the chief officer from his guts. Not just because the rudeness, recklessness, and disregard for the procedures, Pudder would always bring trouble to his boss.

If it was possible, Ferris would like to turn Pudder into an ice statue.

“I want to see 2567 now!”

Pudder reinstated the purpose of his visit with a louder voice.

“I said the boss is resting!”

Ferris’s emphasized in an angry tone this time. He deemed the chief officer’s act as a provocation.

Just as Ferris was about to contact his boss, trying to ask permission to take out the troublemaker before him, Kieran came out of his study room rubbing his temples.

“Ferris, a cup of tea, please. Prepare one for Chief Pudder here as well,” Kieran said.

“Yes, boss,” Ferris strode towards the kitchen.

Without the obstacle before him, Pudder too strode into the house.

“So this is your working together attitude?” Pudder asked with a sneering tone.

“Pudder, trust me, I never changed my attitude from before. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to step into this house.”

Kieran invited Pudder to a corner of the living room which had a tea table and sofas.

After telling Pudder to make himself at home, Kieran sat down on a leather sofa.

The soft cushion wrapped his body instantly, giving him a sense of unexpected comfort after the long reading session.

The comfort was raised to its peak when Ferris brought the tea over.

“What happened?”

A sip of the tea later, Kieran asked slowly while the flavor lingered on his tongue.

“What happened? You ask me what happened? Don’t you dare tell me those ice statue outside this house formed by snowing!” Pudder raised his voice again.

“Of course not! But it’s an act of self-defense, those people approached me with ill intentions. Can’t my man defend himself?” Kieran laid his hands out, questioning the chief officer.

“You can defend yourself! But your man here is the Freezer!” Pudder’s voice grew heavy as his eyes were locked on Kieran’s.

“The Freezer? You are talking about that supervillain, right? If I run into him by any means, I don’t mind arresting him for you. That is the Freezer, not Ferris. Maybe both of them share a similar skill set, but both are different people.”

Kieran was lying without blinking in front of Pudder’s face despite his deadly glare.

He then turned to Ferris, saying “Ferris, go take care of those eavesdroppers outside.”

“Seems like your visit made them interested in this place again.” Kieran looked at Pudder with a smile.

Suddenly, Kieran’s face changed.

He slowly woke up from the sofa and his smile vanished without a trace.

“What are you trying to do?” Pudder asked in an alarmed state.

“To take a walk.”

Kieran then vanished on the spot.