The Devil’s Cage

Chank!

A heavy object fell on the floor.

Kieran who had expected the drop didn’t pause his steps to the study room.

While Ferris went over and picked up the fallen sculpture and followed Kieran into the study room.

Bloodman Odork was already waiting in the study room with a bag in his hand.

“Boss.”

Odork opened up the bag and revealed two more sculptures to Kieran when he walked in.

Two seconds later, three distinguished sculpture with similar sculpting styles were placed on the desk neatly.

Starting from the left, the first sculpture was a giant head with two big eyes on its face; there were no limbs or other body parts.

The second one was another head but with a big ear instead of the previous eyes; it was also absent of limbs and other body parts.

The third one looked much more normal, it had eyes, ears and other features but the mouth was distorted as it took up half of the face. The big mouth made the eyes, the ears, and the limbs looked extremely tiny.

What was more concerning was the crack that perforated the third sculpture.

The three sculptures presented their details in Kieran’s vision.

[Name: Mordin’s First Sculpture]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Magic]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: Watchful Eye]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: It originates from Master Sculptor Mordin and it was his first masterpiece but Mordin’s will caused it to mutate in a weird way.]

…

[Watchful Eye: Place a magical ward at will, watch range is within a 50-meter radius of the ward. 2-hour duration, 4 times per day]

…

[Name: Mordin’s Second Sculpture]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Magic]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: Eavesdrop Ear]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: It originates from Master Sculptor Mordin and it was his second masterpiece but Mordin’s will caused it to mutate in a weird way.]

…

[Eavesdrop Ear: Collect any voices regarding the user within a 200-meter radius. 2-hour duration, 4 times per day]

…

[Name: Mordin’s Sixth Sculpture]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: Extreme]

[Attribute: 1. Adamantine Body; 2. Attack Shift]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: It originates from Master Sculptor Mordin and it was his sixth masterpiece but Mordin’s will caused it to mutate in a weird way.]

…

[Adamantine Body: Acquire an Extreme level defense boost for an instant on your body (included but not limited to your skin). 3 times per day]

[Attack Shift: After Adamantine Body’s successful defense, able to shift an enemy’s attack to another spot (limited to physical damage only)]

…

“So it is damaged eh?”

Kieran looked at [Mordin’s Sixth Sculpture] yet his face didn’t show any sour feelings over the loss.

Compared to the loot he got, the minor loss was nothing.

He felt that the Devil Force was getting more lively and united; he couldn’t hold back his smile.

Although there were no precise notifications about the Devil Force, the energy that flowed in his body expelled the darkness and chaos faster and it told him that Devil Force was indeed strengthened.

Unlike Dawn Force and Plague Force which he could cultivate step by step, Devil Force, Cardinal Sins Force, and Saint Thorn Force’s increases had always been the problem that Kieran was thinking about.

The unexpected gourmet journey before this skyrocketed Gluttony’s power, it gave Kieran a slight idea of how to further increase Cardinal Sins Force.

Now with the changes occurring to Devil Force, Kieran had an inkling of how to increase it as well.

All that was left in his mind was the unmoved Saint Thorn Force; Kieran had some thoughts about it as well but it wasn’t a matter that he should solve right away.

Quite the opposite, he was eager to smash all the sculptures, release the demons inside, and feed his own Devil Force.

After all, the first and the second sculpture with only Magic rank were not really important for Kieran now since he wasn’t lacking any detection support and was compensatable with his strong Intuition attribute.

If he could feed the two sculptures to Devil Force, the energy might undergo another qualitative change, but what if he collected all the sculptures before he fed it?

Despite [Mordin’s Sixth Sculpture] being damaged, it might provide him with a better effect after collecting all of them, right?

Kieran was hesitating.

Dok, Dok, Dok.

His fingers were knocking the handle of the sofa and ultimately…

He chose to feed it now!

The major reason was that he wasn’t sure what will happen if he collected all the sculptures.

Despite him reading over and over again, trying to find out every single detail about Mordin’s sculptures, there was not a single phrase or record that explained what would happen when all the sculptures were collected, it didn’t even elaborate on the abilities of the respective sculptures.

The future held an unknown outcome.

The present was the known benefits.

Kieran who knew he wasn’t omniscient understood what he must do: secure the present so that he could deal with the future.

Kak!

After a clear breaking noise, [Mordin’s First Sculpture] which only had a Strong defense was nothing to Kieran, he broke it with the raising of a hand.

The demon’s aura started to cover the whole house again.

The pretentious pattern of the demon was very identical to the demon from [Mordin’s Sixth Sculpture].

The demon was shaded by the shadows while it was accompanied by the sulfuric scent from hell, one would grow apprehensive when laying eyes on it.

Unfortunately…

Roar!

A rageful roar later, the devil’s mirage tore the shadow apart with its magma claws, breaking through the sulfuric scent with its own. It grabbed the demon’s mirage and munched on it, swallowing it completely.

Kieran again felt the clear changes to Devil Force.

The slight increase, the slight liveliness, the slight unison, but it was far from enough.

Kak!

[Mordin’s Second Sculpture] was broken after the first one.

This time, the devil didn’t even wait for the demon to put up its pretentious act and it grabbed the demon with its magma claws, stuffing it into its mouth wholly.

Crack! Munch Munch!

Amidst the munching of the bones, Devil Force was again enhanced, it grew more lively, more united, but it still wasn’t enough.

Kieran could feel that he was only one step away from a true qualitative increase.

Without any second thoughts, [Mordin’s Third Sculpture], the one that petrified the Bloody Ridges members, was broken as well.

Kak!

Kroom!

The cracking of the sculpture couldn’t even be heard properly and was overpowered by the loud bang from Kieran’s body.

Kieran’s eyes turned fiery red! His body was burning like the sun! The blazing flame was burning fiercely on his left hand!

In his heart, messy energy streams appeared one after another!

Rampage!

Chaos!

Slaughter!

The negative emotions that gushed out like a geyser were like the endless sea, causing a tremendous uproar.

While bathing in the white light, Kieran was staring at the tidal waves of negative emotions with his calm and cold expression.

The Dawn Force that flowed in his body wasn’t just tender and tenacious, it was also dauntless! It was like a gigantic dam that connected the earth and the sky, blocking every single rampaging, chaotic, slaughtering energy stream.

The waves crashed into the white dam over and over again and after numerous assaults, the negative emotion waves finally subsided.

Kieran didn’t get toppled, nor did he get drown by the waves.

He stood there, reaping the energy he got.