The Devil’s Cage

Kieran was following the stone dummy and soon reached a crossroad in one of the streets.

The place should be one of the main streets of the underground city and it should be wide but at the moment, the street was filled with all kinds of wood and stone remains.

A figure stood straight in the middle of the pile of remains and stared down at the dummy monsters with a cold gaze. A quick move of his body later, the dummy monsters before the figure were kicked to pieces.

As the remains of the dummy monsters flew, the crow feathered mantle was fluttering loudly.

Kieran who was in the shadows saw “himself” further away, he couldn’t help but smile coldly to himself.

“As I expected.”

If an imposter of Great Swamp appeared to deceive him, then, where did the real Great Swamp go?

As the owner of Flame City, Great Swamp’s powers were undisputed compared to Forest, Leaf and Many City, they weren’t on the same level to begin with.

However, in the current dungeon world, obviously there was some other higher existence who could triumph over Great Swamp but to make him disappear without a sign, especially when he was still in Flame City, it was nearly impossible.

Obviously, the problem wasn’t solvable with battle, thus only one option was left—deceit.

Since the enemy could create an identical Great Swamp, why couldn’t they create an identical Kieran?

Other than that, the creator behind the imposters seemed to spend quite a lot of effort on Imposter Kieran to better deceive Great Swamp. At least his imposter wasn’t strong on the outside but weak on the inside like Imposter Great Swamp.

How did the enemy do it though?

Kieran had no idea how the enemy created an imposter who was exactly the same as the original—despite no longer being a newbie, he dared not claim that he understood all the secrets of the dungeon world, even more so when the Gods were involved, some impossible matters became possible.

However, Kieran had speculations about how the enemy grasped the differences in time.

The phone call!

Great Swamp’s phone was tapped!

The enemy used the phone call to grasp Great Swamp and Kieran’s movements and perfectly utilized the differences in time. Also, the enemy diverted Great Swamp away before they started their next move.

“A smart fella I see,” Kieran commented. Still, it didn’t stop him from making his move.

Sou!

He dashed out from the shadows and when he stopped, he was already behind his imposter.

Throughout the process, the imposter had no reaction to what happened, even the expression on the imposter’s face didn’t change.

Bang!

The imposter’s body fell to the ground after a kick.

The body then rapidly turned translucent like a bubble before popping into thin air, leaving behind an orange glowing item.

It wasn’t an equipment drop though but it fell off from the imposter’s pocket.

It was a gold bangle etched with a snake scale pattern, which presented itself with a bluish-green color.

[Name: Flame City Bangle Replica]

[Type: Accessory]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: Strong]

[Attribute: 1. Warning; 2. Guide]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a replica that Great Swamp forged according to the original Flame City Bangle, it has lost most of its effect but the power that remains is still enough to shock people]

…

[Warning: Warns the wearer about the present danger in the underground city, 2/2]

[Guide: Guides the wearer through the underground city, 2/2]

……

After he saw the details of the bangle, Kieran’s lips curled into a profound smile before he turned around and sprinted further away.

It wasn’t a blind sprint though, with the traces from the imposter, it was very easy for him to locate the real Great Swamp.

Soon, a courtyard entered his sight.

White walls, black tiles, and lanterns all over.

Kieran was slightly surprised when he saw the light from the lantern not reaching more than 3 meters away from the structure.

The feeling struck him as an isolation of sorts.

The courtyard was in its own world and another world was outside the courtyard.

“4801.”

“4802.”

“4803.”

…

“6902.”

“6903.”

…

The sudden counting echoed around the courtyard. The counting voices were very similar and the two people that appeared in Kieran’s sight that were like twins.

One of them was in front, the other was at the back, both of them were stepping in the same spot ceaselessly, counting as if they couldn’t feel tiredness.

After a glance, Kieran kept his gaze away and placed his attention at his feet.

A moment later, he found what he was searching for: the traces Great Swamp left behind.

“Back off?”

Kieran raised a brow when he saw the traces on the ground and the two people counting further away.

He had a theory in his mind.

But when he followed the traces Great Swamp left behind and did the exact thing, nothing happened. After he stepped out of the lantern’s range, he was in the street where he came from and after he took a step forward, he still saw the courtyard.

When Kieran returned to the premise of the courtyard and was within the lantern’s range—

Wung!

[Flame City Bangle Replica] buzzed!

The blinding red light shined brightly.

Without his knowing, a figure suddenly appeared further ahead of Kieran and was entering and exiting the courtyard endlessly.

Each time the figure moved in and out, the figure would be more tired.

Each time the figure moved in and out, the courtyard would grow bigger.

Kieran saw the scene that happened and without further inspection, he was sure that the figure moving in and out of the courtyard was “himself”.

Because not only did he see the same outfit and the same face, most importantly, he felt tired as well. It felt like he didn’t sleep for days and ran a very long sprint.

Of course, what concerned Kieran the most was a malicious gaze that appeared behind him, the danger from the gaze was so real that Kieran had goosebumps and had difficulties breathing.

The malicious gaze had no intentions of being subtle though, “he” was emanating a familiar aura as well.

Without even turning around, Kieran could tell there was another “him” behind him.

At least… it looked like him.

Meanwhile, something happened to the two people who were counting further away.

Another one of them joined the fray but this time, it wasn’t counting anymore but a slaughter!

One killed the other and another killed him.

When Kieran saw the fourth killed the third, he squinted his eyes because he felt a slight pressure from the fourth person.

Powerful!

The fourth person was extremely powerful!

The power level has far surpassed the Gods from Forest, Leaf, and Many City, it was almost near the level of Great Swamp.

Maybe… even slightly stronger than Great Swamp!

At the same time, the danger from behind him got closer as well.

He also felt the pressure from his back as if it was rushing him to make a decision.

Should Kieran turned around and fight for his life, or…

Kieran slowly walked over to the figure moving in and out of the courtyard.

He stopped in front of the figure and sized him up carefully.

The figure didn’t seem to notice Kieran and kept entering and exiting endlessly, hence bringing more exhaustion to Kieran’s real body.

The malicious danger behind Kieran also followed Kieran tightly, it sized up Kieran with the exact manner and gaze Kieran used to size up the moving figure in front him; except for the overflowing malicious intent!

When Kieran reached his hand out to grab the moving figure, the malicious presence behind him did the same to him.

When Kieran grabbed the figure, the malicious presence grabbed Kieran as well.

Kieran then tossed the figure away with all his might and the malicious presence behind him mimicked his action as well: tossing Kieran upwards.

Then…

Kieran was hurled over the white tall wall and landed firmly inside the courtyard.