The Devil’s Cage

Lagren looked at the Ghouls in astonishment.

In fact, as a contact for the Monster Hunters, only a few things that could shock Lagren. Ghouls wouldn’t at first, but when the numbers exceeded the hundreds, it did.

Lagren knew what made the Ghouls feared.

Their huge figures granted these monster inhuman strength, their skin that felt more like iron could ignore small-caliber handguns as well.

As long as they gained the geographical advantage, one of the monsters could easily wipe out a group of ten fully armed men.

Judging from the number of Ghouls in front of Lagren, they were enough to send half of Eiders into a vortex of destruction.

“Back off!”

Lagren shouted at Smith while he raised his gun and squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

The scattered rounds from the shotgun were fired, the Ghoul in front of its firing range was enveloped wholly, its flesh was ripped apart.

Roar!

The pain on its body made the Ghoul roar furiously, but the bellows were stopped abruptly.

The long tomahawk as big as a door plank was swung down, splitting said Ghoul in half.

The tomahawk was then swung to the left, removing one of the legs of the Ghoul that was split in half and also slashing another Ghoul from the waist.

Thick blood splashed, it caused a horrible stench in the area.

The Ghouls were stunned for a moment before they roared in unison.

The death of their kind and spilled blood stimulated them, they instantly charged towards Lagren.

Lagren didn’t run. Behind him was his hotel, the people in his hotel were his guests and protecting the guests in his hotel was his creed.

Hundreds of Ghouls indeed startled him, but it wasn’t a reason for him to retreat.

Kak, Kak!

Bang!

After a clean reload of the scattered rounds, the shotgun was fired again. It was also its last shot.

At the next moment, the shotgun was imbued with Lagren’s full strength and hurled towards the Ghoul at the front while bringing a layer of flurry images.

Bang!

The loud crash sent the Ghoul falling down.

It didn’t die, but the dizziness made it falter. However, that particular Ghoul was stomped into meat paste by the other charging Ghouls behind it.

At the same time, it slowed down the charging Ghouls, but only for a moment.

But it was enough for Lagren. Both his hands grabbed the end of the long tomahawk, he opened his legs and tightened the muscles at his waist. Lagren then swung the tomahawk like a spinning top, he crossed his steps following the motion and his waist supported his movements.

Wung!

Wung Wung Wung!

After the initial swing, consecutive massive swings followed, and as if a tornado was forming, Lagren spun into the Ghouls like a meat grinder, grinding flesh and blood of the Ghouls, causing them to splatter all over.

A breath later, more than a dozen Ghouls were ground into meat paste, but a lot more of them continued their charge at Lagren.

After the initial unstoppable spin, the tomahawk in Lagren’s hands started to slow down and ultimately, when another Ghoul fell under the heavy edge, Lagren was already panting heavily.

There was a reason why he was a contact for the Monster Hunters and not a real monster Hunter himself.

He was powerful himself, not even the Ghouls could defeat him, but he was lacking stamina. It was because of natural causes and also the injuries he suffered.

Roar!

The roaring Ghouls dashed out once more.

The heavy tomahawk was swung down again, another Ghoul was slashed in half. Lagren was panting heavier than before, to the point that he barely had the strength to wield the tomahawk.

Looking at the approaching Ghouls, Lagren grinned.

He pulled out a grenade from his pocket.

“Hey you fricking bastards, ever seen fireworks?”

Lagren teased the Ghouls, and his finger was pulling the pin.

However, Smith was faster.

Smith suddenly appeared in the battlefield like a shadow, he crashed into the Ghoul in front.

Bang!

Two disproportionate bodies crashed, as though a small car collided with a truck, but the outcome was the truck being sent flying backward, dragging the other vehicles behind it to a pause.

The indomitable charge from the Ghouls faced a pause again.

Smith quickly grabbed Lagren and retreated.

“Let me go!”

“Damn it! Why are you still here?”

“Damn you!”

Lagren was scolding loudly as he was being dragged by the collar.

Lagren was infuriated, he was enraged because Smith didn’t leave as he ordered.

Or more precisely, Smith didn’t leave with Saya and the girls.

“Have a rest. I’ll stop them for a while.”

Smith didn’t care about the scolding from Lagren, he placed the hotel owner at the door before he charged towards the Ghoul alone.

Looking at the claws and fangs of the Ghouls, shame flashed over Smith’s eyes.

He was scared just now!

That’s right, scared!

When he saw hundreds of Ghouls blocked standing in front of the hotel, the dark and frightening scene made him want to run out of instinct.

Perhaps his strength could grow rapidly, but the heart of courage of a powerhouse wasn’t something easily obtained, especially Smith who preferred to ambush his enemies instead of using frontal assaults.

Smith won his past battles by catching his foes off guard, thus causing him to discard the thoughts of a frontal battle, let alone facing the Ghouls.

But after Lagren’s shout and the charge from the Ghouls, it woke Smith.

Smith finally understood why Lagren was objecting to him becoming a Monster Hunter.

Given Smith’s performance, he would be a shame for the Monster Hunter’s name.

“Courage!”

“The courage to face stronger enemies!”

“You are objecting me to become a Monster Hunter because I don’t have this particular virtue?”

“Then… We shall see.”

Somehow, Smith addressed Lagren respectfully in his heart, and similar to just now, he crashed into one of the Ghoul again.

The difference this time was, unlike the crash and retreat the first time, Smith charged into the Ghouls this time.

He fought with his bare hands, using the unique combat style of a Blood Kin. Although the combat style had retreated from the forefront after the rise of firearms, the practice in his blood would never go away.

Even though he was a hybrid, when his combat abilities were awoken, he instantly became a ghost in the night.

His nails became sharp and long, his steps became swift and agile.

Within the blink of an eye, blood splashed off the Ghoul’s body, one after another.

Unlike the significant movements in Lagren’s combat style, Smith’s combat style was stranger and more specific, it was hard to defend against, but both of them shared a common goal in their attacks: kill the enemies.

Therefore, when the Spec Ops members arrived at the scene, all of them were astonished by what they saw.

Bodies of Ghouls were scattered on both sides of the street like garbage.

The two of them, Lagren and Smith, were like warriors bathed in blood, standing in front of Stove-grilled Fish, without budging.

They were warriors alright!

Everyone from the Special Operation Division labeled Lagren and Smith as warriors, especially Mier who just came out from the car, her heart was overwhelmed.

Since Mier had fought Ghouls before, she knew how strong the Ghouls were. It would require at least a whole group of fully armed Spec Ops members to be able to fight them, and they would have to strike first. Should they face an ambush from the Ghouls, it would require at least 2 groups to deal with the situation.

And the scene before her eyes?

Two people killed over a hundred Ghouls.

If it was the Special Operations Division, who faced these hundred Ghouls?

It may…

A bad thought made Mier’s mouth feel bitter because she thought of what Kieran told her before.

‘Cows likes to move in herds, beasts move alone.’

At first, she thought of refuting Kieran using the saying ‘lions hunt an elephant in groups, while a lonely tiger will stave and roar in solitude.’, but what she witnessed right now made her ditch the thought.

There was only one reason beasts couldn’t travel alone: they weren’t strong enough.

Lions might need to hunt in groups, a lonely tiger might have a lower chance to capture its prey, but…

What if the beast was a dragon?

There was nothing a breath from the dragon couldn’t solve.

If there was, a second breath would do.

With the Special Operations Division’s addition, the ambush from the Ghouls came to an end, the battle was finishing also.

However, as the thick stench of blood floated in the air, pairs of cold, merciless eyes appeared in the dark.

There were more Ghouls.

More Corpse-eater.

More Shapeshifters.

And Blood Kin.

And Werewolves.

And also wandering souls with translucent bodies.

The Spec Ops group members quickly drew the line by using their cars to form a single defense line.

Mier’s forehead was drenched in sweat when she saw the countless monsters in the dark.

She was nervous, in fact, everyone beside her was.

Even Wier who appeared with his walking staff cum sword, his hand was looking pale.

The night breeze was blowing.

One of the monsters in the dark suddenly growled.

Following that one growl, it acted as a signal, countless monsters sprung out from the dark, forming a black tidal wave, crashing down towards the weak defensive line.

KABOOM!

The cars that formed the defense line were blasted into the sky when the monsters crashed.

The monsters opened their bloody mouths, their saliva was dripping.

They were eager to taste fresh blood and meat.

Dak Dak dak.

Suddenly, footsteps entered the battlefield. The light footsteps weren’t overpowered by the loud roars which sounded in succession.

Instead, the footsteps got more precise and louder.

It sounded like one explosion after another, echoing around the area, but when one carefully listened to it, they went silent again. Then, a black figure appeared in everyone’s eyes.

From the top of his body to the bottom of his feet, the black figure slowly walked out from the shadows. The black figure even made the shadow look shallow because of his abysmal darkness.

As he walked out, the cloak named shadow was slowly removed, and when the shadow on the figure fell to the ground, the figure looked at the monsters that were charging forth like tidal waves.

The charging monsters instantly stopped.

The black figure then turned around and walked towards the hotel.

He moved past the Spec Ops members who were looking pale, he then stood before Lagren and Smith.

He said, “You are blocking the way, it’s late, I need to rest.”

As the voice was heard, explosions followed.

Hundreds of thousands of heads exploded at once.