The Devil’s Cage

Through the window, Eckart didn’t only spot the reporters from the local TV stations, he even saw some newspaper reporters plus in addition to a lot of reporters from various online media.

A simple murder in Rain City wouldn’t have caused such a scene.

Could it be…

Eckart wasn’t an idiot and instantly realized something, and his expression changed slightly.

However, he wasn’t allowed to retreat anymore at this moment.

A deep breath later, Eckart looked at Kieran.

“2567, something isn’t right. Be careful.”

“And… I think I might have dragged you in this.”

Eckart showed an apologetic smile; it wasn’t the courteous one but the authentic one from the bottom of his heart. He considered the mistake at hand to be his fault.

The comeback from a desperate situation excited him a lot, and when the excitement intertwined with the exhaustion from long hours of work, he had neglected the sneaky attacks of his enemies. In addition to the lack of careful thought, he had dragged Kieran into this vortex of problems.

The consequences of his mistake were getting him and Kieran in front of the scene and no space for them to step down!

Behind them was the abyss, and in front was a path full of thorns!

When neither advancing or retreating was a viable option, exhaustion filled Eckart’s mind, he had never felt so helpless than at this particular moment.

Kieran quietly looked at Eckart.

The moment Eckart, the director of the TV station, appeared before him and even became the temporary host for the ‘Shaman’ show, Kieran already knew he was in a bad spot.

Otherwise, why would a local TV station director do something so below his status?

However, Kieran did not expect Eckart’s situation to be much worse than he had expected.

No doubt, the brief message he received earlier was a trap, together with the assistant that sent him the news; all of it should be the handiwork of Eckart’s enemy.

The news, however, wasn’t fake, but it was so brief that it had hidden and skipped a lot of crucial factors of the incident. These key factors were the reason why Kieran and Eckart were pushed into a passive state.

What will it be?

Kieran wondered in his heart. He tapped on Eckart’s shoulder.

“It’s still not the worst yet, if you jolted before the battle, you would lose the war entirely.”

“We are indeed a bit behind, but catching up to the enemy isn’t that hard,” Kieran said calmly.

His plain and flat tone never changed from the start, his expressionless face didn’t even flinch.

During regular times, his tone and expression meant nothing, but at this moment, it provided quite the comfort and support to Eckart.

Eckart remembered the magical feats of Kieran from last night.

There might still be a chance for a comeback!

The thought appeared in Eckart’s heart, he swiftly adjusted his mood and condition.

No one wanted to lose!

No one wanted to be doomed forever!

If he had the chance… He would risk it!

Huu! Huu!

Multiple deep breaths later, Eckart returned to normal.

“After we get out, the reporters will swarm us.”

“2567, you can stay quiet, leave everything to me!”

“Lyn Amie, I know you will be neglected, so you go and find out what else was kept a secret from us!” Eckart said quickly.

He looked at the reporters who were swarming their minivan, he felt like he saw a bunch of sharks swimming towards blood.

Once, Eckart was one of the sharks, but now?

He is a warrior who fought the sharks!

Ka!

The door was opened, Eckart jumped out of the minivan.

Kieran looked at the director’s back, he smiled for a split second before returning to normal.

Kieran had a decent image of Eckart, the director knew what kind of role he was playing in this collaboration, what kind of relationship they were had, and also understood when to advance, as well as when to retreat.

Especially the latter, Kieran admired him for that.

If he had the option, Kieran would not want to switch collaborators, but more importantly, changing to new a collaborator would burn a lot of time, and it was something Kieran wasn’t willing to see. Additionally, if he had to solve the problems left behind by Eckart, the time spent wouldn’t be just a day or two.

Kieran was certain Eckart’s enemies had treated him as one of Eckart’s men.

The enemies were not to be blamed, though, because Kieran was relying on Eckart to accelerate his plans anyway.

So, to assure the progress of his plan, Kieran hoped that nothing would happen to Eckart, and to ensure the upcoming plan would be smoother in addition to avoiding problems like the one occurring today, Eckart’s enemies had to be removed.

Though, those were the matters to be considered after solving the problem at hand.

Now?

Kacha! Kacha!

A series of flashes lit up before Kieran’s eyes.

The blinding lights would either cause a common man to shy away with closed eyes or raised his hand to block the cameras.

Neither one was appropriate for the occasion, though, and some intentional parties would surely use it to make a big fuss, but Kieran disappointed them.

He stood there like a straight pole, looking plain and still, his eyes didn’t even flinch and allowed the camera to capture his image.

The flashes shone for over a dozen seconds before pausing slightly.

Then, many microphones were extended to Kieran’s face.

“Mr. 2567, are you here to answer the challenge from Lady Nuna and Mr. Kaomu?”

“Mr. 2567, do you really think this murder is what Mr. Kaomu claimed? The whole rehabilitation center is an ominous spot?”

“Lady Nuna sensed the soul of the dead soldiers, can you sense it as well?”

…

Questions were heard in close succession as if Kieran had walked into a clamoring market.

Eckart beside Kieran wanted to answer on behalf of Kieran, but he couldn’t do so because the moment he opened his mouth, his voice was suppressed by the noisy scene.

Unless Eckart were to use some extraordinary means, they wouldn’t be able to proceed with their original plan and answer the reporters at their own pace.

Other than that, Kieran sharply noticed a few among the reporters targeting Eckart. A few strong men kept pushing Eckart away from Kieran. Each time Eckart spoke, these few men would raise their voice to counter him, asking the questions that the other reporters had asked; on top of that, they also violently pushed Eckart away with their body, muffling Eckart’s voice.

Eckart wasn’t scrawny by any means; he was just a man with a healthy physique, but compared to the few strong men, he wasn’t their match.

Kieran saw each time Eckart suffered a push, his brows would tighten, and his face would twitch.

“A cheap and effective way,” Kieran commented.

Then, he calmly glanced over the reporters.

The questions and clamoring somehow dimmed down and eventually went quiet.

All the reporters who Kieran looked at felt a coldness in their hearts, goosebumps filled their skins and shivers ran through their bodies, even their throats felt dry and uncomfortable.

They felt like they saw a black figure slowly walking in a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses.

Fear spread like the plague.

The reporters unconsciously stepped back, even the few strong ones started to back off, but Kieran didn’t plan to let them go.

He walked towards the few of them and started to mutter.

“All things on earth with all kinds of forms.”

“All things, especially the human heart, are ever-changing.”

“The noble soul walked in pity.”

“The despicable soul tormented by malevolence.”

“You people, where are you from?”