The Devil’s Cage

“I-I can explain, I…”

Pak!

Before the owner of the walnut tree could finish, Bloody Mary decapitated the man’s head with a quick chop to his neck.

The head flew up high before falling on the ground. The dead face successfully captured the dullness and confusion, as if the owner of the walnut tree couldn’t understand why the High Demon would kill him without giving him the chance to speak.

Bloody Mary curled its lips as it looked at the bloody head in disdain.

It didn’t have the intention or the time to tangle with the old man.

Since they were enemies, one of them had to die.

Perhaps it was true that Bloody Mary felt many small dissatisfactions about its contractor, but it agreed on its contractor’s point of view fully.

The best kind of enemy was the dead kind.

Bloody Mary shook the blood off its hand, drawing a straight line of red on the ground.

Then, the High Demon licked its lips and searched the area with its grudgeful gaze.

“Whoever walks over this line dies,” said Bloody Mary with a gloomy tone and overflowing killing intent.

The forest plunged into silence right away.

The prying gazes that lurked around in the darkness swiftly went away.

Bloody Mary knew the first part of its little tricks had worked—those prying gaze were frightened away by the consecutive kills.

However, a while later, those greedy bastards would come back to their senses and realize what had happened.

Bloody Mary knew these bastards very well. Greed had gotten the best of them, and they would not simply step back willingly, so they would try to risk it again.

Therefore, Bloody Mary could not spare them a window to breath.

“I got this place. Go find those bastards and kill them.”

Bloody Mary told Canberlanor with a cruel smile on its face.

Anyone who saw the smile would think they saw a butcher or executioner.

As a matter of fact, not only did the greedy bastards hiding in the forest share this thought, even Canberlanor, who was called out by the High Demon, thought the same way.

The Old Book opened his mouth instinctively, trying to say something, but ultimately, nothing came out when he saw the three bodies. He grabbed his black staff and walked deeper into the forest.

The Old Book was frightened and dared not disobey the High Demon at all.

Bloody Mary didn’t explain the situation to the Old Book either. After he went deeper into the forest, Bloody Mary slowly walked back to Kieran, and when it got close, it vanished.

The High Demon vanished into darkness as it merged itself into Kieran’s shadow.

The scene scared the greedy bastards around the forest even more.

Therefore, when the Old Book got close to them, they chose to avoid direct contact. They didn’t know what the High Demon was trying to do.

Lure them out? Neglect them?

Or was it something entirely different? Something brewing in the dark?

Many thoughts appeared in their minds. They hesitated, which was what Bloody Mary sought.

In its illusory form, Bloody Mary hid in Kieran’s shadow and heaved a long breath, knowing it succeeded.

After this?

It all depended on its contractor, who Bloody Mary was quite confident in. It believed Kieran would eventually succeed, despite him not looking too well at the moment.

As a matter of fact, Kieran was much worse than he looked.

Pain! Excruciating pain!

The pain that came from his soul far surpassed the pain on the body. The pain was like tearing his flesh apart bit by bit before patching it up together just to grind it down again. The painful process caused the veins to bulge on Kieran’s sweaty forehead, and his clenched teeth screeched as though he would crush them by the sheer force.

Blood rolled down the corner of his mouth, but other than the first painful grunt, Kieran kept quiet all the while. He had his own ego and pride to protect.

He would not let the pain defeat him, nor would he allow himself to cry out in pain or faint.

Pride, who was standing on top of the Devourer’s head, felt the pain from his host. He curled his lips.

This was one of the reasons why he was willing to serve Kieran. Other than Pride originating from Kieran’s heart, it was also because of this kind of feeling.

Perhaps Pride’s arrogance was visible to others and maybe Kieran was always cold and calm, but deep down in the bones, both of them were the same.

Fua!

Black flame engulfed Pride, fiercer than before, and it blasted into the head beneath his feet.

“Tsk! Slow down! Slow down! I have to adjust the tempo!”

Sloth, who was in the middle part of the body, gasped and called out in a hurry, his face still as lazy as ever though.

It was obvious that everything was under control.

Cardinal Sins Force rapidly grew as Sloth siphoned the eaten energy from Gluttony.

Greed, Wrath, Envy, and Lust also felt the energy growth in themselves. All four of them felt pleasant and a slight delay as though they had just finished a full meal.

They had never felt like this before, but soon, they became depressed because the energy they felt weakened.

The sins were actually a medium for the energy to flow into the heart, and without further hindrance, the energy marched straight in the most direct way possible. However, the heart wasn’t damaged by the sudden surge of energy.

Instead, with Sloth’s control, the energy started to slowly change the heart.

Dok Dok Dok Dok!

The heart beat loudly. It wasn’t actually faster, but rather, stronger and more vigorous.

Two to three breaths later, the normal beating grew to a drum-like beating. This was just the start.

The sins were the medium, and the heart was the starting point. As the energy entered the heart, it then pumped throughout Kieran’s body; Sloth was meticulously controlling the process.

Before this, Kieran felt like his flesh was being grinded, and now with the energy going through his body, he felt like his organs and bones were also being grinded. He felt like he had fallen into a grinder, his body grinding to bits endlessly.

His breath suddenly hurried.

The slow Dawn Force in his body also started to flow and operate faster. Although the warmth helped Kieran to ease the pain a little, he was greeted with a greater amount of pain because Sloth hastened the process, completing the transformation in the shortest time possible.

It was what Sloth suggested and planned, because given his limited energy and attention, he couldn’t control the process for a long time. Other than that, it was also because the overeating Gluttony was still eating…

Even though he could barely eat anymore, he didn’t give up on munching.

Sloth had never seen such a stubborn fella; Gluttony could even be considered an idiot.

“This stupid fella really wants to eat until his belly is full? Doesn’t he know how to stop?” Sloth flipped a white eye.

“Stop? No!” Gluttony rejected Sloth, but a certain word captured his attention.

“F-Full? Full?” Gluttony stuttered.

Amid his munching and chewing, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed.

The delicious snake meat around Gluttony was gone, and what replaced it was a stream.

On top of the bridge was an old lady boiling soup.

Gluttony’s nose picked up the scent and ran over without pause.

“Drink it, forget everything. The past will be buried in the deepest soil.”

The old lady showed a kind and merciful smile as she poured a bowl of soup for Gluttony.

Gluttony received the bowl, took a few sniffs, and asked the old lady, “Do you have any scallions or corianders?”