The Devil’s Cage

A moment before Aisphany came in, Walloon was still suggesting to Kieran.

“My lord, I think we should retract our line of defense. Call back all the soldiers from the outpost since this base camp is the best strategic location to stop the enemies from Golden City!”

“Of course, we can’t let them ride here smoothly either, I also suggest we send a group of riders and disturb them along the way! We don’t need to kill or wound, just exhaust them to reduce their speed so that we can have more time. Although the possible reinforcements won’t be much, one more is better than one less!”

“Fortunately, our resources are quite sufficient. Even if our numbers were doubled, we can survive for another month without any outer supplies.”

Walloon explained in detail while pointing at the elaborate map.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kieran but quite the opposite, he hoped he could execute the strategies flawlessly.

Only a victorious and powerful general was loved by his men.

“Mm. You proceed with your suggestions. Then, send two groups of men out, one to Dawn City with a request of reinforcement in my name. The other group will search the area around the camp, I need them to locate a guy larger than a common man. Remember, send someone with decent strength and vigilance,” Kieran said.

He didn’t object nor agree to Walloon’s suggestion since he had his own thoughts.

After knowing the changes in Dawn City, Kieran didn’t plan on lingering around Supreme Road for long.

Not only because of Starbeck, but it was also because Broker’s men should be standing by in Dawn City. The series of changes in Dawn City in recent weeks should all be related to that particular one.

However, it was just some wild guesses, Kieran needed to verify them.

So, he must send a letter to Dawn City, requesting reinforcements.

He hoped to find out whether Broker’s men were really there by the response.

Also, Darde the Titan!

Kieran also dared not underestimate this opponent.

From the information he got from lawless, it allowed Kieran to know Darde was a grumpy, bloodthirsty fellow, but this time, he had been quiet for quite some time.

At first, Kieran thought the moment he showed himself, Darde would come up to him for a duel, disregarding the consequences but now, Darde was unusually quiet.

The unusualness made Kieran heighten his vigilance.

A man suppressing his killer nature was like a spring, the more he suppressed himself, the stronger the rebounding force.

Kieran didn’t want to be the one suffering from the rebound at the last moment.

The good news was, Darde’s physique was extremely eye-catching, even if he were to purposely go into hiding, it would be hard to escape from intentional gazes.

Kieran could locate him with some effort spent but it would be different with the player killer leader, Extremus.

Extremus didn’t reveal his traces, abilities, habits, and attitude even in the big city, let alone in the dungeon world. Kieran knew nothing about him.

Up until this moment, Kieran hadn’t the slightest idea of what or where he was.

However, Kieran was certain the killer leader would be watching silently in the dark, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

With a patient, powerful foe watching him from the dark, Kieran who was already vigilant could not afford to let his guard down.

Therefore, everything that was going on in the command center was within Kieran’s senses.

Naturally, it included the conversation between the three ladies, “cat”, “dog”, and “fox”; he also caught how delighted the “fox” was after the conversation.

Even though he couldn’t see it, he had guesses about what happened, let alone the delight hanging on Aisphany’s face when she came in.

“My lord, I’ll go make preparations!”

Walloon automatically stopped the conversation when he saw Aisphany walk in. Because of the incident with Raulee, Walloon marked down Aisphany on his “to-watch list” and it was obvious that some important matters couldn’t go through her ears.

Walloon then left the command center.

“What a cowardly man!”

Aisphany commented on Walloon as he left with her slightly disdainful look.

Her expertise in observing people’s expressions allowed her to see through a lot of people in the past. She didn’t need much, just a single glance was enough to let her know what Walloon was thinking.

“Nothing’s wrong with being a coward. At least he doesn’t have the boldness and recklessness that will cause unwanted trouble,” Kieran replied.

He wasn’t really defending Walloon but just spoke his mind.

“As expected of Lord 2567, your words are always so philosophical.”

Aisphany seemed to have switched her face, smiling and flattering Kieran. She was also looking at Kieran with admiration as if she found her prince charming.

Kieran frowned. Aisphany’s acting was, of course, good but the problem was when she was putting up her flattering act, her gaze was shifting between his arm guard, ring, leather mail, and other equipment.

It felt like her gaze had hands, wanting to peel his equipment off one by one. Especially when she looked at the backpack beside Kieran’s feet, her lively gaze almost materialized.

However, no matter how real her lively gaze was, it was impossible for her to take things away from a stingy scrooge.

Kieran’s eyes turned cold all of a sudden and right away, Aisphany regained her senses as if a cold bucket of water was splashed over her.

“What just happened? Why would I daze off when I saw you? It must be me being too ti…”

“Shut up!”

Aisphany continued into her own role without delay. She wasn’t even embarrassed when Kieran realized her act and she continued staring at him with a shy look.

Her shallow blue eyes were affectionate but Kieran stopped her flattering act right away.

Even if it was real, Kieran wouldn’t accept it, let alone such a lousy act.

Kieran has zero interest in all these.

“I don’t have time to meddle with you anymore and… If I need help, I will figure it out myself, not asking some unrelated people. You will only mess up the situation even more like this,” Kieran said.

Kieran really had no particular thoughts about the forces behind Evie Dan and Sharly. He could tell how troublesome it would be if he wanted to utilize the forces behind the two ladies.

Not just because of different survival habits but combat habits as well.

A group of hunters on the battlefield was less useful than a group of riders despite the former being a few times stronger but the latter would comply with commands.

If the hunters had their own way, even more so for the werewolves.

Once they transformed, the stimulation of blood and bodies would drive their rampant and wild power out of control and they might not be able to distinguish between allies or foes.

It would be disastrous on the battlefield if that happened.

However, Aisphany wasn’t ready to give in.

“Help from an unrelated person? Messing up the situation? If I didn’t help you, do you think you can get the upper hand in this upcoming battle? You are strong alright, you can fight ten or a hundred men alone but what about a thousand? Ten thousand? What are you going to do then? Kill them all?”

Aisphany’s voice was getting louder as she spoke and obviously had rage she couldn’t suppress.

Kieran didn’t reply though. He stood up and took his backpack with him heading going out.

The moment Kieran stood up, Aisphany was shocked. She stepped back instinctively but when she saw what Kieran did, she was stunned.

“Where the hell do you think you are going?!” Aisphany asked.

“One against ten thousand.”

Kieran left as his voice echoed back in her ears.