The Devil’s Cage

“Competitor?”

Kieran looked at the player in front him dressed in a very hip-hop fashion with surprise while his muscles tightened up, ready for a throwdown.

Although he didn’t know what the player was saying, the provocation and the malicious intent in his eyes was too obvious.

“You don’t know? Until now you don’t know anything?”

The player was stunned for a while before laughing out loud.

Amidst his laugh, he raised his right and removed his glove, revealing the back of his hand to Kieran.

When Kieran saw the freaky smiley face formed by red lines, his eyes shrunk.

He never thought the player in front of him had the freaky smiley face tattoo also and the “competitor” the player mentioned…

Last time the attacker from the smiley face left behind words like “prove yourself”, “find us and join us!”, the clues in Kieran’s mind had started to become clear.

It was an organization and they recruited members through a certain sifting method.

The recruits would need to go through many levels of tests, the “clone-like” attacker from before was one and now this hip-hop player was another.

While Kieran’s gears in his mind spun rapidly, he sized up the player in front him again in hopes to get more information out of him.

Unfortunately, the player didn’t spare him the chance.

The glove that the player held in his hand after removing it was flung straight at Kieran and the glove exploded while traveling mid-air.

Boom!

The thick mist exploded out from the glove and clouded the area while the two of them were inside.

Even with Kieran’s SS+ Intuition, he couldn’t see through the mist before his eyes, it was blurry to the point that Kieran couldn’t even see the player’s figure.

Souuu!

An air-breaking sound entered Kieran’s ears while his sight was blocked.

Kieran quickly took a step right, dodging the arrow that grazed his body with battle experience. He squinted his eyes right after.

Kieran’s sight was blocked but the player on the other side could perform a ranged attack without the slightest obstruction, which wasn’t good news for Kieran.

A sudden thought struck Kieran’s mind and right away, the supernatural darkness blasted out from Kieran enveloping an area of 10 meters in diameter.

[Undercover, Shadow Cloak]!

The mist and darkness overlaid on each other.

Kieran then vanished into the darkness just like that.

“Above Transcendence [Undercover]? You are exactly like how the files said, you really have quite the gift in skills like [Undercover], but unfortunately… It’s useless against me!”

The player’s voice sounded in all directions as though it was a 3D surround sound system.

It forbade Kieran from locating his enemy while at the same time, the voice around his ears had gotten sharper and more irritating. The decibel of the noise had far exceeded what a normal person could withstand in his ears, even Kieran started to feel dizzy.

“Sonic Wave attack?!” Kieran was astonished in his heart. The other astonishing thing was, the noise continued relentlessly and was getting louder and louder, spreading around the area like the rising tide.

Kieran who was supposedly in undercover state slowly revealed a rough contour of his face.

Souu!

The moment Kieran’s contour showed, the arrow was fired again, perforating the face contour directly but the player who landed a hit didn’t feel happy at all. On the contrary, he started to move again.

“Illusions? You know you couldn’t escape my sonic wave detection so you interfered with me using illusions in advance?”

The player kept talking non-stop and it wasn’t really nagging but it was his attacks!

With each word the player spoke, it amplified the explosion of noises in Kieran’s ears countless times, not only did it prevent Kieran from tracking him down using his voice, it caused dizziness in Kieran’s head more frequently.

It seemed like the player was well-prepared and when he decided to confront Kieran, he had plans for this battle.

If the situation carried on, Kieran would eventually fall into the player’s pace and end up failing. Based on how the player presented himself, once Kieran failed, his outcome would be self-explanatory.

So, at the next moment, a concentrated snake hisses erupted.

Myriads of venomous snakes sprung out from the ground, searching their target in the mist and darkness.

[Sword Skill, Myriad Viper]! The special sword skill that completely relied on the Spirit attribute for its authentication and also one of the strongest attacks of Kieran in his normal form.

However… It was ineffective!

“You think the files I have on you are the generic kind? Let me tell you, I know every skill you have, every equipment you use!” The player’s voice sounded again.

Kieran frowned hard. Of course, he didn’t believe what the player said but one thing for sure: his details were meticulously gathered by the organization and were given to his competitor.

Such actions were not considered as good intentions! It even brought hidden threats with it!

Wanted to tell me that you people have everything under your control?

A sense of disdain flashed over Kieran’s eyes.

Then… the snake hisses sounded once more.

[Sword Skill, Myriad Viper]’s Transcendence effect, [Ouroboros]!

The player who was still hiding around, preparing to further probe Kieran’s skills was struck with panic when the illusions of the myriad viper appearing again but as he looked at the specialized item he had prepared in his hand, he let out a breath of relief.

“So this is the trick you’ve prepared as a backup? How unfortunate! I’ve prepared for this as well…. Argh!”

The player once again used his sonic wave attack to disrupt Kieran but the moment his words escaped his mouth, he was interrupted by an agonizing cry.

Sss!

The illusions of myriad vipers appeared again!

Talent, [The Warden, Priority Timing]! It instantly reset [Sword Skill, Myriad Viper]’s cooldown and allowed a second continuous use.

This time around, the player was not so lucky anymore.

The precious item in his hand was rendered useless after blocking [Sword Skill, Myriad Viper]’s attack two times in a row.

The third [Sword Skill, Myriad Viper] attack landed on the player in a more rampant and fierce manner.

After Kieran’s Spirit reached “I” rank, the myriad of vipers in his illusions were not only stronger and bigger, there were even small horns sticking out at the snake’s head, making each of the snakes look extra vicious!

The venomous snake illusions had fierceness that matched its ferocious look as the player’s flesh and blood were quickly ripped apart.

As the player’s blood was gushing out, despite him reminding himself everything he saw was just an illusion, the excruciating pain still made him wail agonizingly.

His cries were utterly miserable, from the high pitched screams to the low heavy growls and eventually turning coarse and going mute after that.

The mist too swiftly dispersed after its control was lost.

The player was standing opposite Kieran blankly, allowing Kieran to kick him at his neck.

Crack!

The bone-crushing noise sounded and the player was lifted from his illusion induced state, falling down to the ground with disbelief in his eyes, eventually disintegrating into light particles.

[Player Killed: Tyler]

[Treated as self-defense through authentication]

[Categorized as an Honor Kill]

[You will receive all the Points and Skill Points of the player…]

[Total: 10,000 Points and 0 Skill Points]

[Received the player’s house key]

[Granted the right to use the player’s house]

[All the player’s belongings are returned to their house]

[Honor Kill: 90]

…

Kieran glanced over the points he received and went on to check where Tyler’s room was.

Then, he quickly boarded the train and headed there right away.

He needed more intel to solve the doubts lingering in his heart and Kieran was also hoping Tyler’s appearance was not some trap.